Story Consequences

Level: Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced.

Skills: writing.

Topic: grammar/vocabulary.

Materials: half the number of hats as there are students.

Time: 10 to 15 minutes.

The goal here is to students write parts of a text, guided by cues as to general purpose, but deprived of the ability to communicate with or see the contributions of one’s co-authors. It works out very nicely with students of any level.

Divide the class into groups of eight players. If you have smaller groups then some of the learners must write two sentences or more. 

Demonstrate how to fold a piece of A4 paper into eight strips: fold the paper in half, then in half again, and in half one last time; making all the folds parallel. Then, guided by the resulting creases, refold the paper into zigzags, like the squeezy parts of a concertina or accordion. Ask one student from each group to fold a piece of paper in the same way.

Explain that the game proceeds as follows: the first student writes his/her contribution on the first panel of the concertina, i.e. the topmost panel. This student should do this quietly and secretly, folding the panel over when he/she is done, so that no one else can see what was written. Next, the second student follows suit, then the third, and so on, until all eight contributions have been added. The last student has the task of unfolding the concertina and reading out loud to the others the full text of the little story that results.

Observation:

If you want to guide the process more closely, you could tell the students the story is guided by the following formula, which prescribes what each student should contribute:

• Fold 1 (time) …
• Fold 2 (place) …
• Fold 3 X (male character’s name) met …
• Fold 4 Y (female character’s name)
• Fold 5 He said …
• Fold 6 She said …

Jog! Jog! Jog!

Level: Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced.

Skills: speaking.

Topic: grammar.

Materials: none.

Time: 5 to 10 minutes.

This game is aimed at children and teenagers, but I have worked with some adults who loved it. It's worth a try! 

First, have the learners stand together in an open space. Tell them to follow your instructions, repeating the verb over and over as they do so. The first instruction – and every second instruction throughout the game – is one that makes the learners circulate: Jog!

Teacher: (starts jogging around the room) Jog! Jog! Jog! etc.

Learners: (jogging) Jog! Jog! Jog! etc.

Teacher: (stops jogging) Pat your neighbour’s head! (turns to the closest person and starts patting their head) Pat! Pat! Pat! etc.

Learners: (patting their neighbour’s head) Pat! Pat! Pat! etc.

Teacher: (stops patting and starts jogging around the room): Jog! Jog! Jog! etc.

Learners: (jogging) Jog! Jog! Jog! etc.

Other instructions: touch, tap, stroke, tickle, slap, scratch.

Observation:

It's fully appreciated that making bodily contact is not considered appropriate in some cultures and with some individuals. As with all games in this blog I suppose that the teacher knows what is and what isn't acceptable.

Endings

Level: Intermediate and Advanced.

Skills: speaking/writing.

Topic: vocabulary / warmer.

Materials: sheets of paper, pencils/pens.

Time: 5 to 10 minutes.

This game can be played in two ways. Students can take turns to ask other students to think of a word that ends with a particular series of letters. Alternatively, students can be given a list of word-endings and challenged to write down one word for each ending. The winner is the first student to write down suitable words for the whole list. It's a nice game for a quick warmer (with two, three or four competing teams). 

Digrams

Level: Intermediate and Advanced.

Skills: writing.

Topic: vocabulary.

Materials: a dictionary & sheets of paper/pencils

Time: 5 to 15 minutes.

The objective of this game is to think of words containing a given pair of letters.

One student calls out two letters of the alphabet, and all the other students have to write down (in a set time) all the words they can think of that contain those two letters together. The winner is the student who thinks of the largest number of words. Alternatively, students score one point for every word they make but two points for words that nobody else has written down. If desired, it can be ruled that the pair of letters must not start or end words.

Changing Hats

Level: Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced.

Skills: speaking.

Topic: grammar.

Materials: half the number of hats as there are students.

Time: 5 to 15 minutes.

The goal of this game is to exchange hats while practising possessive and demonstrative pronouns. Distribuite the hats to some of the students. Students begin to take hats off of others and put them on their own, or someone else's head, emphasizing the pronouns used (possessive, object, subject, demonstrative) and possessive adjectives.

If the game is restricted to possessive adjectives and demonstrative pronouns, it will sound like this: "That's my hat". "No, it's not. It's his hat." "That's her hat." "No, that hat is hers." "I'm taking that hat because it's mine." "I'm giving you this hat because it looks good on you". For subject and object pronouns: "I'm giving this hat to her". "She gave that hat to him".

This is an unusually popular game with all ages. For some reasons unknown, everybody loves to switch hats.

The Traveller's Alphabet

Level: Advanced.

Skills: speaking.

Topic: vocabulary / warmer.

Materials: none.

Time: 5 to 15 minutes.

Another great warmer, now aimed at more advanced students. It has worked very well with teenagers as much as with adults.

The students sit in a row and the first begins by saying, "I am going on a journey to Athens," or any place beginning with A. The one sitting next asks, "What will you do there?" The verbs, adjectives, and nouns used in the reply must all begin with A; as "Amuse Ailing Authors with Anecdotes." If the player answers correctly, it is the next student's turn; she says perhaps: "I am going to Bradford." "What to do there?" "To Bring Back Bread and Butter." A third says: "I am going to Constantinople." "What to do there?" "To Carry Contented Cats." Any one who makes a mistake is out of the game or must pay a forfeit to continue playing.

No Or's, And's, or But's

Level: Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced.

Skills: speaking (or writing)

Topic: warmer.

Materials: none (or writing supplies).

Time: 5 to 10 minutes.

Want to hear a great story? Then create one with your students, a word at a time. (This is also a neat activity to do with a word processor, if you have a multimedia room where students can use computers to type). 

Have one student say or write any word to begin the tale. Then other student adds a word, and so forth, until the first sentence is finished. This cooperative speaking/writing approach continues until the story comes to a conclusion. It may or may not be the ending you had envisioned, but that's the whole point: You never know what direction the tale will take when you and your student become co-authors. 

Once you've gotten the hang of co-writing a story in this fashion, up the ante by introducing a new rule: no one can use the words "or," "and," or "but." That's a lot more difficult than it sounds. Take turns inventing new rules, too, just to keep each other on your toes. 

That's going to be tough when you can only use words less than five letters long ...