Habits

Level: Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced.

Skills: speaking.

Topic: warmer.

Materials: none.

Time: 5 to 10 minutes.

For this activity students need to know each other quite well, so it's advisable to play this game in a classroom where students have been studying together for quite a while. Divide the class into groups of five or six.   Every student writes a question, for example: "how old are you?" or "What does your father do?" Choose one person in each group to be the Questioner. Everyone in the group gives their questions to the Questioner. All the Questioners leave the classroom. 

Without the Questioners in the room, tell the whole class that they will be asked questions by the Questioners. However, they must answer each question as if they were the person sitting to the right of them. If they can't answer for the person sitting to the right of them, they must say "I don't know". 

Call the Questioners back into the room and get them to return to their groups. Tell the Questioners that they must discover the rule of the game.

Questioners now begin to ask the questions – they must ask one student a question, and then move on to another student. Tell Questioners that when they think they know the rule, they should put their hand up.

 

Alternatives for future lessons:

Students will probably love playing this game. So here are some alternatives for future lessons: 

• The first person who is asked a question says "I don't know". Then everyone else answers the previous question (i.e. Student 1 says "I don't know"; Student 2 then answers as if he/she were Student 1). 
• Students answer the questions as if they were the Questioner.
• Students answer the questions as if they were the Teacher.
• Students answer the questions as if they were another person in the class who is not in their group.

Fortune Teller

Level: Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced.

Skills: speaking.

Topic: grammar.

Materials: none.

Time: 5 to 15 minutes.

The goal here is the students to pretend they are a fortune teller and predict someone's future. Also, to pretend they want to have their fortune told by going to a fortune-teller. 

Pairs face each other throughout the room. Students A of each pair is the fortune teller. Students B are having their fortune told. Student A takes the hand of Student B and looks searchingly. Student B asks questions: "Will I be rich?" Student A improvises answers... "Yes, you will be very rich, but only if you marry an ugly woman!" "Where will I be living twenty years from now?" "Who will I marry?"

Fortune tellers can also volunteer information without waiting for a question.

Variations:

For the more advanced, after the basic game is played, reported or indirect speech can be practiced by asking each player in the pair what the fortune teller told them. One pair can ask another, and the second pair can report to the whole class. 

A A

Level: Intermediate and Advanced.

Skills: writing.

Topic: warmer.

Materials: blank sheets of paper.

Time: 5 to 10 minutes.

The objective of this game is to write a piece consisting of words that all start with the same letter.

Each student is given a piece of paper and is told to write one letter of the alphabet at the top of it. Students are then told that they have to write a story, news report, poem, or biography – using only words that begin with the letter they have chosen. Give about 5 minutes for the students to complete (or try to) complete their task. [This game can also be used as a challenge for one person to tackle, or more than one person to share].

Example: An Arab artist achieved amazing acts as an architect arranging all areas around an arboretum...

Zip Bong

Level: Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced.

Skills: speaking.

Topic: warmer.

Materials: none.

Time: 5 to 10 minutes.

It's a funny warmer for those days when students seem a bit 'out-of-sync'. It's somewhat like Fizz, Boing, Bounce.

Have students sit in a circle, and choose one person to start the game. Tell students to face the student on their left and say “zip” one at a time, going around the circle clockwise as fast as possible. As they say “zip,” they have to keep their teeth completely covered with their lips (no smiling)! Warn the group that if students accidentally show any teeth, they’ll be out.

Once students understand the “zip,” add a new movement. Students can reverse the direction of play by turning to the player on their right and saying “bong.” The player receiving the “bong” can either continue in the new direction (saying “zip”) or can reverse the direction again (by saying “bong”). Students who show their teeth, look in the wrong direction, or go too slowly, must step out of the circle and become judges. The competitive and speedy play continues until the circle shrinks to two students, the winners.

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).