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METODOLOGÍA Y DIDÁCTICA DE LA SEGUNDA LENGUA (INGLÉS)

UNIT 5: ACTIVITIES TO PRACTICE THE ORAL AND WRITTEN

COMMUNICATIVE SKILLS

TRADITIONAL GAMES IN TEFL

2013-2014
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CLASSIFICATION OF GAMES

AND

INDEX

Page

1. Alibi. Drama activity. Fluency game……………………………………………………………… 3

2. Anagrams. Spelling game……………………………………………………………...…………….. 6
3. Bingo. Vocabulary game. Pronunciation. Grammar………………………………………. 8
4. Buzz / Fizz - Buzz. Elimination game. Numbers………………………..……..…………… 9
5. Categories. Vocabulary game………………………………………………………………….……. 10
6. Coffee-potting / Tea-pot / Glug. Guessing game. Information gap.
Grammar. Variety of structures…………………………………………………………………………. 13
7. Chinese whispers / Pass the message. Pronunciation game. Grammar………. 14
8. Find someone who... . Grammar game. Variety of structures.
Communicative activity. Information gap………………………………………………………….. 16
9. Hangman. Spelling game……………………………………………………………………………… 19
10.I spy. Guessing game. Vocabulary…………………………………………………………………. 20
11.Kim's game / What’s missing? Memory game. Vocabulary………………………….. 22
12.Market game (The) / Chain games. Elimination game. Memory game.
Accumulative vocabulary after the same structure. Intonation…………………………. 23
13.Never on Sunday. Board game…………………………………………..………………………… 26
14.Noughts and crosses. Grammar game…………………………………………………………. 27
15.Odd man out. Vocabulary game…………………………………………………………………… 28
16.Pelmanism/Pick up twos. Card game. Memory game. Word recognition…….. 30
17.Pictionary / Draw a word, sentence. Information gap activity. Vocabulary.
Grammar…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 32
18.Simon says / O’Grady says. Elimination game…………………………………………….. 34
19.Snakes and ladders. Board game…………………………………………………………………. 36
20.Snap / Word snap/ Body snap. Card game. Word recognition……………………. 38
21.Spot the difference / Find the differences. Fluency game. Information gap
activity…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…. 40
22.True or false / The “Yes/No” game. Elimination game………………………………… 41
23.Twenty questions. Guessing game. Grammar. Variety of structures……………. 43
24.What's the time Mr Wolf? Elimination game. Same structure with variation 45
of an item……………………………………………………………………………………………………….....
25.Word creation / Hidden words. Spelling game. Vocabulary……………………..….. 46
26.Word chain. Elimination game. Spelling……………………………………………………….. 47
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ALIBI
José Mª Altolaguirre Moreno

INSTRUCTIONS

The teacher has to divide the class in two groups, the police and the suspects. The
suspects will be two people and the police will be the rest of the class.

The game starts with a crime that has been committed, and two people, the suspects,
who have to show to the police that they are innocent with an alibi. For example the
crime can be: someone broke the radio last night.

The teacher has to ask the suspects to go out of the class for 5 minutes more or less, to
prepare an alibi together to show the police what were they doing at the time, when the
crime was committed.

Inside the class, the police have to think of questions to ask to the suspects about the
moment of the crime and then, they will call the suspects to come into the class, first
one and then the other. The police will do the same questions to the first and the
second suspect, for example:

Where were you at 11 o´clock last night?

What did you do last night?

What time did you go home?

When the police have finished asking both suspects, they must check all the answers
and decide if they are innocent or guilty. When the most of the answers given by the
suspects to the police are the same or very similar, they will be declared innocent. But if
the most of the answers given are not the same they will be declared guilty.

MATERIAL

One piece of paper and one pencil for each police officer.
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ALIBI
VARIANT 1

EVA AYLLÓN NIETO

HOW TO PLAY AND INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Ask three students to leave the classroom and devise their ´alibis´ for the previous
evening.

2. Stress to them that they must know the exact details of what they did and where they
went.

3. They must claim to have been together whole time.

4. Make groups with the rest of the class.

5. Each group will decide questions to ask.

6. Then, bring the suspects back into the classroom. And one goes to each group for
questioning.

7. The suspects will separate for the questions.

8. Any difference between the suspects’ stories will be seen as proof of guilt.

9. At the end of the questioning sessions, gather the evidence from the three groups
orally, and take a class vote to decide which of the students is guilty.

MATERIAL:

 A board.

 A sheet.

 A pencil or pen.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Carrier, M. (1980). Take five. Walton-on-Thames: Nelson. p. 29

Lee, W. R. (1986). Language Teaching. Games and Contests. Oxford: OUP. p. 34

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OXENDEN, Clive – LATHAM-KOENIG, Christian. (2001) English File. Upper Intemediate.

Teacher’s book. Oxford, Oxford University Press. p. 178

Lessons from Nothing. Activities for language teaching with limited time and resources.
Bruce Marsland. Page 8-9.

Variation: http://www.originsonline.org/educator-help/alibi

http://www.eslsite.com/rd/Drama-Role_Plays?/alibi.html

VARIANT 2 (JOSÉ MARÍA ALTOLAGUIRRE)

Another way to play ALIBI is changing the situations and numbers of the roles. We will
choose one person to be the police officer and the rest of the class will be the suspects.

The police officer will go outside the classroom while the suspects have to think about
an alibi for a crime that has been thought of before. All of them will have the same alibi
except one person who has to change one thing of the alibi and who will be guilty.

Example:

Every suspect was in a shopping center buying Christmas sweets.

The guilty suspect was in a shopping center buying books.

The police officer will come inside the classroom and asking questions to everyone have
to discover the guilty person.
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ANAGRAMS
INMACULADA ARIZA CARMONA

HOW TO PLAY - INSTRUCTIONS

Word anagrams

- Write the letters of a word on the board. Write them in random order. E.g. “ruler”, you write
e r r l u. Show the children how to solve the puzzle writing the first letter of the word and then
the second until you write the whole word on the board.

- Repeat the process with more words that you want the children to practice. The children
write each of the words on a piece of paper or in their books.

- Check the answers with the whole class.

MATERIAL:

 A board.

 A chalk or felt-tip pen for the new boards.

 A paper per pupil.

VARIANTS:

 Word anagrams:

1. Make groups of four/five students.

2. Each group will have the name of one colour.

3. I'm going to leave three/four words in a mess. The first word will have four
letters, the second word will have five letters, the third word will have six
letters and the fourth word will have seven letters.

4. The game will start when I say 'Are you ready?' and the students say 'Yes!'

5. When one group puts the word in order, one player of the group will have to
go out and stick it with blu-tack on the board (the blut-tack will be on the
teacher's table). When all groups have stuck the word on the board, the
teacher will say the correct word.

6. The players can't see the other words while they order one word.

7. The winner is the group which has put the correct word on the board before.
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 Higher-level children might like to play this game in pairs. Each child can prepare
anagram words which they then give to the other child to solve.

 Sentence anagrams:

- Write the words of a sentence on the board in random order. Use structures that reflect the
language you are covering in the coursebook, e.g. book. She’s reading a = She’s reading a book.
We will resolve the anagram asking the students which the solution is. Then we will write the
result on the board. First we will put the subject, then we will put the verb and finally we will
put the object.

- Show the children how to decipher the sentences. Remind them about capital letters and full
stops.

REFERENCE:

Cant, A. and Superfine, W. (1997). Developing Resources for Primary. London: Richmond.
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BINGO
Mª del Castillo Bermúdez Benítez

- Materials: 15 different pictures on the same theme, one copy per child of a 3x3 grid<(older
children can draw their grids), coloured pencils, counters (can be noodles or dried beans) a
box,

HOW TO PLAY

1 Hang the pictures on the walls of your classroom

2 Give out the grids. Ask the children to draw pictures in the spaces – a different
picture in each space. They must choose them the picture on the wall

3 You are the caller. Put the pictures in a box and mix them. Pull out one and show it
to the children, saying This is a…

4 The children look at their grids and see if they have the picture. If they have it they
say I’ve got a… and cover the space with a counter.

5 The first child to cover all the spaces on his or her grids wins.

6 The winner becomes caller. The other children can exchange their cards

- Bibliography: Lewis, G and Bedson, G. (1999). Games for children, Oxford: OUP. p 121-122
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BUZZ
Ángel Galán Espartero

HOW TO PLAY - INSTRUCTIONS

1-Have the players sit in a circle and begin to count in turn, but when the number 7 or any
number in which the figure 7 or any multiple of 7 is reached, they say "Buzz," instead of
whatever the number may be. For example:

· Supposing the players have counted up to 12, the next player will say "13," the next "Buzz"
because 14 is a multiple of 7 (twice 7) and the next player would then say "15" the next "16,"
and the next would, of course, say "Buzz" because the figure 7 occurs in the number 17.

2-If one of the players forgets to say "Buzz" at the proper time, he is out.

3-Start again when someone is out. The game then starts over again with the remaining
players, and so it continues until there is but one person remaining. If great care is taken, the
numbers can be counted up to70, which, according to the rules, would, of course, be called
Buzz. The numbers would then be carried on as Buzz 1, Buzz 2, etc., up to 79, but it is very
seldom that this stage is reached.

MATERIALS

This game has no materials.

VARIANTS

This game has no variants.

BIBLIOGRAPHY / WEBGRAPHY:

Wiki How to do anything. How to play Buzz, consulted on the 17th of October 2013 in
http://www.wikihow.com/Play-Buzz
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CATEGORIES
Macarena Garriguet Giraldo

A. How to play – Instructions

1. I’ll divide the class into teams of about 5-6 students. I’ll to write the following
categories in a chart on the blackboard:

- Countries

- Food

- Jobs

- Animals

- Furniture

- Clothing

- Colours

2. Then I’ll give the class a letter (for example “G”). Each team must think of and write
in a paper, with the same chart that I have done in the board, one word from each
category which begins with that letter.

3. After a time- about ten minutes- I’ll check the words. Teams only score a point if no
other team has thought of their word.

4. Finally, I will count the points of each team.

5. The team who gets more points will win.

B. Material

The students must have:

- A piece of paper

- A pencil/pen

C. Variants

There aren’t variants of this game’s model.

D. Bibliography / Webgraphy

Marsland, B. (1998). Lessons from Nothing. Cambridge: CUP. p. 39

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CATEGORIES
Ana Biedma Valdizán

A. Rules of the game:

1. Preparation:

- The teacher draws 3-6 vertical columns across the board.

- Each column should represent a theme for example numbers, colours, body parts,
animals… (either write the theme or draw a picture)

- Divide each column into 3 squares of equal size and number the square in each
column 10, 30, 50.

- Each square represents a question that get progressively more difficult.

2. Procedure:

- Divide the class in groups of about 4-5.

- One child in the first group chooses a theme and number, for example animals for 20.
The teacher takes a number 20 card from the animal questions and reads the
question on it.

- Each group has approximately 30 seconds to answer the question.

- If the first group can’t answer, the next group can try or choose a different card to
answer it. If the group answers the question well it will have the same points as
the card has, for example if the card is number 20 of animals, this group will win 20
points.

- In the end, the group who has more points in the end wins the game.

B. Materials:

- Black board

- Cards

C. Variants:

1. Place two or three doubles among your cards. If the children answer correctly they
get double the number of the question.

2. Include some fun forfeits among the questions, for example, Walk like an old man or
Spell your name Backwards. If they do it, they get the points.

D. Reference: Lewis, G and Bedson, G. (1999). Games for children, Oxford: OUP. p 135-136
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10 10 10
10

30 30 30 30

50 50 50 50
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THE COFFE POT GAME

VÍCTOR GINÉS RUPÉREZ

One student has to think of a word, but not tell the others.

The other students have to guess the word by asking questions. The missing verb must be
substituted with the imaginary verb “coffeepot”

Example:

Mariko: Where do you coffee pot?

Yuki: I usually go coffee potting in Sierra Nevada.

Ayana: Skiing?

Yuki: Hmm. No, but I do go coffee potting in the snow.

Mariko: Snowboarding!

Yuki: Good guess, but it’s another winter activity.

Ayana: What equipment do you need?

Yuki: Snow shoes and poles.

Mariko: Ah, I know! Snow-walking!

Yuki: You got it! Or you can say ‘snow-shoeing’.

Ayana: Cool!

VARIANTS

“Coffee Pot” can be a noun instead of a verb.

Example:

Mariko: I have a silver coffee pot. I come to school on my coffee pot almost every day.

Yuki: Bicycle?

Mariko: Good try. It’s like a bicycle but my coffee pot has an engine.

Yuki: Motorbike!

Mariko: That’s right!

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CHINESE WHISPERS
Elena Jiménez Ruiz

A. How to play – Instructions

1 Divide the class in two groups.

2 Stand up and form two lines.

3 I´m going to give to a representative from each group a message note paper with a
sentence.

4 When the first student of the line has read it, he or she has to return the note to the
teacher. The others students can´t read the note.

5 The student who has read the note has to explain the message to the next student
by whispering it in their ear.

6 You have to repeat the message very quickly in a whisper to the student behind you.
No one else must hear it.

7 The final student in each group writes what he or she hears on a piece of paper.

8 At the end of the activity, read your versions, and then we are going to read the real
version.

9 The winner is the group whose version is similar to the real version.

10 Do it the same with the other sentences.

B. Material

The teacher must prepare for each group of students:

 Message notes paper with a sentence. Examples:

- His blue coat is warm.

- The duck swims on the pond.

- I always have breakfast at half past seven.

- I like to eat fish and chips.

- The race started in the park.

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 A piece of paper.

 A pencil/pen.

C. Variants

1 If there is a blackboard available, the end of the exercise can be a visual grammar
correction exercise using the ‘new’ versions as raw material. This would produce a
grammatically correct, if not identical, version of the original sentence. If you
wish, you can then compare the two versions.

Doing a correction of this sort helps students to place what they heard into a
grammatical structure, without imposing a ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ text on their own
creative listening.

2 Instead of listening and speaking the message, let the player see the sentence for
five seconds, then take it from him/her and keep it yourself. The first player must
then write the sentence he/she remembers on a piece of paper and show it to
his/her neighbor for five seconds. The neighbour does the same until the
message, usually much changed, has gone round the class.

3 More stress can be given to listening and speaking if the message is whispered to
the neighbour. This can be done as a race. Different team ‘pass’ the same
message which you whisper to the learners at the front of each team or row. The
player at the end acts appropriately, e.g.

-Open a window, please.

-Please give me a black pencil.

-Would you please draw a square on the blackboard.

4 A short story or joke is whispered, not just a sentence.

D. Bibliography / Webgraphy

Wright, A. (1987). Games for Language Learning. Cambridge: CUP. p. 144

Marsland, B. (1998). Lessons from Nothing. Cambridge: CUP. p. 59

Wiki How to do anything. How to play Chinese Whispers, viewed the 18thof October 2013, in
http://www.wikihow.com/Play-Chinese-Whispers
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FIND SOMEONE WHO...

Belén Huertas Bascón

How to play. Instructions:

The students have 1 minute to walk around the room and find at least one person in the class
who was born in the same month as they were: they get one point for every person they find
in the time.

Then they have to find someone who was born on the same day of the month. Give further
similar tasks for as much time as you have (see the BOX for suggestions). At the end, see how
many points each student has.

Find someone who ….

was born in the same month as you.

was born on the same day of the month as you.

has the same number of brothers as you.

has the same number of sisters as you.

ate at least two of the same things as you for breakfast.

has the same favourite colour as you.

got up at the same time as you did this morning.

To make the activity more dynamic and finish it, the students will explain their conclusion,
such as:

............. was born in the same month as me and this month is..............

..............was born on the same day of the month as me and this day is.............

...............has the same number of brothers as me and this number is...............

...............has the same number of sisters as me and this number is...................

...............ate at least two of the same things as me for breakfast, and these things are ..........
and ..................
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..............has the same favourite colour as me and this colour is.............

.............got up at the same time as me in the morning and this time is........

Material

v Pen or pencil.

v Box: Find someone who...

v The whiteboard.

v The marker.

Variants

v The teacher will give the students the Box: Find someone who. They have to do questions
with only the final of these sentences.

BOX: Find someone who...

NAME
QUESTIONS

Find someone who...

Ask: Do you...like dancing? or... Have you
taken dance lessons?

likes dancing

Has taken dance lessons

likes computer games

plays any instrument

likes drawing

plays any sport

v The teacher says:

1) Stand up with your questionnaire (BOX: Find someone who) and a pen or pencil.

2) You walk around the class and you ask at your classmates the questions.
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3) If the classmate´s answer is “yes”, write the name on the questionnaire. If it doesn´t,
you ask another person.

4) The first to complete the questionnaire shouts: “I found the person” and he wins the
game.

5) You return to your seat.

To finish the activity the teacher will write the questions on the whiteboard and the students
will say the conclusions that they have obtained with the questionnaire. For example:

.............. (name of student) likes dancing.

.............. (name os student) has taken dance lessons.

..............(name of student) likes computer games.

..............(name of student) plays an instrument.

..............(name of student) likes drawing.

............(name of student) plays any sport.

Reference

Ur, P. (1998). Five Minutes Activities. Cambridge: CUP. p. 27

Variant:

http://www.salaam.dk/UserFiles?/File/Microsoft%20Word%20-
%20Find%20Someone%20Who%20Warm%20up%20Activity.pdf
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HANGMAN
Inmaculada Lijó Ordóñez

Instructions

1. One player thinks of a word or phrase; the others try to guess what it is one letter at a time.

2. The player draws a number of dashes on the whiteboard equivalent to the number of letters in
the word. If a guessing player suggests a letter that occurs in the word, the other player fills in
the blanks with that letter in the right places. If the word does not contain the suggested
letter, the other player draws one element of a hangman's gallows.

3. As the game progresses, a segment of the gallows and of a victim is added for every suggested
letter not in the word.

4. The number of incorrect guesses before the game ends is up to the players, but completing a
character in a noose provides a minimum of eleven wrong answers until the game ends.

5. The first player to guess the correct answer thinks of the word for the next game, win.

MATERIAL: A marker and a whiteboard

VARIANT:

This game can be played in groups

1. Make two big groups to play Hangman.

2. The teacher will divide the whiteboard in two parts and will draw two gallows in each part, he
will think of a word and he will draw a number of dashes on the whiteboard equivalent to the
number of letters in the word.

3. The teacher asks to every group for a letter.

4. If a guessing team suggests a letter that occurs in the word, the teacher fills in the blanks with
that letter in the right places. If the word does not contain the suggested letter, the team
draws one element of a hangman's gallows.

The winner is the team that first guesses the word.

References:

http://www.ehow.com/how_8301408_hangman-instructions.html

http://www.grandparents.com/grandkids/activities-games-and-crafts/hangman
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I SPY
How to play – Instructions:

The teacher demonstrates the game saying the phrase I spy, with my little eye, something
beginning with b, and pointing then to a book, a blackboard, and so on. He explains that spy
here means “can see”. The students, as individuals or in teams, are then asked to guess what
object, beginning with the letter specified, the teacher is referring to.

Example:

Teacher: I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with c.

Student 1 (guessing): Is it the ceiling?

Teacher: No, it isn´t.

Student 2 (guessing): Is it the class?

Teacher: No, it isn´t.

Student 3 (guessing): Is it the chalk?

Teacher: Yes, it is.

The student who guesses, or the team he represents, gets 1 point and takes over the role of
saying I spy…, having first thought of a word to refer to.

Material: None

Variants:

- Gather at least two players.

- Have one player start (Player 1) look for something in sight or is visible around them. This can
be any object, whether it's a certain building, toy, or article of clothing. Begin the game with
saying, "I spy with my little eye, something that _". The blank can be any clue about the object,
such as "starts with the letter H", " is yellow", or " is round".
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- Get the other players to ask questions about the object. If there are more than two players,
have each person ask one question per turn. Some questions can be asked about the colour,
placement (where it is), size, etc.

- Make sure that the Player 1 answers with only a "yes" or "no".

- Keep guessing until the correct object is picked.

Bibliography:

Carrier, M. (1980). Take five. Walton-on-Thames: Nelson. p. 14

Web page:

http://www.wikihow.com/Play-the-I-Spy-Game
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KIM’S GAME
Susana Maeso Romero

MATERIAL

The teacher must prepare for the game the following materials:

 20 small articles.

 A tray to put the articles in.

 Pencil/pen and a piece of paper for each person.

 A bag.

 A watch or timer.

HOW TO PLAY - INSTRUCTIONS

Basic Kim's Game

Uncover the tray and hold each article up, while naming it so that the whole group sees each
thing and hears its name separately. Cover the tray after 2 minutes and allow the group 5
minutes to write the names of as many of the 20 objects as they can remember.

Scoring:One point for each correct article in their list.

VARIANT:

What’s missing?

The teacher displays 20 pictures on the blackboard.

Ask pupils to look at the pictures carefully then tell them to close their eyes. Remove an item
from the board. Pupils open their eyes and tell you what is missing. You could ask the rest of
the class, Is he/she right? The game can also be played as a team game.

BIBLIOGRAPHY / WEBGRAPHY:

The Guide Zone. Kim’s Games, consulted on the 17th of October 2013 in http://guidezone.e-
guiding.com/kimsgame.htm

Brewster, J., Ellis, G. and Girard, D. (2004). The Primary English Teacher’s Guide. London:
Penguin. What's missing? + Kim’s game, p. 89
 23

THE MARKET GAME

SILVIA MÁRQUEZ LUCENA

HOW TO PLAY. INSTRUCTIONS

1. The traditional version of this game is to say to students the following sentence: Yesterday, I
went to the market and I bought…

2. The first player completes the sentence with an item. E.g. Yesterday, I went to the market
and I bought a lot of bread.

3. The second player repeats that sentence and adds another item. E.g. Yesterday, I went to
the market and I bought a lot of bread and some bananas.

4. The third player repeats that sentence and adds another item. This structure is the same for
all players, but each player adds a new item.

5. When the chain breaks down because somebody cannot remember the sequence, the
player has another opportunity, but if you’re wrong you will leave out of game.

6. Players only have an opportunity to say the good sentence.

7. In this case, the next player will continue with the game. The structure is the same but with
other words. Yesterday, I went to the market and I bought…for example milk and biscuits. The
game continues in the class.

8.Nobody can repeat the same word in the sequence

9. See how many words the children can remember.

10. The winner is the player who can say all sequence or the sequence has more correct
words.

Adapting for higher levels

Higher-level pupils might like to make more complex sentences, adding adjectives. E.g. I’ve got
a small dog. I’ve got a small dog and a big cat.

VARIANTS

The variants in this game are all the player wants. For example:

-When I go on holiday, I’m going to take….

- While I was walking down the street, I saw…

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- For my birthday, I was given…

Phrases can also be added instead of words. E.g. While I was walking down the street, I saw a
man break into a shop, a woman waiting for a bus….

REFERENCE

Byrne, D. (1987). Teaching Oral English. Harlow: Logman. P. 102.

A VARIANT OF THE MARKET GAME

MARÍA DEL MAR LÓPEZ SÁNCHEZ

RULES

1. The variant of this game is to say to students the following sentence: I went to the
zoo with my family and we saw…

2. The first player completes the sentence with an item. Ex. An elephant

3. The second player repeats that sentence and adds another item. Ex. We saw an
elephant and two lions

4. The third player repeats that sentence and adds another item. This structure is the
same for all players, but each player adds a new item.

5. When the chain breaks down because somebody can`t remember the sequence this
player will leave out of game.

6. The winner is the player who can say all sequence or the sequence has more correct
words.

Other first sentences for the game can be:

- When I see the Olympic Games, I can see…

- When I’m in the school I learn…

- In my family there are…

REFERENCE

Byrne, D. 81987). Teaching Oral English. Harlow: Logman. P. 102.

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NEVER ON SUNDAY
Ana Mª Urquizú Serrano

HOW TO PLAY - INSTRUCTIONS

1. Make groups of three / four students.

2. I’m going to give you a board with a month of the year, one dice and one counter per
student.

3. Also I’ll give you seven cards. On one side of the cards is the name of one day of the
week and on the other side a task for every day. DON’T LOOK AT THE TASK. Put the
cards on the table with the side of the day up and the side of the task down.

4. Put your counters before the first day of the month.

5. Take it in turns to throw the dice and move round the board as many squares as the
points you have got.

6. Count in English, say the name of the day you have landed on and take its card.

7. If you can perform the task, go a week forward. If you cannot, go a week backward.

8. If you land on the same day of the week as other person did, you cannot repeat the
same solution, if this is possible. You have to look for new words.

9. If you land on a Sunday, go back to the start.

10. The winner is the person who lands or goes forward the last day of the month.

MATERIAL

The teacher must prepare for each group of four students

A board which is the leaf of a calendar with a month.

A counter per student.

A dice.

A set of seven chance cards. On one side of the cards is the name of one day of the week
and on the other side a task for every day. The card of Sunday must say “Never on Sunday”.

VARIANTS: This game has no variants.

BIBLIOGRAPHY / WEBGRAPHY:

Cooper, E. (1992). 101 Games to Play. Detroit: Treasure Press Publishing.

 27

NOUGHTS AND CROSSES

Miguel Ángel Navarro Jiménez

HOW TO PLAY - INSTRUCTIONS

1. Make two groups in the class, one of them will be “crosses” (x) and the other will be
“noughts” (O).

2. I’ll draw in the board 2 lines vertically and 2 lines crossing horizontally, so, I’ll have 9 blocks.

3. In each block, I’ll put some words, in this case the beginning of interrogative sentences, as
Does, Did, Could, Was, Were, Are, Would, Has and Is.

4. Team A choose a square and they make a sentence using the word.

5. If the sentence is correct, the teacher puts down the symbol of the team (cross or a nought.)

6. If the sentence is not correct, team B has got a one guess to correct it. If this is right, they
win the square and the teacher put s down the symbol of the team (X or O.)

7. The winner is the group who get 3 lines vertically, horizontally or diagonally.

MATERIAL

Blackboard

VARIANT

Noughts and crosses can play in pairs, one member of the pair will be “cross” and the other
“nought”. They must correct each other’s sentences and the winner is as the traditional game.

It is not necessary material, only a paper and a pen which the teacher will give.

BIBLIOGRAPHY/WEBGRAPHY:

Westrup, H. and Baker, J. (2005). Activities using resources. Oxford: Oxford university Press. P.
20-21
 28

ODD MAN OUT

Iván Padilla Carrillo

HOW TO PLAY – INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Ask the children if they know the game and explain them that in the game of "odd man out"
there is a set with four words, three of them have something in common and one is “odd one”,
that is to say one word does not fit in the set. They have to discover which word is the “odd
one”.

2. Put an example. Write a set of words on the board and ask them to tell you which in the odd
one out. This “odd” word should be obvious so that they learn the concept. For example: Cat,
fish, flower, dog. Flower is “odd” because it is a plant and the others are animals.

3. When they have understood the concept, divide the class in working-pairs because playing
in pairs can result in a useful exchange of ideas.

4. Give them a photocopy with ten sets of words and tell them to choose the “odd” and state
their reason with each set.

5. When they finish, choose three volunteers that put on the whiteboard their results and then
they explain about their choices and reasons.

MATERIAL:

The teacher must prepare for each pair:

 A whiteboard

 A black marker and a colour marker.

 A photocopy with a game for each pair. (attached I)

The pupils must have for this game:

 A pencil, pen or crayon.

VARIANTS:

This game has some variations, but the most important is:

Sound me out: To teach the sounds in the words, this variant is very useful because it is
similar to “odd man out” but the words are sounds for example:

Cat, dog, hat, fat

Big, fish, pink, like, city

 29

BIBLIOGRAPHY / WEBGRAPHY:

Phillips, S. (1995). Young Learners. Oxford: OUP. p. 79-80

Nixon, C. and Tomlinson, M.(2012). Primary Pronunciation Box. Cambridge: CUP. p. 89-90

Document Microsoft word. The odd one out game, viewed the 8thof November 2013, in
Bogglesworldesl.com/files/TheOddOneOutGame?.doc

ATTACHED I

Which of the following words is the odd man out? Choose the “odd” and state your reason.

Cat Dog Turtle Elephant

Reason:

Lion Tiger Panther Bear

Reason:

Human Dolphin Shark Whale

Reason:

Hope Angry Happy Jealous

Reason:

Pizza Sweet Chocolate Cupcake

Reason:

Eagle Owl Penguin Bat

Reason:

Doctor Spoon Priest Poet

Reason:

Venus Moon Earth Mars

Reason:

Bird Plane Helicopter Bus

Reason:

Novel Newspaper Magazine e-book

Reason:
 30

PELMANISM
Julia Pineda Eisman

HOW TO PLAY – INSTRUCTIONS

1. Make groups of four/five students.

2. I'll give you a set of twenty cards.

3. Lay the cards in neat rows face down so that the pictures and writing on the cards cannot be
seen.

4. One player then picks up two of the cards.

5. If he/she thinks they match, he/she makes some appropriate comment to the others.

6. If the other players agree, he/she keeps the two cards and can pick up two more.

7. When two cards are picked up which do not match, they must be shown to the other
players and replaced in exactly the same position from which they were taken.

8. Then the next player has a turn.

9. This continues until the cards have been paired off.

10. The player with the most pairs is the winner.

MATERIAL

A set of 20 matching cards for each group of four to five students. In each set, there are ten
pairs of cards: the pairs can relate to each other in a range of ways, according to the language
needs of the learners.

VARIANT 1

Individual or pair work.

To allow the learners to become accustomed to the cards and thus reduce the chances of too
much argument later, they could play with the cards individually, or in pairs, before using them
to play Pelmanism. They could time themselves to see how quickly they match all the cards.
 31

VARIANT 2. Group work.

Give one card to each player. The players then look at their cards and try to find who has the
matching card by asking other learners.

BIBLIOGRAPHY / WEBGRAPHY:

Wright, A. (1987). Games for Language Learning. Cambridge: CUP. p. 147

 32

PICTIONARY
Julio José Pino Varela

HOW TO PLAY - INSTRUCTIONS

 The teacher prepares in advance a set of cards, each with a well-know phrase or
saying, or a book, film, or television programme title that students would know, e.g.

 Alice in Wonderland

 Too many cooks spoil the broth

 The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence

 One man´s meat is another man´s poison...

 The teacher divides the class into 2 teams.

 A student from Team A is given a card, which the class must not see. The student then
draws a picture or series of pictures to represent this phrase or title and the other
members of the team have to guess it within a certain time limit, for example 30
seconds.

 If they guess correctly they get 1 point, if not, the other team has a chance.

 The teacher then gives a card to a member of Team B and the game is repeated
several times.

MATERIAL

 Blackboard or overhead projector,

 Cards with a well-know phrase, saying, book title, film title, or television programme
title written on each.

VARIANTS:

 You can form more teams but the game is funnier with fewer teams.

 With Elementary students a version of this can be played using single words,
compound words, or an adjective plus word combination instead of a sentence.

 You can use cards with tittles of Disney´s films to do a more interesting game for
children:
 33

Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Tarzan, Cars, Winnie the Pooh, Alice in Wonderland, Up, Wall
E, Ratatouille, Bambi, Brother Bear, Mulan, Monsters Inc, Hercules, 101
Dalmatians, Pocahontas, Dumbo, The Lion King, Aladdin, Toy Story, Pirates of the Caribbean.

BIBLIOGRAPHY / WEBGRAPHY:

Carrier, M. (1980). Take five. Walton-on-Thames: Nelson. p. 71

 34

SIMON SAYS
LAURA RAMÍREZ ARCHILLA

HOW TO PLAY - INSTRUCTIONS

1. Line up the group across from you, 2 or 3 metres away.

2. Tell the players that they should all obey you if you first say the words "Simon
says."

3. Tell them that they are out of the game if they follow an order that doesn't begin
with "Simon says," or if they fail to do what Simon says to do.

4. Begin by saying something like, "Simon says, put your hands on your head."

5. Look to make sure everybody has put their hands on their heads.

6. Give another order such as, "Simon says, stand on one foot." Check again.

7. Continue giving orders. Mix it up and say something like, "Raise your right hand,"
without the preface "Simon says."

8. Call out the players who raise their hands.

9. Play until one person is left. This is the winner.

10. Let that person give the commands for the next round.

MATERIAL

You need only the teacher and students.

VARIANTS

Variation 1: with large groups or those who tend to be hard to control, children
should not be out of the game when they make a mistake. Just laugh and keep on
playing. Alternatively, have a row of chairs at one end of the classroom. Children
who are out have to sit on a chair. You can sit next to the noisy children.

Variation 2: children who are out wear a hat for the next round or perform some
kind of fun forfeit. In the next round other children will make mistakes and no
children will be stigmatized as “losers”.

Variation 3: turn “Simon says” into a team game. The last team with players still in
win.
 35

Variation 4: call out instructions such as Touch something blue or find a book. The
children scatter throughout the room looking. Children who make a mistake are out.
This option is also helpful for practicing prepositions, for example, sit under the
table, or put a book on the teacher´s desk.

Variation 5: when the children are used to the game, star including “wilder”
commands to increase the level of fun, for example, Simon says: put a finger in your
ear. Hop around the room. Sing ´Old McDonal had a farm”. Have the children do all
of these actions simultaneously!

Variation 6: for the very young (4-6) say Please instead of Simon Says-the children
should only do the action if you say Please.

WEBGRAPHY

http://www.ehow.com/how_18205_play-simon-says.html
 36

SNAKES AND LADDERS

Beatriz Rodríguez Vilchez

INSTRUCTIONS.

1. The aim of the game is to be the first player to reach the end by moving across the board from
square 1 to square 100. You will travel the board from base to top, right, then left and so on.
There will be a board for four people.

2. The first player to roll 1 can enter the board (sometimes it is 6). The person with the highest
amount starts first. The person with the second highest goes 2nd and so on.

3. Snake: if a player lands at the tip of the snake's head, his or her marker slides down to the
square at the snake's tail.

4. Ladder: if a player lands on a square that is at the base of a ladder, his or her marker moves to
the square at the top of the ladder and continues from there.

5. If you are in a square whose number is 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 or 90 you have to do a
mission.

6. Complete the game. The first player to square 100 is the winner but you must have the correct
number on the dice to land on the 100 mark.

MATERIAL:

 An one-hundred-square-drawn A4 board with drawn snakes and ladders in different

squares

 4 counters of different colours

 Die

 A piece of paper with the number of the square (10,20,30,40,50,60,70,80 or 90) and
behind the number there is a mission like “sing a song about the animals” or “ Spell
your name”. You need 8 missions for group.

VARIANT 1

Pair work, or small group

Language practice (beyond counting) can be worked into Snakes and Ladders by writing
various instructions into every third or fourth square, e.g. “Go back three squares” or “Go
forward four squares” or “Miss a turn”.

VARIANT 2

Pair work, or small group

 37

Instead of writing the instructions for the game yourself, ask the children to write “chance”
cards, either in class or for homework, for others to use when playing the game.

BIBLIOGRAPHY / WEBGRAPHY:

http://www.wikihow.com/Play-Snakes-and-Ladders

Wright, A. (1987). Games for Language Learning. Cambridge: CUP. p. 81

Ashworth, J. and Clark, John. New Stepping Stones 1. (Course book, teacher’s book...) p. 37
 38

BODY SNAP
CONSUELO ROMÁN DOMÍNGUEZ.

HOW TO PLAY – INSTRUCTIONS.

1. Make groups of two students.

2. All of the cards are shuffled and dealt equally to players. Each player takes sixteen
cards.

3. The youngest player starts the game.

4. Each player has all the cards face down, when it is your turn, turn up one card.

5. If both player's cards coincide for example: arm(picture) and arm (text), or arm
(picture) and arm (picture), or arm (text) and arm (text) the first player to say Arm –
Snap wins the cards.

6. If they do not match, the players continue to turn over cards in turn until two
matching cards appear.

7. If a child calls Snap by mistake, for example when two cards do not match, or he or
she says an incorrect word, the other player takes the card and adds them.

8. The winner is the person who wins all cards or who has the most cards at the end.

MATERIAL:

- Cards of the words for parts of the body, and others with the pictures part of the body. 16
cards per player.

VARIANTS:

- The same game can be played using pictures and words for other vocabulary: food, clothes,
animals, weather, sports, time, vegetables, colors, numbers, shapes, fruit, alphabet …

REFERENCE:

http://www.dltk-kids.com/games/snap.htm

Toth, M. (1995). Heinemann Children’s Games. Oxford: Heinemann

 39

FOR EXAMPLE: ANIMALS SNAP

ELEPHANT

MONKEY

GIRAFFE

FLY

LION

CAT

PARROT

DOG
 40

SPOT THE DIFFERENCES

Cristina Rubio Algar

HOW TO PLAY – INSTRUCTIONS

1. I divide the class into pairs.

2. I am going to give you one picture, A or B.

3. You do not show each other your picture. It is best if you sit opposite one another.

4. I am going to tell you how many differences there are between the two pictures.

5. You have to describe your picture to one another and mark the differences with crosses.

For example, Child 1 (with picture A) might say: A boy is eating a sandwich. Child 2 looks at his
or her picture and finds a boy eating an apple, not a sandwich. He or she says: A boy is eating
an apple. So both children mark the picture of the boy eating with a cross.

6. This game is going to be a competition. The first pair to finish is the winner.

MATERIAL

· A picture to each child.

· Two similar pictures with different actions.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Toth, M. (1995). Heinemann Children’s Games. Oxford: Heinemann. p. 46, 43

 41

TRUE OR FALSE / THE YES-NO GAME

ELISA VALLE CABEZAS

HOW TO PLAY - INSTRUCTIONS

1.I´m going to stretch a string along the floor and I´m going to explain what side is for Yes
answer and what side is for No answer.

2.Besides, I´m going to give you two cards, one green card for Yes answer and one red card for
No answer. You must raise your green card or your red card, depending on your answer.

3.Individually, think of your answer questions and choose the correct place where you must
put yourselves. For example, if the answer is Yes, you must jump to the Yes side of the string
and raise your green card. Or if the answer is No, you must jump to the No side of the string
and raise your red card.

4.Listen to each statement below carefully.

5.Put yourself on the place of True/Yes if you think a statement it´s correct.

6.Put yourself on the place False/No if you think the statement it´s not correct.

7.If you have questions, raise your hand and ask your teacher.

8.If you make a mistake in one answer, you are eliminated. And you must sit down in your
seat.

9.The winner is who answers all questions correctly. There may have several winners.

MATERIAL

The teacher must prepare for all students:

• Around twenty true or false/ yes or no questions.

• A string.

The teacher must prepare for each student:

• One green card and one red card.

VARIANTS:

Instead of stretching a string along the floor, if your class is spacious, you can make a circle in
the floor and divide it in two parts.
 42

BIBLIOGRAPHY / WEBGRAPHY

Cant, A. and Superfine, W. (1997). Developing Resources for Primary. London: Richmond. p.21

http://users.manchester.edu/student/jnhamm/Profweb/duchane%20test.pdf
 43

TWENTY QUESTIONS
Elena Villatoro Sánchez

HOW TO PLAY - INSTRUCTIONS

Instruct each student to think of something that can be classified, in broad terms, as animal,
mineral, or vegetable. One student is selected to be “it” and the others begin asking him
questions to which he can answer either yes or no (yes/no questions). The student must try to
guess what it is within a twenty question limit. If the class cannot guess its identity, the same
person gets another turn to be it.

Variant

This game may be played in two ways. For intermediate groups, have each student ask one
question of it, going around the classroom, in turn. For more advanced groups, each student
may continue asking it questions, until he receives a no answer. A sample game might proceed
as follow:

Student 1: are you mineral?

It: No
Student 2: Are you animal?
It: No.
Student 3: Then you are a vegetable. Are you something I can eat?
It: Yes.
Student 3: Are you eaten raw:
It: yes.
Student 3: Do we also eat you cooked?
It: No.
Student 4: Do you grow on a tree?
It: Yes.
Student 4: Are you a fruit?
It: Yes.
Student 4: Are you an apple?
It: No.
Student 5: Are you a pear?
It: No.
Student 6: Are you an orange?
It: Yes.
 44

The game is completed within the twenty questions limit, and the student who has
guessed correctly takes it’s place.

It should be made very clear that all living objects which move are animals; all others
are mineral. These categories include by-products as well. A wooden table, for example, would
be vegetable. Human beings are animal. A typewriter is mineral.

Students should also be aware that they have only twenty questions and must be as
economical as possible when forming questions. Once they have determined that an object is
neither mineral, nor animal, it is unnecessary to ask, “Is it vegetable?” Many such questions
can be saved with a little thought. You may wish to be flexible about the twenty questions limit
the first time the game is played.

Material: the whiteboard and the marker. With these materials teacher will note how many
questions have asked.

References:

McCallum, G. P. (1980). 101 Word Games. Oxford: OUP. p. 65

http://www.grandparents.com/grandkids/activities-games-and-crafts/20-questions
 45

“WHAT’S THE TIME MR WOLF?”

Antonio Sánchez Mohedano.

“What’s the time Mr. Wolf” is a game in which we don’t need special materials.

It’s really an easy game to play with your friends, the only things you need is a group of people,
a wall, and a playground.

To start you must decide who will be Mr. Wolf, and then the game can begin.

Mr. Wolf is placed against the wall and with his/her back to the rest of the players, who are
situated in the opposite end of the playground to Mr. Wolf.

The game begins when the players ask Mr. Wolf loudly: “What’s the time Mr. Wolf?” Mr. Wolf
calls out a time of day. For example, "It's 5 o' clock!" The other players then take the same
number of steps forward as the time called out by the Wolf.

They ask the wolf the same question again and the Wolf answers with a different time like 3 o'
clock. The rest of the players step forward again according to the time called out.

The target of the players is to get Mr. Wolf as close as the can, while Mr. Wolf can’t see where
his/her friend are, so when Mr. Wolf thinks that they are close to him/her, Mr. Wolf can
scream out loud: “Dinner time” which is the cue for the Wolf to chase the players and try to
tag them. The person the wolf catches became the next Mr. Wolf.

The best thing about this game is that there aren’t any losers or winners, all the children who
play are winners, because the target of the game is to get fun all together.
 46

WORD CREATION
Francisco José Soriano Montalbán

HOW TO PLAY - INSTRUCTIONS

 I will write a long word on the blackboard.

 The pupils have to form short words with the letters of the long word.

 There are 5 teams with 5 people in each one.

 The pupils have 3 minutes to create the words.

 The proper names do not count.

 When I say “begin” pupils can start writing

 The team who has got more words when the time finishes will be the winner.

EXAMPLE:

In the word government are hidden such words as: over, men, note, ever…etc

MATERIAL

The blackboard

A paper for each student.

VARIANTS:

As a variation for advanced students, instead of finding words within the word, the student can
write down everything they associate with the word on the blackboard. For example: with
president they could list such words as leader, politician, election, vote, nomination,
campaign…etc

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

McCallum, G. P. (1980). 101 Word Games. Oxford: OUP. p. 94

 47

WORD CHAIN
Ana Urquizú

HOW TO PLAY – INSTRUCTIONS

The teacher says a word, for example “elephant”

The first student must say another word which starts with the last letter of the previous word,
for example: “tea”

The second student must say another word which starts with the last letter of the previous
word, for example: “aunt”

And so on with the rest of the students, who must say a word which starts with the last letter
of the previous word.

A time limit is set for each student to think about his/her word, for example 30 seconds.

The student who gets the spelling wrong of his/her word or spends more than 30 seconds
thinking is eliminated

VARIANT 1

Jesús del Campo Ruano

1. Choose a category for the word chain. Give your students a few options, like Foods,
Animals, Countries, Sports, etc. I can limit it to 3-4 choices.

2. When a category has been chosen, the first player should choose a word that fits the
category. For example, if the category is “Foods”, the first child might pick “tomato”. This
word is the first link in the “chain”.

3. The second player must then think of a new word that starts with the same letter that the
first word ended with. Tomato ends with an “o”, so the second player could say “orange”, or
“oyster” or “onions”, etc.

4. Play continues around the group (when it gets back to the first player, she should continue
play) until a student can’t think of a word. That student is “out”. The student who said the last
successful word begins the next round of play and gets to choose a new category (or use the
same one). Keep playing until only one student is left.
 48

VARIANT 2

The rules would be the same but when one player picks a word with more letters, he scores
higher than the other players. In this variant there aren´t players eliminated. When one player
doesn’t know some answer, this player doesn’t score and the turn passes to the next player.

The winner is the player with the best score.

MATERIAL

- A timer.

Optional material:

- A pen or pencil.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Susan House (1997). An Introduction to Teaching English to Children. Richmond Publishing.

p.45.

Nixon, C. and Tomlinson, M. (2012). Primary Pronunciation Box. Cambridge: CUP. p.109-110.

http://www.beyondthechalkboard.com/activities/word-chains/