TB Activites Database

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TB Activities Database

Number: Level: 1All levels

Name: Chinese WhispersMaterials needed: Nothing, though can be done with word or flash cards

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Put the students in a semi-circle and whisper something to the first student,who then whispers it to the next & so forth. The last student reports what the first

student said to the rest of the class. Have the students move one seat tothe left/right to change who the first & last students are.

Number: Level: 2All levels

Name: Materials needed: Chinese Whisper-race Markers, Flash cards or words cards

Good for: Skills: Vocabulary, Sentence structures, Questions, etc Listening / Speaking / writing

Description:Divide the class into two teams & put them in rows. Put a stack of flash cards orword cards on the floor. Whisper a word to the first students in either row; have

them whisper it to the next student, who whispers it to the next and so forth.The person at the end of the row gets up and picks up the right flash or word

card/writes the word on the board. Increase the difficulty-level by using questions& answers (whisper the question, pick up/answer the answer) or

asking the students to put the words in a sentence.

Number: 3Level: All levelsName: Running dictation

Materials needed: Cut-up sentences put up in the corridor, question sheetGood for: Vocabulary, Sentence structures, Questions, etc

Skills: Listening / Speaking / writing

Description:Divide the class into pairs. Assign a runner and a writer for each pair (later you

can switch halfway through so that the runner becomes the writer, and viseversa). Give the writers the question sheet & have them read the first question tothe runners. Take the runners into the corridor (make sure they come empty-handed, no pencils or paper), find the right answer and ask the students to repeatit to themselves once or twice. Then bring the runners back into the room andhave them recite the answer to their respective writers. Make sure

the writers write it down. Have the writers ask the next question, let the

runners back into the hall-way.. Repeat until all the questions has been answered.

Number: 4Level: All levelsName: All change

Materials needed: Chairs in a semi-circleGood for: Sentence structures, Imperatives, Asking & answering Yes/No-questionsSkills: Listening / Speaking

Description: Model the question/sentence you want used on the board and make sure there areno spare seats in the classroom. Ask a few example questions and tell thestudents who answer "yes" to stand up and change seats. Once you've doneenough examples for the students to understand the activity, grab one of thestudents' chairs yourself while they're changing seats (/remove a chair from thegame). From here on, it's up to the student without a seat at the end of a round toask the next question.

Number: 5Level: All levelsName: Dice drilling

Materials needed: A sufficient number of dice, desired questions / Sentence structures on theboard

Good for: Questions / Sentence structuresSkills: Listening / Speaking

Description: Model a question / question form you want used on the board and explain therules to the students. A higher number means ask the question, a lower numbermeans listen & answer the question and a draw means ask the Teacher a question.Play with a student to begin with, and then have students play in pairs or biggergroups.Alternatively use one dice and assign a sentence or question form for each side ofit. One student rolls the dice and asks a question/says a sentence to the others inhis group.Another version is to use one dice, make the students identify the number theyrolled and count clock/anti-clockwise in their groups. The person who gets thenumber they rolled has to answer the question and is the next person to roll thedice.

Number: 6Level: All levelsName: Question pick-up

Materials needed: Flashcards / Word cards / Question cards / Sentence cardsGood for: Questions

Skills: Listening / Speaking / Reading

Description: Divide your class into pairs. Put cards with questions / flash cards / word cards /unfinished sentences on the floor in the middle of the classroom. Make one out ofeach pair pick up a card, read it and ask it to their partner, who answers/finishes ormakes a sentence. Next they put down the card and pick up a new one.

Alternatively do it with smaller prompt cards in groups.With higher level classes a stage of the activity can be the students writing their

own questions to use.

Number: 7Level: All levelsName: Conversation cards

Materials needed: Flashcards / Word cards / Question cards / Conversation cards / Unfinishedsentences

Good for: Questions / Sentence structures / Vocabulary / etcSkills: Listening / Speaking / reading

Description: This is a version of the above that doesn't involve students moving around. Dividestudents into pairs or larger groups and put a stack of cards upside down on theirdesks. One student takes a card and asks the question / says the word. The otherstudent(s) answers / makes a sentence. With high level classes, alternatively havethe student who picks the card describe the word and the other student(s) guesswhat it is.

Number: 8Level: All levelsName: Don't laugh

Materials needed: NothingGood for: Question forms

Skills: Listening / Speaking

Description: There are a few versions of this game but all rely on the same set-up. Put a fewstudents at the front of the classroom, facing the rest of the class. Tell thesepeople that no matter what questions they are asked they have to answer them,that they are not allowed to laugh no matter what and that if they do, they have toreturn to their seats. Now, have other students in class ask questions using eitherwhat you have previously modeled or from the top of their heads.

Here are a few versions of the game:Yes or No qs = Assign the students at the front an answer (yes or no). No matterthe question the students have to use that answer.Wh-questions, Tomato = Assign the students at the front a word with which theyhave to answer any question they get.Wh-questions, truth only = Suitable for higher levels. The students has to answerany questions they're asked truthfully.

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Number: 9Level: All levels

Name: Truth or dareMaterials needed: Nothing

Good for: Questions & ImperativesSkills: Listening / Speaking

Description: As the title says. Tell the class that truth means you have to answer any questionand that dare means being told to do something. Give the students a short while towrite down questions as well as imperatives. The activity itself can be conductedwith the entire class or in groups, as a mill drill or even as part of the attendance.

Number: 10Level: All levelsName: Stand up on yes

Materials needed: NothingGood for: Yes or no questions, Imperatives


Description: This is a simple activity for drilling yes or no questions. Tell the students thatanswering yes means they have to stand up whereas answering no means theyhave to sit down. If needed, model it a few times. To begin with, ask a fewquestions yourself and check that the students understand the activity. Later on,rely on stronger students in class to ask the questions.

Number: 11Level: TB1B +Name: Spot the difference

Materials needed: Nothing / realiaGood for: Prepositions of place, Past & present of "to be"


Description: First, check that the students know basic prepositions of place and the past &present forms or "to be". Use it to describe different students' position in theclassroom (He or she is next to / between / opposite him or her). Next, send one ortwo students out of the room. While they are waiting outside, switch a few of thestudents around in the classroom. Once you've brought the waiting students backinside, tell them to try and spot what's different from when they left the room.Alternatively use realia on an EL table or on the floor (for instance, the pen is nextto / on / under the eraser, etc).A different version is to present something to the class (say, a student or a thing)and then send it out of the room. Next have the class describe what you justshowed them.

Number: 12Level: All levelsName: Guess who / what

Materials needed: Flash cards or word cards

Good for: Adjectives / comparatives / superlatives and other ways for describing people,animals, places or things

Skills: Listening / Speaking / Writing / Reading

Description: This can be done in different ways and on several topics. For people, have thestudents describe a person in class without saying his or her name. The otherstudents listen and guess who it is. To expand on the activity, have the studentswrite it down first. Later the results can be switched around between groups orread to the class by one of the students.If you want the students to describe a place, an animal or a thing (or even peoplenot in class) you can put words or flash cards on the board for it.

Number: 13Level: All levelsName: Giving instructions

Materials needed: Desired realia, instruction cardsGood for: Imperatives, Prepositions of place

Skills: Listening / Speaking / Reading

Description:Put realia and a stack of instruction cards on a table in the middle of the

classroom. Check that the students can say where the items are in relation toone another (for instance the pen is next to / on / in the book). Next, pick up an

instruction card and read it out aloud. Pick one student to carry out that

i —_________ instruction \pui ine nexi 10 ine / put tne unaer ine laoie, eicj ana have him or herpick up another instruction card. He or she reads it to the class

ana PICKS anoiner siuaeni io carry oui nis insiruciions, eic.

Number: 14Level: All levelsName: One-out

Materials needed: Flash cards or word cardsGood for: Skills- Vocabulary, Sentence structures

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Description:Put four flash / word cards on the board. Explain to the students that one flash /

word card doesn't fit in and that you're not so sure which. The students have togive you suggestions and tell you why (for instance, "The cat, because the catdoesn't like water", etc). Can be conducted as a whole-class activity or as ateam game, and can be expanded on by allowing students to choose the flashcards themselves and have the class guess which one is out.

Number: Level: 15 TB3A +

Name: Materials needed: Liar Liar / Have you ever... Pen & paper, questions (optional)

Good for: Present perfectSkills: Listening / Speaking

Assuming you have introduced present perfect for experiences, go over "Have

Description:you ever.." as a question form and either have the students think of their ownquestions or supply them with ready-made ones. Have them ask you thequestions; give true answers to all apart from one. Afterwards, tell the studentsyou lied and ask them what about. Let them guess and allow them to ask youadditional questions ("How was it? / What did it feel like", etc. if any comes up, putthem on the board. If none, this is a good opportunity to teach some) Divide theclass into groups of four or five and tell the students to write down their answersto the questions; however, for each group one student has to lie for every question(It shouldn't be the same person who lies for each question). Also tell the studentsto think of the answers to any potential questions they might be askedOnce the students are done, tell the students to ask questions and try to find theliars in the other group.

Number: 19Level: TB3A +Name: Snake story, written form

Materials needed: Flash cards / Word cardsGood for: Linkers, Grammar, VocabularySkills: Reading / Writing

Description: Give each student a paper and explain to them that you're going to write stories.Have each student write a first sentence on their respective pieces of paper. Next,tell them to pass their papers to the left. Tell the students to read the first sentenceand write a second sentence on their new papers, and then pass them on to theleft / right. Continue until all students have contributed to each story. As a follow-up activity you can put the stories up around the room and have the students votefor the best of the class.

Number: 20Level: All levelsName: Letter Tile Scrabble

Matenals needed: Letter tilesGood for: Spelling

Skills: Reading / Writing

Description: Divide the class into teams of appropriate size. Give each a set of letter tiles in aparticular color & name the teams after their colors (yellow / green / red). Usingletter tiles, spell a word on the floor in the middle of the classroom and giveyourself (team teacher) as many points as letters you used. Show the studentshow they have to use letters that are already on the floor to spell new words. Thatdone, allow each team to add words in turns. If they misspell or can't think of aword in good time, they have to skip a turn and let another team have a go. Thegroup with the highest number of points toward the end of class wins.

Number: 21Level: All levelsName: Grammar auction

Materials needed: Flash cards / Word cardsGood for: Grammar

Skills: Listening / Speaking / Reading / Writing

Description: Divide the class into an appropriate number of teams and give them a total of 100points each. Then write a sentence with a simple grammatical mistake on theboard. Ask the students whether it is right or wrong and how sure of it they are inpercentage (50% sure / 75 % sure & so on). Tell them to write it as well as thecorrect form (if they think it's wrong) of the sentence down on a piece of paper.Check each teams' sentence & number; if they are correct, give as many points asthe number they wrote. If they're wrong, take the same number away from theirpoints tally. Tell the students that you are going to write more sentences on theboard that might be right or wrong; they can bet points on either, though if it'swrong they have to say why. From now on do not use percentage, just numbers.Using appropriate grammar from the course, this can be a good revision activityfor any TB level. It can be expanded on by making the teams put up their ownsentence (right or wrong) toward the end of the game.

Number: 22Level: All levelsName: Playing cards

Materials needed: A deck of cardsGood for: Questions & AnswersSkills: Speaking / Listening

Description: First, introduce the symbols and values of the card. Depending on the size of yourclass, do not use a full deck (only two or three symbols, only numbers / facecards). Give each student a card. Next, explain to them that you'll call out arandom number. The student who has it has to stand up and answer a question.Next, that person has to call out another number and ask that person a question,and so forth.

Number: 23Level: Communicative CrosswordName: All levels

Materials needed: Crossword sheetsGood for: VocabularySkills: Listening / Speaking / Reading

Description: Make a crossword word sheet with only half the clues on the first sheet and theother half of the clues on a second sheet; say, clues for down on sheet A and cluesfor across on sheet B. Elicit questions to use and divide the class into pairs. Thatdone, let the students try to solve to solve the crossword by asking each other forthe clues.Alternatively leave only one clue on each person's crossword, with an emptycrossword and blanks for the clues. Ask the students to stand up and ask otherpeople in class for their clues in order to solve the puzzle.

Number: 24Level: Lower levelsName: Spelling bee

Materials needed: StudentsGood for: VocabularySkills: Speaking / Listening / Writing / Reading

Description: Put a word on the board. Ask a student to come up and write a word that startswith the final letter of the first word. Next student writes a word that ends with thefinal letter of the second word, and so forth. Alternatively do a verbal versionwhere the students listen and say it instead of writing it down.


Name: Four cornersMaterials needed: Flash cards / Word cards

Good for: Sentence structures, Adverbs of frequency, Expressing opinions, etcSkills: Listening / Speaking

Description: Put four or five word cards on the floor around the room; preferably not too closeto one another. Ask the students a question and tell them to go to the word cardthat would be an appropriate answer for them (For instance, if you're practicingexpressing opinions, the question could be "What do you think about swimming?"and the options might be "1 like", "1 don't care for", "1 hate" and "I'm crazyabout"). Make sure they not only go to the word card but also give you an answer.To make it slightly more difficult, have one of the students asking the questions.To make it even more difficult, have the students at each option ask each other aquestion about it (Why don't you like it? / Why do you do it? / How many times aweek do you.., etc)

Number: 26Level: All levelsName: Two sides, preferences

Materials needed: Flash cards / Word cardsGood for: Yes / No questions, Sentence structures, Giving reasons


Description: This is slightly different version of the activity above. Tell the students that oneside of the classroom means yes and the other one means no. Ask them a fewYes/No - questions and have them choose which side of the classroom to go to.Alternatively give the students two options and tell them to go to the one theyprefer (for instance city vs. country-side).

To up the difficulty level, make some of the students ask the questions. To make it even more difficult, have the students at each side ask each other why they chose / answered what they did.

Number: 27Level: All levelsName: Categories

Materials needed: Whiteboard, Pen & paperGood for: Vocabulary


Description: Divide the students into teams and put a few categories they should be familiarwith on the board. Ask for a letter from the alphabet. Tell the students that youwant a word from each category starting with this letter. Conduct a practice roundtogether first. Then explain that each word is worth one point as long as no otherteam wrote down the same word, that only one word is allowed for each categoryand that they only have two minutes to write them down. Play it for a few letters ofthe alphabet, checking up on what each team has written at the end of each round.The team with the most points toward the end of the game wins.

Number: 28Level: All levelsName: Crazy Sentences

Materials needed: Flash cards / Word cards, pen & paperGood for: Vocabulary, Grammar

Skills: Reading/Writing

Description: Divide the class into groups of two or more and put a mixed stack of flash cards inthe middle of the room. Ask a student from each team to pick up a certain numberof flash cards at random. That done, ask the students to write a

sentence using all the words they got. Once they are done, put back the flash cards and ask someone to mix them up. Do it for a couple of rounds. Alternatively this activity could be used as a follow-up to either categories or Tutti Fruti (i.e. using the words that the students came up with in either of thoseactivities).

Number: 29Level: All levelsName: Pictionary

Materials needed: Flash cards / Word cards, WhiteboardGood for: Vocabulary, Structures

Skills: Speaking / Listening

Description: Divide the class into teams and bring two students to the white-board. Tell them tobe quiet, either show them a flash card or whisper a word to them and ask them todraw it on the board. The first team to guess what the picture is gets a point.To increase the difficulty level, use words that consist of two or more simplerwords and tell the students that they may only draw individual parts of the word(for example, hairbrush. The student may only draw hair & brush). Alternatively doa backward version where the rest of the class see's the picture and has to tell thedrawers what it is in English. If competitive, the first drawer to finish a decentillustration of what he heard earns a point for his team.

Number: 30Level: All levelsName: Tutti Fruti

Materials needed: Whiteboard, Pen & PaperGood for: Spelling, Meta language (optional)


Description: Somewhat similar to the activity above, this game is more of a filler thaneducational of nature. Divide the students into teams and draw a grid on theboard with numbers 2, 3, 4 and 5. Ask for a letter of the alphabet and tell thestudents that you want a word for each number (as in a word with so and so manyletters) that's starting with that letter. Give one point a word. The group with themost points at the end of the game is the winning team.Alternatively use Meta language points instead of numbers and ask for, say, averb, a noun, an adjective, a preposition and an adverb starting with that letter.Give one point for each word. The group with the most points at the end of thegame is the winning team

Number: 31Level: All levelsName: Telephone numbers

Materials needed: StudentsGood for: Telephone English, Dialogues, Numbers

Skills: Speaking / Listening / Writing

Description: Put your birth-date on the board. Ask for the students to do the same. That done,model calling on the phone and explain to the students that their birthdates noware their phone-numbers. Pretend to dial one of the numbers on the board(preferably that of a strong student in the class), reading it out loud asyou do, and say start talking to him / asking him questions / ideally doing adialogue you've previously introduced. When you finish the dialogue, ask thestudent to call someone else in class. Repeat as few times you want or until allstudents have participated once.Consider following up by making students write their own telephone conversationin pairs.

Number: 32

Level.

Name:MM levels Pass the flash cards

Materials needed: Nothing / White-board and markersGood for:CLFIHC'

Vocabulary, Questions, Sentence structures, etc

OKIIIS. opeaKing / Listening

Description: This is a conversational variant of pass the parcel. Divide students into pairs andmodel questions you want the students to use on the board. Give a flash card toeach pair and have them ask each other about for however long theirlanguage level allows them to. Stop them at an appropriate time and make thempass their flash cards to the left / right. Give them a reasonable amount of time toask about their new flash card until you switch them around again, etc etc., """"IS- 7:

uan De aone just as wen wun topics or worci caras at mgner levels.

Number: 33Level: All levelsName: Word association

Materials needed: Students, flash cards / RealiaGood for: Vocabulary & Categories


Description: Asks the students to stand up in front of their chairs. Explain to them that you'lltell them a category and that they have five seconds to tell you a word from it. Ifthey can't think of a word they have to sit down.With higher levels, alternatively have to think of something they associate with aword and why.

Number: 34Level: All levelsName: Spelling relay

Materials needed: Markers / Word cardsGood for: Vocabulary & Spelling

Skills: Reading / Writing / Listening

Description: Divide the class into teams and spread out two sets of word cards at one end ofthe room. Tell the students a word and ask them how to spell it, though make itclear that only one person a team may stand up and that they may only get oneletter at the time. When a student has fetched a letter he or she must sit downand let another person sit up. The first team to spell the word (on the board,

using bluetak, or even on the floor) is the winning team.

Make them pick up the letters using chopsticks for laughs and upped difficulty.Alternatively use the board and a marker a team.

Number: 35Level: All levelsName: Spin the bottle

Materials needed: Empty bottlesGood for: Asking and answering questions


Description: Model the question forms you want used and place an empty bottle in themiddle of the classroom. Spin it once and ask the student who the bottle ispointing at. Once they have answered the question, have them spin the bottleagain and ask whoever the bottle chooses for them. Can be played as a whole-class activity or in smaller groups.

NUmKer: 36Level: All levelsName: Battleships

Materials needed: Battleship gridsGood for: Vocabulary / Questions / Ordinal numbers

Skills: Listening / Speaking / Reading / Writing

Description: This is a classroom version of the actual game that can be done either individuallyin pairs. Provide each student with a grid and a set of vocabulary items you wantthem to use. These vocabulary items are the "ships". First have the students placetheir ships, then pre-teach the question / phrase you want them to use and putthem face-to-face. They have to find where on the grid their opponent's items are(A1, C5, etc).Alternatively use a small grid (three or four columns) and assign a category toeach column (for example in the living room, in the bedroom and in the kitchen).First have the students fill out the grids with items for each category. Next, put thestudents face-to-face and pre-teach an appropriate question (for example "Do youhave a in the kitchen / living room / bedroom?"). First to guess what theiropponent wrote for one or all categories is the winner.

Number: 37Level: All levelsName: Jeopardy

Materials needed: Whiteboard, Appropriate questions and answersGood for: Questions and answers

Skills: Speaking / Listening / Writing / Reading

Description: Divide the class into teams and explain to them that you will tell them a sentence.They have to think of a question to which the sentence could be an answer. Ifthey're first to answer correctly they earn points for their respective teams. Thesentences can be supplied verbally, one point an answer, or you can draw a propergrid on the board with topics and difficulty levels (more points for more difficultquestions) and let the winner of a round choose next topic and difficulty level.To expand on the activity, follow up with a final round where each team thinks of asentence to tell the class. Other teams have to guess the question form and bethowever much of whatever points they collected over the first stage of the game. Ifthey're right, they get their points. If they're wrong, their points go to the team thatwrote the question.

Number: 38Level: All levelsName: Logic Puzzle

Materials needed: Cut-up clues, Grid sheet (optional)Good for: Vocabulary, Prepositions of place, Grammar

Skills: Speaking / Listening / Reading / Writing

Description: Divide the class into groups, draw a 3 x 3 grid on the board and provide thestudents with nine vocabulary items. Tell them each vocabulary item has a place inthe grid and that they have to find it (assign a relevant name for the grid; a field forvegetables, shelves in a toy store for toys).Next, give the each group a set of clues (These should be prepared before-handand should not tell you the exact location of an item, but rather its relationship toanother item in the grid). Make sure that each student gets at least one or two. Tellthem to read the clues to their group in order to figure where each item belongs inthe grid.This is just an example of a communicative lateral thinking activity. Plenty morecan be done with some time and preparation.

Number: 39Level: All levelsName: Guess the outfit

Materials needed: Students, flash cards (optional)Good for: Yes / no - questions, Vocabulary


Description: Put the students in two rows, back to back, and model the question "Are youwearing..." + relevant answers. Students have to guess what the person behindthem is wearing. Switch students around a few times to extend activity. Throw inadjectives to make it slightly more challenging (i.e. "Are you wearing a greensweater?", etc)Can be done with body parts or adjectives as well, or even with flash cards thatthe students are holding.

Number: 40Level: All levelsName: Dominoes

Materials needed: Domino cards, EL-table (optional, the floor can be used)Good for: Vocabulary

Skills: Speaking / Listening / Reading

Description: This is another activity that requires quite a bit of preparation. Make a set ofdomino cards for however many teams you want in your class. Randomly puteither pictures and written forms of vocabulary, items associated with one anotheror words and definitions on them (or any other alternative you can think of). Set upthe activity by having the students look at the cards and match them to the best oftheir ability in their groups (this is a basic activity in itself). Once they're ready tostart, explain to them that the point of the game you're about to play is to get rid ofas many domino cards as possible. They can only put down cards in turns and ifthey make a mistake, they have to wait until the next turn. Start by putting a carddown on the middle of the table. If the first team can match one of their cards toeither end of yours, they may. If they haven't within a reasonable amount of time,move on to the next team. The group with the least amount of cards toward theend of the activity is the winning team.

Number: 41Level: All levelsName: Guess the outfit

Materials needed: Students, flash cards (optional)Good for: Yes / no - questions, Vocabulary


Description: Put the students in two rows, back to back, and model the question "Are youwearing..." + relevant answers. Students have to guess what the person behindthem is wearing. Switch students around a few times to extend activity. Throw inadjectives to make it slightly more challenging (i.e. "Are you wearing a greensweater?", etc)Can be done with body parts or adjectives as well, or even with flash cards thatthe students are holding.

Number: 42Level: Lower levelsName: Game-show

Materials needed: Flash cards / Word cardsGood for: Vocabulary


Description: This is a simple way of drilling vocabulary. Put flash cards of words you haveintroduced on the floor or the white-board so that the students can't see them. Askthem where something is. They turn a flash card around; if they're right, they keepit, if they're wrong, they put it back. Go on until every vocabulary item has beenfound.

Number: 43Level: All levelsName: Memory

Materials needed: Flash cards and Word cardsGood for: Vocabulary

Skills: Speaking / Listening / Reading

Description: First, divide the students in pairs and give them a set of flash cards and wordcards a pair (ideally the flash cards and the word cards are on different coloredpaper). Tell them to match the pictures to the words. That done, tell them to put thecards upside down and mix them up. Now, tell them to take turns and pick up oneflash and one word card. If they get a match, they keep it. The person who got themost matches at the end is the winner.Can also be done as a whole-class activity with flash cards and word cards on

the floor.

Number: 44Level: Lower levelsName: What's missing

Materials needed: Flash cards / Word cardsGood for: Vocabulary


Description: This is yet another way to cover vocabulary. Put a set of vocabulary items on theboard or the floor and give the students a moment to look at them. Next, tellthe students to close their eyes for a second. While they're not looking, remove

an item and ask the students what's missing.

Alternatively write a list of vocabulary on the board and give the students a minuteto go over them. That done, take them off the board. Now ask the

students what the words were.

Number: 45Level: TB1B +Name: Interviews

Materials needed: Pen & paperGood for: Questions & answers

Skills: Speaking / Listening / Writing

Description: This is a role-play activity that can be done on a variety of topics. Depending onwhat you're doing, set up a relevant context (radio interview, job interview, TVinterview, etc) and divide the class into interviewers and interviewees. Dependingon their level, you can have each person think of individual questions and answersat this point. That done, pair up each interviewer with an interviewee and getstarted.

To extend activity, switch pairs around after a few minutes.

Number: Level: 46 All levels

Name: Travel PoemMaterials needed: Pen & Paper

Good for: VocabularySkills: Reading / Writing / Speaking / Listening

Description:Assuming you've taught your class the senses, bring them on a walk aroundschool and talk about what your senses register in different rooms. Next, dividethe class into pairs and tell the class that you'll give them ten minutes to walkabout on their own. Over these ten minutes they should choose a few places in theschool and write down what they can see, hear, smell and perhaps even feel there.

Once your students have finished, you can ask the pairs to swap papers aroundand give them five to ten minutes to find which places the other groups wroteabout. Alternatively bring them back into the classroom, have students report

what they wrote (as a whole-class or pair to pair activity) and the listeners toguess which room they're talking about.

Number: 47Level: All levelsName: Hangman

Materials needed: Whiteboard

Good for: VocabularySkills: Speaking / Listening

Description:There are plenty of variations of this filler. You can do the classic version,

asking your class for letters to work out the sentence you want on the board.Alternatively you can ask them questions for each letter; having figured out theanswer, the students put the initial letter of the answer keyword into the puzzle.Another version is to only think of a word. The students have to ask questions inorder to guess the verb. Every question as well as every wrong guess adds a

line to the hangman drawing.Each version can be done by a student.

Number: 48Level: TB3A +

Name: Materials needed: now wen QO you Know meR Prepared questions & answers

Good for: Questions & AnswersSkills: Reading / Speaking / Listening Thte activity renuires a hit of oreoaration You need

a set of cards for each

Description:groups with relevant questions (whichever question forms you want to use,

though it is perhaps better for conditional practice) and three possible answers.

Model with the whole class by reading one of the cards (question and answers)out loud. Tell the students to guess what your answer will be. Give the studentwho first guesses the right answer your card. Now, divide the class into groups ofthree or four and give them a set of cards each. Tell them to put them in a stackupside down. The students have to draw cards in turns and read them to theirgroups. The listeners have to guess which answer they'd choose and collect asmany cards as possible.

Number: 49Level: All levelsName: Question match

Materials needed: Questions cards, Situation cardsGood for: Past simple, Questions

Skills: Reading / Speaking / Listening

Description: Prepare a few sets of cards (as many as how many groups you want) with simplesituations on them and cards with questions on for each individual student. Eachquestion should match with one of the situation cards. Divide the class into pairsof four and five, give each group a stack of situation cards and each student a setof question cards. Start the game by turning up a situation card. If any student hasa relevant question (for instance, "What did you eat?" for "1 went to dinner lastnight.") they may put their card on the table. Tell the class that the first person tolose all of his or her cards is the winner.

Number: 50Level: All levelsName: Fashion Show

Materials needed: NothingGood for: Vocabulary


Description: This is a good way to review clothes and accessories. Elicit what a model does orperhaps even show the class a video clip of a catwalk show. Next, tell the studentsthat you're going to have a fashion show in the classroom. Model first. Thenassign one student to be a reporter and another to be a model; have the reporterdescribe the model's outfit as he or she walks around the room (to up the classparticipation, have listening students ask questions; "Where was it made", "Whatis it made of") That done, the model becomes the reporter and another studentstands up to be the model.

Do until each student has participated at least once. Alternatively divide the classinto groups and have each group prepare their own show.

Number: 51Level: All levelsName: Dictation

Materials needed: Pen & Paper / Dictation HandoutGood for: Vocabulary

skiii^- Reading / Writing / Speaking / Listening

Description: Prepare a story handout with omitted words. Explain to the students that you'regoing to tell them a story; they have to listen, follow the storyline on the handoutand write down the missing words. Repeat the story twice or thrice to give all thestudents a fair chance of finishing the activity.

Alternatively divide the class into pairs and give each student one half of thecomplete story, the other half with words left out. The students have to read theirhalf of the story to their partner, who has to listen and try to fill in the gaps on hiscopy. As they move on to the second passage of the story they switch roles.

For a simpler version, skip the story and use simple vocabulary only.

Number: 52I AIIAI'LCVCI. All levels

Name: Question gap fillMaterials needed: Prepared handouts

Good for: Vocabulary, Question productionSkills: Reading / Writing / Speaking / Listening

Description:Similar to a pair dictation, prepare two separate handouts with, say, two differentparts of a story. Each part of the story should have words left out as well asquestion prompts in brackets. The students have to look at the question prompts,ask their partner and write down his or her answer. Once finished, have thestudents read the results - most likely it's a rather hilarious story.


Name: Gist hand clapMaterials needed: Book listening, Hands >.>

Good for: VocabularySkills: Listening

Description:This is a good activity for gist-listening. Put words or flash cards you've taught onthe board. Tell the students to clap their hands (or any other simple action you'drather have them do) when they hear one of the words. Concept-check first bytelling them words to see whether they do it or not. That done, play the listening.Afterwards, ask the students how many times they clapped and what the wordswere.

Number: 54Level: All levelsName: Put the lyrics in order

Materials needed: CD (optional), Cut-up lyricsGood for: Listening

Skills: Reading / Listening

Description: ■Give the students a cut-up version of the song lyrics you want to use and tell themthat you're going to listen to a song. Next, start the CD / start singing and have thestudents try to work out in which order to put the sentences. Be prepared to singor play the CD a couple of times before they get it all right.

A good follow-up to the activity could be to actually sing the song.

Number: 55Level: All levelsName: Ispy

Materials needed: Pen & PaperGood for: Vocabulary


Description:This is a simple way to review vocabulary. Originally you tell the students theinitial letter of a thing you see ("1 spy, with my little eye, something beginningwith..."). This is a good enough activity with lower level students. For higher levelclasses, have the students describe the item they're seeing or thinking aboutusing more advanced language.

Number: Level:Name: Materials

needed: Good for:

56All levels Bingo Pen & Paper Vocabulary

Skills:

Description:Reading / Writing / Speaking / Listening This is a basic

activity that's good for reviewing vocabulary. Hand out grids to each student(5x5,4x4 or however big or small you want) and tell them to write a word in eachsquare. It's best to limit the vocabulary to a category or two (food / adjectives forpeople / etc). Tell the students to listen to the words you call out

Number: and check them if they are on their grids. When they get: a full row (down, acrossor diagonally) they call out "bingo".

57 TR9R +

Levei. Name: Materials needed:Good for:

Clfillc

1 UC.LJ ~Murder game Prepared sentence prompts Past continuous

oKIIIS.

Description:Reading / opeaKing / Listening Tell the students that

there was a murder at EF last night. According to the police investigation the murder occurred at about 5 PM. Now, tell them that they, as students at EF, are allsuspects. All but two of them.

Assign two students to be police officers and send them out of the room. Thatdone, hand out answer prompts to all the other students. Two of the students'

answer prompts have a logical flaw to it (eat breakfast, for instance); thesestudents are the murderers. Tell the students that when the police ask them

Number:1 ouol'

questions they have to answer what they have on their paper.

Now, let the police officers back in and elicit what to ask the suspects ("What wereyou doing at 5 PM yesterday?"). Have the police walk around and question theclass (as well as write down the answers, if you so wish) until they've found therobbers. It will probably take them several turns.

58 TB2B +

Level.Name: Materials needed: Good

for: Skills:

Description:

Alibi game NoneQuestions and Answers Reading / Writing / Speaking

/ Listening This is a good follow-up to the activity above. Establish who the murderers are and ask the class how sure they are about it. Then tell the class that the murderers have an alibi. Teach what an alibi is and tell the murderers to leave the room in order to get their stories straight.

While the murderers are sorting out their stories, setup the rest of the class to bea court. Divide it into two groups and tell them they'll interrogate each murderer inturns. If needed, elicit a few questions they could ask. Tell them to write down theanswers and try to find any differences to the murderers' stories. Next, let themurderers in and have the groups interrogate them for five minutes each. Towardthe end of the activity, have the entire class report what they found out and saywhether the murderers are guilty or not.

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