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Simple activity
Helps to practice "She is at the shopping mall" etc.

Before class write up a whole bunch of English names and cut out. Bring sticky tape to class.

In class draw a simple town on the board. Big boxes with the names of the place eg. The Doctor's/The Supermarket/The movies.

Go through the names-is this a he or a she?
Go through the places-what is this? what do you do there?
Help them with pronunciation

Lastly in divide into teams. With 42 students I have 4 teams. They are split into 4 teams(4 rows). 2 rows race first then the next 2.
The winners and the losers can race each other.

One member from 2 teams takes a name card and asks the student they sit next to "Where is Michelle/Tom/Keri" etc. The student sitting can choose any place "She is at the bakery" questionee runs to the board and places it in the correct shop. as soon as one student from the team finished the next member can begin. Which ever team finishes first wins. I hope you get the idea. It's easy and enjoyable.

Nerissa Je-cheon, Korea

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I have finally found the perfect picture dictionary for kids at the elementary level! It's called The Oxford Picture Dictionary for Kids. The topics are varied and fit in beautifully with classroom curriculum. The scenes for each topic span across two pages with basic vocab listed at the bottom. Characters are found throughout the book and students recognize and connect themes through characters.

I have great discussions with my first graders using just the scenes and sometimes the stories/songs/dialogues from the cassettes. With my older students I use the work books, chants, activity books, charts and cassettes!

It's fun AND I can teach vocabulary, grammar and basic writing skills with it!

Denise Hannaoui
Long Island, NY

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Here's an activity I pulled out of the hat when faced suddenly with twenty five, rather than my usual ten students.
For this activity, the kids will need to be familiar with numbers up to one hundred, and the names of various foods, fruit and vegetables etc. You need food flashcards and a large wad of photocopied or paper money (preferably in local currency). Give each child a flashcard with an item of food on it and then wave your wad of cash at them (this invariably draws their attention). Choose a bright spark and approach them as though they were a shopkeeper. Ask them "How much is this apple/ banana/ bar of chocolate?" Let the child decide on a price and either pay for your item or say "No, thankyou". If you like, bargain with them to lower the price by saying "That's too expensive! How about five yuan?" Encourage them to continue bargaining until you both agree a price. Make sure they get the correct money and you get your shopping. After modelling the dialogue for a while, encourage some of the brighter students to continue in pairs. Then, dole out equal amounts of fake moolah to the kids - who will really perk up at this point - and tell them to go shopping! Encourage them to bargain by announcing that the winner is the person who makes the most money! All the budding shopkeepers should go crazy at this point and the air should soon be thick with the sound of frantic haggling. Monitor carefully to make sure all are participating. At the end, go round asking the kids to count out their takings for the day. Give a small prize to the biggest capitalists; or just warm congratulations if you're not into bribes. Make sure none of the fake currency makes it onto the local black market!

Kirsten
EF Shanghai

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I had a few students who were having trouble retaining vocabulary words. So, each week I taped various picures on the table in front of each child's chair. the pictures all pertained to a specific topic area, for example, "summer" . Then , each day upon arrival, the students would practice their word. when i felt the children had mastered their word, we played games with the pictures. The children feel good about mastering words and learn a lot of vocabulary in the process! And the great thing about it is that this activity only takes about 2 minutes each day!

Lorie
Huntington, NY, USA

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I taught kindergarten for a while and started using puppets during lessons. I bought a purpose-made duck but anything can be adapted to make a puppet, like an old sock with buttons for eyes or even a sponge. Don't forget to give it a name !
The puppet was introduced as being a new classmate to the children and I used it to participate in lessons when I taught new vocabulary or simple grammar. I would make the puppet give wrong answers and encourage the children to correct it by saying, "Is that right ? Is the answer ..... ?" When the children knew the target language, they desperately wanted the puppet too, as well, and would shout out the answers to help the puppet. Even though the puppet was at the end of my hand and it was obvious that I was providing the voice, the children still went along with the idea and enjoyed helping their new "classmate".
The original idea came from Peter Houry at Daruna International School in Ratchaburi, Thailand. To him I send my thanks.

Steffie Cavanagh,
Bangkok, Thailand

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Little kids usually only recognize one word in a question... With kindergarteners I sometimes get "I'm 5 years old," when I ask them, "How are you today?"
So, to alleviate this problem, I just pass a ball around the room. When I pass the ball to student A he has to answer a question, then he passes the ball to student B, C, D... any student. He then has to ask any question. It helps them understand the questions a little more. And, it breaks the monotony of having me only ask the questions. I'm surprised each time when I see how excited they get when I bring the ball into class. (Am I really that boring of a teacher???)
I also ask students how many pieces of candy they want. If they want one, then I ask them one question and they have to ask me one question. If they want 10, then they have to answer and ask 10. If they complete the task they're awarded with one, two, ten, etc. pieces of candy. Simple stuff.
Mike, S.Korea

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I teach K-3 ESL in a public school - this game is good for K-1 ESL students who are learning their ABCs and their sounds.

The first thing you need is an ABC puzzle - I got mine at the Dollar Store. Mine is foam with pop-out letters. I used a black permanent marker to write the letters again on each letter (only because for younger kids the outline of the letter was a little difficult & this way they definitely know which way the letters go).

Next, split your class up into groups - I usually do two groups because I have no more than 7 students in each pull-out class. Then, I push all of the letters out of the puzzle and put them on the table, face-up.

Next, I have one person in each group pick a number between 1 & 5 to see who goes first (you know how this works).

Then, I ask Student 1 (S1) to find the letter ____. In order to get a point for his/her team, S1 has to find the letter by him/herself and then tell me the letter's sound and a word that begins with that letter & sound. So, if I say, "Find me the letter 'C'", S1 has to find it and then say, "C-ca-cat" or "C-sa-celery", but they can't get the point if they say, "C-ca-celery" becuase it's the wrong sound.

After S1 is done in group one, I go to S1 in group two, then S2 in group one and S2 in group two, etc. I use tally marks to incorporate a different way to visualize numbers.

Sometimes it's hard for K-1 students to except the fact they got one wrong, so I always butter up the situation with positive reinforcement. If I have a newcomer w/ less English, or a student who still is lacking in his/her ABCs and their sounds, then I always try to pick the easier letters for them to find, like A, B, D, etc., not C, G, H, etc. (the ones they're more apt to make a mistake on).

The kids love this game and it's a good way to reinforce their ABCs and sounds to further develop their reading skills. You can give prizes to the winning team (like stickers or stamps), but sometimes this causes heartache for the kids who didn't win, so I usually just say, "Great job, everyone! Maybe next time Team Two will win!"

Stephanie García G.
a small city, New York

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I teach a group of hyperactive 5 to 10 year olds. This was a game I used to keep them entertained while learning directions. First I had them marching(and marching each other) around the room to "Go left", "turn right". Once they got the hang of that, I produced the blindfolds. The students were divided into teams and one team member ws blindfolded. Now there are a number of options.
- You can make an obstacle course where the teams have to race their player through the maze using only oral instructions. This can also be a relay race.
- You can scatter a number of objects around the room (toys, pens - stuff they've already studied). Yell out a object (or number of objects) eg "two red pens and an elephant". The winner is the (blindfolded) player who finds those object first (following the instructions of their team).
- If you've taught "up' and "down" you can also play "Pin th Tail on the Donkey" with the team giving instructions on where to put the tail. I actually use parts of the face cut out of cardboard. This way it's a race and everyone gets a chance to give and follow instructions.

These games are all fairly chaotic, but that's what kids like and they seem to be actually enjoying spaking English.
Alison Myers, Bangkok

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A fun game for reviewing body parts and numbers!

You need: two cubes of wood (1 sq inch each)
markers

On one cube (on each of the 6 sides) you draw eyes, ears, mouth, hair, hands, feet
(or any other body parts you are working on)
and on the other cube you write out the numbers - one, two, three, six, ten, twelve...
(or any of the numbers that you are presently working on).

The student "throws the dice" and has to draw the outcome on his paper: twelve eyes,
three noses and six feet, etc...

The student continues until he has filled in all six body parts and colored in his monster.

For younger students, I wrote out the numbers (1,2,3...) and also draw the body parts along
with the words.

For more advanced students, we then write about our monsters,i.e. where are they from,
what do they eat and where do they sleep....

Have fun and watch out for monsters!

Judie Shermak
Kibbutz Beeri, Israel

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This game is a wonderful warm up for practising prepositions while incorporating already learned vocabulary, though it takes some preparation, either before class or when the children are told to shut their eyes. I write on little slips of paper and hide them around the classroom.
One leads to another. example: ' Look under the waste bin', where the children find a slip that says,'on the teacher's desk' where they find a slip with,' beside the restroom door' or,' in front of the computer'. Inevitably the children read these instructions outloud. If they have difficulty un

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This game is good as a warm-up activity. It can help students to think back of the words they have already known. The goal for the participating students are to write and say words correctly and do it as fast as possible, so their team will have longer wordlist and better chance to win the game.
You need a stack of poker cards for keeping score in this activity. Divide your students into two teams and divide your blackboard into two halves, too. The members of each team take turns to write a word on the board and say it out. Two teams can write and say a word at the wame time. Therefore, you may find a little chaos in your class. A word can only be used in each team for once, but it is Ok the the same word appear on the word lists of both teams. Therefore, you have to keep an eye on you students' lists and listen to their pronunciation of the words. When a student spells a word and pronounces it correctly, s/he is allow to draw a card to score for her/his team ( Ace stands for 1 point, while J, Q, K represent for 11, 12 and 13). The activity ends when the poker cards are finished, and the two teams start to calculate total points they have scored. The team that has the higher score wins the game.
If you have a lower level class, you can allow your students to have textbook/notebook with them while writing. HOwever, if your students are at a higher level, you can adjust this activity by restricting the books for set limit on the minimum number of letters for each word.
I use the activity very often and I like the effect it has on my class. Try and see if you like it or not. Welcome to discuss your opinon with me!

Cathy Kuo
e7631395@gcn.net.tw
Taiwan

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This is a good game for numbers, letters, phonics and reading the letter sounds, reading words, pictures of things etc.
It goes like the regular go-fish. Make cards of anything you want to study in sets of four. Four "A"s, "B"s etc. Divide class into two teams and put up a barrier between them so they can't see each others` cards. Shuffle cards and pass out ten or so to each team. Then choose a team to be first to say a letter name etc. With phonics I have them say the letter sound, if they say the letter name they lose a turn. After they have said their letter or sound, the other team looks through their cards for that letter. If they have it they must give all of those cards to the first team. If not they say "Go-Fish" and the teacher gives one to three cards (depending on how many cards and how much time you have) to the first team. Now the second team gets their turn and so on. Once they have four of the same card they get one point. Have them set their points aside so as to not mix them with the other cards. They can't say the name of a letter they do not have!

Alaina Sato
Hokkaido, Japan

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For this game the whole class is involved. The steps of the game are as follows:
1- The teacher (T.) teaches 8 animal names, by miming, acting out and making the sounds as well.
2- The T. shows the pictures of those animals to the pupils and they repeat the animal names.
3- The T. sticks those 8 pictures on the board face down and writes numbers under them 1-8.
4- The T. shows the written cards of those animals and pupils mime the animal.
5- The T. sticks the written cards on the board face down and writes the letters a-h under the cards.
6- The class is divided into 2 groups and they play this memory game(pelmanism)by saying one numer and one letter (e.g: 3-h)
7- If the two cards (the picture and the written card) match, the group keeps the cards and may have another turn. If not, it's the other groups turn. The group with most cards is the winner.

Submitted by:
Nazan Özçýnar
Hacettpe University

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This activity is based on a piece of literature you are studying.
Glue onto a LARGE dice 6 pictures taken from the book being studied. One per face.
Onto another LARGE dice glue 6 conjunctions, one per face. Example: because, and, hence, etc...
To each conjunction allocate a point or points, the harder the conjunction the more the points.So that "and" might have 1 point,
and "as a result of" might have 6 points.
In small groups (3-4 players) each child takes it in turn to roll both dice and then make up a sentence concerning the picture using the conjunction.
If the other players think the sentence makes sense then the player gets the number of points attached to that particular conjunction.
The player with the most points when the game is halted is the winner.

Jo Berton
Sydney, Australia.

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I have been assigned some tough cases in my school: young people who are not enthusiastic about learning english. One of my students has been studying privately for six years. He's been through every teacher in the school! He is 13 years old now refuses to speak english!!!!

It occurred to me that he might feel that he has absolutely no stake in learning english or participating in a lesson. So I decided to give him an opportunity to be part of the decision-making process that goes into teaching a lesson.

The first day of class, i told him that we were going to write our own english textbook! We looked at several texts as models for our book. We have a list of the grammar we need to include and have chosen some illustrations for the chapters. We set goals together every week and try to stay on schedule. We are using a futuristic theme and have assigned names to our characters. We introduce grammar points and write text. There are sections on reading, writing and eventually we will record some listening exercises.

My student seems to be enjoying the process. He has started to speak english without even knowing it!

The cost of this project is minimal.

I am learning how to be a better teacher by taking on these so-called uninspired learners.

Have fun and good luck!
Stephanie Marino, Lucca, Italy

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"Typhoon" is a great game to play with kids in Taiwan, and other places where typhoons are an everyday reality! It can be used to reinforce any structure taught, or to practice vocabulary, and the kids go crazy. I've never had a class in which it hasn't been a success.

The game is quite simple. You, the teacher, draw a big blank grid on the board, which must be sized according to the size of the class - 3 by 4 if there are 10-12 kids, 5 by 5 for a class of 25, etc. The grid is labelled using letters at the top, and numbers down the side. You should have your own identical grid drawn in your file, in which each square contains a number (0-5), or a "T", for "typhoon." The class is divided into two teams, and questions are put to each kid in the class, going from team to team. If the question if answered correctly, the child chooses a square on the grid. You then consult your book and allocate the number of points in the square to that team. Should a child choose a square with a "T" in it, you shout "typhoon", and the OTHER team loses all the points they've already gained. Fairly simple, but wild, even though it's done on the board - you might need to control the noise level. The team with the most points left at the end of the game is the winner.

This game can be made more interesting by allowing the kids to choose their own team names - they love to use the vocab they've already gained. I also usually draw houses, instead of just allocating points - one side of the house for one point - so that the idea of the typhoon destroying the houses is more obvious.

I must confess that this game wasn't my own idea - it came to me via other English teachers in Taiwan, and has a proven success rate at many schools!!!

- Louise : Taipei, Taiwan

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Hi. I've been teaching ESL to kids aged 3+ for over 2 years now, and these are some things I've learned:

-Do NOT speak a word of their native language, unless there's an emergency. Even if I understand, I always respond in English.
Why? Because: kids are natural learners...give them the challenge and they will rise to it; they learn problem-solving; if you say a word in their language they will forever try to get you to say more; they will begin to think only in English while with you.

-Play in English. Especially with the really young ones -and  especially on the first day- I begin by simply playing with toys or Legos. There's no threat or pressure, and they can begin to relax around you. As the number of lessons progress, I talk more and more in English. At first, I might talk to myself, naming colors,counting blocks, etc. Then I'll ask them "Can I have the RED block, please?" while pointing. I'll ask for a certain number of things, or certain items. Then I'll ask them "Do you wantsome Legos?" "How many?" "What color?" Etc. Soon they're asking me the same questions.

-Converse "naturally" in English. "I like your dress!" "How are you?" "You cut your hair!" Use complete sentences often. Use simplified (but correct!) speech and gestures to get your point across, but say it like you're talking to a friend. This way they
don't feel like they're being tested. And rather than correcting their speech, repeat their sentences (correctly) for verification: "You want to go to the toilet?"

Absolute beginners become conversational in a very short time if they are learning and using English the same as they do their native language, and if they feel you will listen.

Bonita, bogini@mailcity.com, Thailand

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Here is an activity I devised and tested on my birthday...I am helping my 8 year-old neighbours Joan Marc and Xavier with their English, and we decided to have a special lesson.
It worked out fine for us...See how you like it!

Aims:

To revise spelling and vocabulary while at the same time having some fun.

Necessary materials:

A few sheets of white paper or thin cardboard, a pair of scissors, pencils and markers.

Preparation:

Cut out 26 cards, the size of ordinary playing cards (one for each of the letters in the alphabet.)

Decide on 2 small prizes (one slightly more attractive than the other) that you are ready to give the students. Your prizes WILL make the whole of a difference, just wait and see!) As the activity was almost part of my birthday party I chose a bar of chocolate for the second prize and a HUGE lollipop for the first.

What to do:

Quickly check that your students know their ABC and have them write the letters onto one side of the cards. Shuffle the cards, put
them on a desk with the letters facing the top of the desk and keep 2 for yourself. Make sure the kids do not see what letters there are on the other side of YOUR cards (or their cards, for that matter.)

Suggest some words (nouns work best ie dog, table) for the students to draw on the blank side of the cards, or let the kids choose their own words. Students draw each item twice (on different cards every time) and write the words below their pictures, so you eventually get 12 pairs of words and pics (two dogs, two tables etc.) Check the spelling!

Write "Star Prize" and "Second Prize" respectively on your own cards.
Gather all the cards and shuffle them well. When you are done,
put the cards on the desk (4 rows of 6 and 2 at the bottom will do) in such a way that the students can see the letters but NOT the pictures on the other side.

The kids take it in turns to say two letters and then they turn the
corresponding cards around to see if the pictures/words on them match. If they do, the kid who has found the pair wins 1 point. In case the cards do not match, put them back on the desk, with the pictures facing the top of the desk again. The object is to match all 12 pairs of words and pictures.

When the prize cards are disclosed, you will no doubt see a big smile on your students´ faces!

Joan M. Díez Clivillé
IESI Ramon Berenguer IV
Amposta, Tarragona (Spain)

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To Carmen & Carles

Have you ever wondered about the number of artists-to-be sitting in front of you at every lesson? Give them a chance to express themselves! To encourage the less-talented ones (or those who think they have no talent at all), tell them that anything can be art, provided it expresses ideas and/or feelings.

Stds. need some of the following things: stationery, paint, brushes, cardboard, scissors, glue, plasticine, clay, wire, string, pieces of wood. They could raid their cupboards for alternative
materials: toothpicks, corks, beans of various kinds... The more environment-conscious could recycle a few objects intelligently: magazines, newspapers, boxes, cans or bottles, for instance. And why not include photographs, slides and home-made videotapes for those inclined to the audiovisual world? This is going to look great!

Let students do their work (or design one for another student to make.) The following card may be useful:

WORK´S TITLE _________________________________________

DESIGNER _______________________________________________

AUTHOR _______________________________________________

NECESSARY MATERIALS ___________________________________

_________________________________________________________

DESCRIPTION ILLUSTRATION

_________________________________

_________________________________

_________________________________

_________________________________

COMMENTS ______________________________________________

________________________________________________________

When the different works have been finished, find a suitable place to set up your very own art exhibition (a corner in the classroom will do.) Display the objects nicely on the floor, on the wall, on top of desks, etc. Write notices such as 'TO EXHIBITION', 'STARTING POINT',
'THIS WAY', 'PLEASE DON´T TOUCH', 'LIST OF WORKS AND ARTISTS' and put them where needed. Invite other classes to see the exhibition (ask visitors to sign in a book.) And do keep the works: your students might become famous sooner than you think!

Devised by Joan M. Díez Clivillé
IESI Ramon Berenguer IV
Amposta, Tarragona (SPAIN)

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I find that one of the most terrifying things is when you are completely done with the lesson and you still have 10 minutes to go, and reviewing the lesson would go over about as well as giving an inspirational talk on how marching on the Trail of Tears was great for the Native Americans quads, calves, and burning unwanted pounds... it wouldn't go well.
So what I've found is, or remembered is the Happy and you Know it song... and it works great on young kids and self-conscious teen agers.
You remember: If you happy and you know it clap your hands....blah blah. Well change it around.

I've used:
happy - pat your gut
sad - cry boo hoo
scared - scream in terror
tired - go to sleep (they go crazy when you fall asleep in mid-sentence)
angry - growl out loud
hungry - eat you hand
etc... you get the idea

Start this off with doing variations of the happy faces on the chalk board to introduce the vocabulary and you'll find those last ten minutes flying by like a greased up monkey being shot from a cannon (don't TPR that).

Good Luck

Sean Seidell
Currently of Tainan, Taiwan

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To teach reading skills such as colours and numbers, I make a matching game that my students request over and over. Simply write out the words for colours/letters and make a matching colour square or number. Cut them out into similar-sized squares and laminate. Laminate a large piece of colored paper and put velcro on the backs of the squares and equally spaced on the colored paper. The game can be used to match the colour name to its square or vice versa. Line the students up and hand them a colour square. (You can do this in two teams). The student gets a point for each correct placement. If they are wrong, the card goes to the next student. Students love sticking the velcro together and the competition gives them added incentive to learn their colour/number words.

Clare Boyd
clareboyd@yahoo.com
Uijungbu, Korea

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Vocabulary practice for children taking advantage of kids' natural love of games, competition and running around...

Prepare flash cards of the vocab. you wish to practice and place them in a line on the floor. Put the kids into two teams on each side of the flash cards. Give the kids in team 'A' a number each and do the same for team 'B' - the same numbers. Then say a number and a vocab. item. The two kids with the number you said have a race to get the flash card.

If you only have one copy of the flash cards, the winner will be the first to touch it, if you have two copies then they can each pick up their own card and the winner is the first to give it to you. This can quite easily get out of hand, so its recommended that you be strict on behaviour....e.g. take off points for being rowdy ..etc..

alba-ingles
Email: alba-ingles@ctv.es
Location: Spain

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Use some pictures of fruit, colours or body parts etc. Drill the kids by having them look at the picture and repeat after you........ ie....

banana, banana, banana, banana
Next picture strawberry, strawberry, strawberry, etc.

After that I would split them into two teams, have them line up . Put the pictures at the front of the class, facing the two lines. Then you call out one of the fruits, the first two students at the front of their line/team run forward, the first one to t ouch the correct picture ( and maybe say it ) gets a point for their team ! Those two students then go to the back of their lines and the next two have a turn !

I recommend using a teaching method called Total Physical Response (TPR) with beginning students. The advantages are: It's fun! It's non-threatening. It keeps their attention. They learn!

You do need some props. You start with a series of 6-10 actions that have a short verbal command. For example:

1) You're walking in the rain (pantomime walking with an umbrella)
2) Stop. There's a big puddle. Step over it.
3) Oh! It stopped raining. Close your umbrella.
4) There's some mud.
5) Slip in the mud. (exaggerate it)
6) Fall down. (humiliate yourself. They'll love it.)
7) Get up and look at yourself. You're all muddy.
8) Go back to the puddle.
9) Step in it.
10) Jump up and down.

The procedure is this: First, you pantomime the actions (It's not called physical for nothing!) as you say the phrases. (For the above example, an umbrella is a good prop.) Repeat this stage numerous times so that they can start connecting words with actions. Then, get a student to *act* the actions while you say the phrases. Do this with a few (or all) different performers. When they are ready to speak, have them repeat the phrases after you while you perform them. You can also have one student say the phrases while another acts them out. Finally, they will be ready to say and do the actions at the same time. This reenforces the meaning of the word. The physical act seems to help them remember the words.

Name: Ian
Email: language@gol.com
Location: Tokyo, Japan

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After making 40 wild animals concentration cards (I bought the farm animals concentration cards), I was exhausted. It took 5 hours to make them right, the copying, coloring, pasting, and lamination. Then, those cards fell apart quickly, so I had to spend another 5 hours making the cards again. If anyone is interested, I can give them the do's and don't's of laminated concentration game art, but that's not why I'm posting now.

I wanted to say that, given the work I put in them, I am trying to use these cards in every conceivable way, on my primary school and middle school kids, regardless of class size. so, I do the following:

* What is this? (This is a hippo)

* What are these? (These are hippos, used when they pick up two)

* For when they don't match, they can say: This is a hippo and this is a lion (or "that is a lion," to refine the demonstratives)

* What color is the ______ ? Is it fat or thin? Adjectives! * Is this a gorilla? No, this isn't. This is a monkey. * Difficult plurals: these are deer, these are wolves.

Outside the concentration game itself, I use them to teach I am and you are. I will put a monkey card on my head and a giraffe card on the student's head, and he will say: I am a giraffe, you are a monkey.

Anyway, to justify the effort I made in making those cards, I am using them in many different ways for many different classes. I use all parts of the cow.

Name: Roger Fusselman
Email: rogerfus@nownuri.net
Location: Taejon, South Korea

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Plant sunflower seeds in your classroom, using peat pots and plastic, store-bought, greenhouse containers. The kids, mine are 13 and 14, get quite excited and even chip in for the cost. When they get big enough they take them hom e and replant them in bigger pots and finally out doors. Next fall they bring in the heads and you remove seeds for roasting and eating. Great ideas for writing how to paragraphs.

Name: Margaret Cartwright

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These are two games which my EFL primary students like. In the first we draw a picture of a "person", usually called Mr Monster and the class decides if they want long hair or short hair, curly hair or straight and so on. They decide by a show of hands. We're very democratic here. This bit is fun which is good for teaching/reinforcing body parts and adjectives. A good follow-up and the second idea is to ask questions like, "What does Mr Monster like to eat?" Students ask a question. If the answer is "Yes" they get a point and are allowed to take a guess at the item. e.g. Question: Is it sweet? A: Yes. Guess: Is it candy? A: No. etc. Two points when they guess correctly.

Name: Chris Murphy
Email: chrismur@ms2.hinet.net
Location: Changhua, Taiwan

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I've been using this method for a couple of years and my students LOVE it. Whenever I have them compete in groups, I always give them a chance to overturn the results. That way, the game doesn't get too competitive and it helps all the groups to try their best until the end of the game. This is the method that I use:
I've made a chart with 12 pockets(seal up 6 envelopes, then cut them in half) and using velcro tape, I've put an alphabet card on each pocket. I've also made 12 cards that give from 1 to 3 points.
At the end of a game, I place a 'point card' in each pocket so that the students cannot see how many points it is. Then, I have each group think of a word that starts with the letter on the pocket they want to choose. When I ask for the word, all the students in the group shout it out together. That group gets whatever amount of points is written on the point card in that pocket.
Say that Team A and Team B each have 8 and 7 points. But then Team A chooses a 1 point card but Team B chooses a 3 point card. The results of the game are overturned! Team B goes wild! And the students in Team A do not think this is unfair because they made the final decision in choosing the point card.
I think this method works because I'm sure we'd all like a chance to come up from behind and come out the winner in any game we're playing. My students certainly seem to. Hope yours do, too. ^^
P.S. One final note. If there's too big a gap in the scores to over turn the results, just double(triple...)the points written on your point cards.(If you choose a 2 pointer, you get 4(6) more points, etc...)

Chris in Shanghai(originally from Seoul, Korea)

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Following is a game that works well even with very young students:

Ring, Ring, Who Has My Ring?

Skills: asking questions about people; identifying people by description

Group Size: 4 to 24
Prep Time: none
Playing Time: 5-15 minutes
Interest Level: ages 3 to 12
Ability Level: beginning to lower intermediate

Choose a student to begin. This student steps out of the room. Hand a ring to another student. All students in the classroom should see who receives the ring. Call student to return to class. He or she must try to guess who has the ring by asking various classmates ten or fewer yes/no questions.

Sample questions include...

Sang-chul, does a girl have the ring?
Min-soo, is the person who has the ring wearing tennis shoes?
Charles, is the person who has the ring older than me?
Gyung-hee, is the person who has the ring wearing something blue?
Mary, was the person who has the ring late to class?

If the student guesses correctly, he or she gets another turn (limit three). If the student guesses incorrectly, the student who has the ring becomes the next player.
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More games for young learners are available at The EFL Playhouse!
Visit today!
http://members.tripod.com/~ESL4Kids/

Name: Julie Vickery
Email: ESL4Kids@yahoo.com
Location: Chicago, IL USA

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this is my fave activity to do with kids of all ages up to middle school(cause i always catch them with comics in class!)....first I ask the class to give me some name of some super heroes..batman, spider man, wonder women ect then I ask them, what can they do? what are thier powers?..the kids usually yell things like they can fly! they can climb walls!....then i ask them what can`t they do!? they cant die, they cant kill good people..(the kiddies usually start to tell you about their comic book heroes,which is a great way to get them talking!)....
then on the board we create our own super heroe, so i ask them to give it a name.I ask is it a male or female(or something else)?,what does it look like? how many heads ,eyes, feet ect.. this bits real fun, the kids have crazy imaginations. Then I ask them what our heroe can or cant do and so on.
finaly i chose one of the kids to draw the heroe on the board, which is hilarious cause they often look more like monsters!You can then ask them to make their own heroes....i find that the kids really enjoy activities like this because they are so into their comic books and they love drawing..hope it works for some one else!
shnoggie@yahoo.com, shnoo, jechon korea

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I play a lot of games with my kids. All between the ages of 7 and 10.
Regardless of what game you play I found that one team would always have the smart kid and almost always win. The other team without him / her on the team gets frustrated easily. So instead of points for correct responses I started using a bag with fake money. Because the fake bills range from a one dollar bill to a fifty dollar bill there is the element of chance which allows the other kids to compete. This gives confidence to the kid that may only answer one question correctly. And usually the smart kid is more excited as his / her team cheers to see what denomination the bill will be. Also works good with teaching numbers. Make the kids answer 'How Much?' when they pull the money out of the bag.

later

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To teach my 5th and 6th graders some adjectives and comparatives I use animals.
First we brainstorm animals and their main quality: as big as a elephant. I get to explain as...as then each child choses an animal and an adjective and we make posters they draw a picture and write their sentence: as soft as a lamb, busy as a bee..... we then take time to put them all on the walls and admire our work and say all the sentences. ( we can then get into discussions about if a spider is really ugly or a snake really long or....)Then I expain comparatives using our posters as examples an elephant is bigger than a mouse or a butterfly is more beautiful than a worm....and we play a game I chose an animal and they have to guess by just using comparatives Is it bigger than a dog? Is it as small as a mouse? then in 2 teams: one team guesses then the other.This is a very simple idea but the kids love to draw and have their pictures on the wall for all to see!
By the way the posters impress the other classes and they read them all!
Kathleen O'Hare
Sherbrooke quebec

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Simple yet practical exercise.
I use it for kindergardeners through 7-8 year olds. Any plastic bag will do. Collect various objects- a coin, watch, ring, scissors, a battery, medicine, etc.... I simply say
"Whats in the bag?" The kids usually parrot this back to me. Take the objects out of the bag, 1 at a time, identifying each one. When the bag is empty, give the students the opportunity to identify each object. I pick a student and say " I want the (item)" You'll be surprised how enthusiatic the kids are about the game, and how willing the are to compete with each other in identifying the objects. After all the objects are identifyied, I say "Now, I'm going to put the (object) in the bag" and toss the object back into the bag.
A simple yet effective vocabulary builder. All practical words to know. And the "What's in the bag?" provides a basic grammar exerciese as well.

Migook In
Ch'ongju, S. Korea