Class room activities general reg class

Subject Games
and Activities
Non-subject games and
activities (to be used
outside of curricular
lessons; Breaktime,
lunchtime, pre- or post-class;
Or to be inserted
into lessons as general
warmers or relaxers
· The Laughing Classroom, page 36: An upbeat entrance:
Begin your lesson by playing upbeat music to put the
children in a lively mood for lessons.
· The Laughing Classroom, page 40: Klutz to the Rescue!
The author talks about using simple magic tricks in class.
Could also be used with balloons or juggling, or origami or
hand shadows…
· The Laughing Classroom, page 47: Student show time!
“What hidden talents abound in your classroom? Amaze
and inspire one another by having an hour of student show
time once a month (or once a week?). Have children sign
up for five- or ten-minute slots to display any talents
they choose. For example, poetry reading, story reading,
singing, dancing, whistling, show and tell, sharing personal
stories or adventures, showing off hobbies or skills.

General-Purpose or multi-use
Games (Can be used
for more than one subject,
or non-academic activities)
* Assorted Activities Box: Herbert Kohl, in his book, On
Becoming a Teacher, says that he keeps in class an old
salesman’s briefcase which he keeps filled with anything
that might interest the children – newspaper clippings,
photos, magnifying glasses. Other suggestions might
include (harmless) electronic or engineering parts, art
materials, magic tricks, puzzles and jokes, menus and
recipes and material samples – anything you can catch
their curiosity with!
* Drilling Techniques:
. Brisk drilling: Simple teacher say, class respond. Moves
activities along at a rapid pace. Good for quick review.
. Catchball Drilling/ Point and Say: Students throw a ball
among the class. The thrower states the first part, the
catcher the response. This can be used for
practicing virtually any area. Point and Say works just as
well without the ball, and it’s fun for the students to say
each others’ names (if they know them!)
. Circle Drilling: A good way of drilling lists – days of the
week, months, alphabet, etc. Simply recite whatever list
you want to practice around the circle. The
game is to increase speed and sureness.
. Clap Drilling: "Clap…clap…clap…clap…" goes the whole
class. In between each rhythmic clap, the students, in
turn around the circle or in chorus, say whatever item
you’re drilling. Good for rhythm. If you want to make it
more difficult, have them stand up if they make a mistake
– turn it into a process of elimination.
. Milling Drilling: Half the class sits in a circle; the other
half stands outside and pairs off. They practice their
language point, whatever it is; then the outer circle
rotates by one (like a mill wheel turning) and they repeat.
* Flashcards:

You can do a variety of these. They make a refreshing
change from whiteboards or speech drilling, and they
allow you to use them for giving, taking, finding and
the element of surprise. You can use laminated ones or
words scrawled on pieces of paper, with or without
pictures. Here are some ideas:
. Lay cards out and say "Show me/find the X".
. Revealing the card little by little – race to see what it is.
. Play happy families (would take some setting up) with
different groups – foods, jobs, names, etc.
. Display the cards around the room, and ask "Where is
the X?"
. Play "Snap!" with sets of cards.
. Matching up word and picture flashcards.
 Timez Attack Roleplay: Have you ever played the game
Timez Attack? It's perfect for learning times tables, and
a free download.
OK - now that the children are familiar with it, we can
introduce this game: a roleplay version of Timez Attack
(here, we'll explain adding/subtracting, but it could also
be used for times, shapes and even non-maths subjects.
You will need : a stack of cards - question on one side,
answer on the other - divide them into packs of six or so,
and hide them before the start of the game (don't foget
where); an assistant (teaching assistant preferably, but a
bright child would work); a monster mask (optional); a pre-boarded
table with Monster and Class; 6 magnets to keep
score. Children and monster start each game with 3
magnets each.
How to play:
Stage 1: puzzle - teacher chooses 1 child and gives
him/her clues to find the stack of cards.
Stage 2: monster - child gives cards to teacher who puts
on Monster mask and stands up.
Stage 3: contest - the teacher holds up one card
(question side). Chooses child to answer. If answer
correct, teacher gets knocked back; if answer incorrect,
whole class gets knocked down (see the game to see what
this imitates). In either case, one magnet gets
transferred from the loser's table to the winners'.
Stage 4: end - when one table has no magnets, the game is
over. Reset the magnets, 3 for each table again. If the

monster lost, take off the mask and send a new child to
find the next pack of cards. If the monster won, replay
the game until the children win, recycling difficult cards.
Notes and comments: This game could really be played for
any topic, with a little alteration. Any numeracy topic, and
also literacy...science...anything! Also, suggestion - use one
card with three questions on it?
Timez Attack Roleplay Variations:
1. Using it to drill High Frequency Word cards in English:
the children all have flashcards to learn new words. Have
each child choose three cards. Make a table for Monster
and Children, and have one magnet for each child. All
magnets begin on the Monster’s side. The monster
chooses children, who must choose one of their words and
say a correct sentence which includes it. When one child
has completed all three cards, a magnet goes to the
children.
* Mind Mapping:
Used to brainstorm ideas on the whiteboard. Write down
the central them in the middle and draw lines and labels
branching out from it with ideas about it. An
excellent way to get the students thinking.
* Concept Mapping:
Similar to Mind Maps. Again, there is a central concept
and again words related to the central concept are
written around it. This time, though, there are no
radiating lines; instead, draw lines between the different
words around the central concept, and along these lines
write connections you can think of. For example, if the
central concept is “food” you might think of words like
“fry” and “refrigerator”; and you might draw a line
between these two words and write “frying makes food
hot, refrigerators make it cold. A very good exercise to
do in both introductions and plenaries, especially when
these two are compared.
* Substitution Tables:
Write out a model sentence on the whiteboard to practice
a grammar point, then elicit ideas from the students to
substitute in key parts; as follows:
He Is Read ing
" " Listen "
You Are Look "

They " Eat "
* Musical chairs: As with the favourite party game – the
ring of chairs for the chn to dance around; sit down at
the signal; take one chair away each round so that there
is one person out each time and an eventual winner. But,
to use it as a learning/drilling game, choose one teaching
point and have the children sit down when you say it. Here
are some examples:
English: Say random letters; children sit down when you
say a vowel.
Maths: say numbers; children sit down when you say an
odd number / a multiple of 3/4/7, etc.
Other subjects: say random words; children sit down
when you say one from a selected topic.
* End-of-class Vocabulary:
At the beginning of the lesson, fence off an area of the
board; throughout the lesson, fill it with new words that
come up; and at the end of the lesson, play a
quick game – point and say, a quiz, a blackboard race – to
review these new words.
* Rush Hour:
A fun children’s party game, which can be good for
practicing vocabulary, and would work well as a warmer.
Students sit in a circle. One person, without a chair,
stands in the middle. When that person calls a description
or item of vocabulary, all the students to whom it applies
stand up and try to find new seats. In the
confusion, the student in the middle also tries to sit
down. One person will be left without a seat to call the
next time. Examples could be “Everyone with red
clothes,” “all girls” or “people with trainers” for low levels.
* Guessing the word:
Can be done in pairs, trios, groups or as a class. Very
useful for revising vocabulary. There are a number of
ways to do this:
Mime the word.
Gapfill (“I go to the restaurant because I’m feeling
__________”.
Describe the word.
* Cut and Paste:
The basic idea is that there are slips of paper with words

on them which the students have to match up. These
could be either words and their meanings, or first
and second halves of sentences (or even sentences cut
into three or four parts) or one sentence and a following
sentence. You can throw in some mistaken cards
or false leads for more fun. You can either do this with
you making the cards, or the students preparing their own
and then mixing them up.
* Blackboard Races:
A number of different games, all based on the idea of
writing items to be revised on the board, and students
working in teams, racing each other to eliminate the
most of them.
* Blackboard Quiz: Write the words you want to revise on
the board. Split the class into teams. Read out definitions
for the words one at a time, and give a point
to the team whose member guesses the word.
* Blackboard Race: Write words on the board and split
the class into two teams. Give the front member of each
team a pen, one red and one black. Call out the
definition and have them race to circle the right word.
Once one of them has done so, they both pass the pens on
to the next in their teams.
* Blackboard Writing Race: This time, start off with a
blank board. Split the class into two teams and give the
first member of each a pen. Stand them in front of
the board and say a word; they have to race to write it –
correctly (also works for normal and IPA alphabets).
When the word has been written, rub out the wrong
one and both members pass the pens on.
* Some build, some destroy: I like to introduce this game
by building a house of cards, then knocking it down. The
message being that some build (give a team a
marker pen) and some destroy (give the other team a
rubber). Say a word, or give a clue for it. One person
from each team looks for it. The first one to find it
either rubs it out or draws a circle around it.
* Personal Blackboard Races: You can also have students
do their own races in pairs or small groups, using a sheet
of paper rather than the board. One person
says a word and the other – or other two - must point to
it.

* Blackboard Relay Races: This game is self-working, with
no teacher participation necessary apart from monitoring,
correcting and feedback afterwards.
Write up a load of different words on the board – 15 at
least – and split the class into two teams. Choose two
people from each team. One of them is the
Describer, the other the Finder. The Describers must
each describe a word, and the two Finders – each with
different-coloured pens – must find it and
circle it. The aim of each team is to get as many of the
words as possible. As soon as the Finder has found the
word, he takes over as Describer, the old
Describer sits down and a new Finder stands up. In this
way, each team can work in a relay until all the words have
been found.
This could also be done as a simpler version if you have
the blackboard items as self-explanatory – say, as
students correcting grammar mistakes or misspelled
words.
* Word/Picture Race: here, you write up a word on the
board and, for each one, a corresponding image or
synonym. Split the class into two teams and give each a
different-coloured pen. They then have a relay race – the
first person stepping forward, drawing a line and then
passing the pen to the next – to see who can match up the
most words to their images. Teacher watches and
corrects. At the end, see who drew the most lines (who
won) and check the answers as a class.
* “Writing Race”. The students form into groups. Each
group writes down ten words. Then one person is chosen
from each group and given a marker, and the papers are
swapped between groups. Each group must now get it’s
representative to write down all of the words as quickly
as possible on the board.
* The students could review the vocabulary, choose words
they are having trouble with and write them up for a
blackboard race.
* Knock their teeth out! You need a big list of questions
about the book you are using (or a good imagination to
come up with some). The possibilities are endless
regarding what you use for questions. So here's the fun
part: Draw two big mouths on the whiteboard, giving each

about 8 teeth. If you have a girl team and a boy team,
give one some nice lips. Ask individual team members
questions. If they get it RIGHT, you erase one tooth
from the OPPONENTS mouth. It gives the impression
they are knocking out the teeth of the other team. This
game is basically Hangman applied to reviewing; and why
not? What other gradual-progression pictures could you
use?
A juggler juggling balls (could add instead of taking away!)
Draw sweets and take them away
Eat up each others’ apples, bananas, ice-creams, etc.
Draw a person for each; then, with each mistake they
make, draw a part of something around them; if they lose,
they end up with a large monster’s mouth swallowing them.
But make sure you draw the same things at the same rate
for each team!
* Queueing up:
Students form up in two lines in front of a board with
words on it. They race to finish their lines (when a person
has finished he goes to the back, so the line is finished
when the first person returns to the front). At low levels,
just saying a word would be enough. At medium levels,
using the word in a sentence, and at high levels, defining
the word. The teacher can be the judge of how
effectively this has been done.
* Magic Ball Review (The Laughing Classroom, page
97):
Tell the children “This is a magic ball, which holds all the
answers to everything. When you hold the ball, you will
know the answer to any question I ask. Arrange the class
in a circle (or you can split the class up into groups to play
the games. Ask a question and throw the ball to someone
to answer. Either have the child throw the ball back to
you to ask another question, or have the child ask a
question and throw the ball to someone else for the
answer.
* Back to the Board:
The basic game is that one person, sitting in the hotseat,
faces the class. Here are some ways to do it:
. Simple focused conversation: the class can ask the
person in the hotseat any question they like.
. Drama hotseating: the person in the hotseat has to

assume a character. The class can either test it by asking
questions, or ask questions to guess it. Good for reviewing
stories in English or History. Could be adapted for other
subjects – Geography, mathematics, music…
. One person sits with his back to the board. The teacher
writes up something that the class can see but the
hotseated person can’t. Then:
a. The class has to give clues until the hotseated
person works out what it is,
b. the class splits into two (or more) teams and the
hotseated person asks questions of each alternately;
when he guesses it, the team that last gave him a clue
gets a point or (to make them be more subtle) LOSES a
point.
c.
Each team has one thing on the board. The hotseated
person asks them questions alternately and the first team
whose thing he guesses gains or loses a point (depending
on whether you want the easy or difficult game).
(d)
The teacher writes a simple sentence on the board, "The
book is on the bed." or "My father is playing with Tim."
You tell the students that they are very curious and that
they want to have more details about the sentence. They
have to come up with as many questions as they can think
of and you make up the answers as you go. For example;
"What color is the book? Whose book is it? Why is it on
the bed? Where is the bed? Who is Tim? Where are they
playing? How old is your father?"
(e)
One person sits in the hotseat; go around the class, with
each person asking a question.
(f) Word Lists: This can be done with any of the above
methods. The audience helps the hotseater by giving him
lists of words until he gets it. So: “Chicken”. “Farm?” “No.
Beef, pork, vegetables.” “Restaurant?” “No. Trolley,
basket…” “Supermarket.”
The Wizard (From The Laughing Classroom, page 106):
A fun way to review a subject, and a wonderful
alternative to the usual stand-up oral report. The
students must listen carefully and work together as a
team.

What happens is this: the children work together in
groups of four. One group comes up to the front of the
class and stands shoulder to shoulder. They are now
transformed into a Wizard with four heads but one mind.
The teacher and/or class asks The Wizard questions, and
the four children answer – speaking in turn, and one word
at a time.
* Hangman games:
Classic Hangman:
In this game, one person writes up dashes indicating the
number of letters in a word, and the other players have
to guess by saying one letter at a time. Every time they
guess a letter right the writer writes it in the
appropriate space (more than once, if the word has more
than one of the same letter). Every time they get it
wrong, he draws another part of a picture of a man being
hanged. The students win when they complete (or guess)
the word; they lose if the picture is completed and the
man hanged.
Revised Hangman:
Classic Hangman is an old favourite, but there are some
ways to make it more fun. The picture of a man being
hanged is a little dull. Instead, try:
. A man walking off a cliff into the shark-infested sea; he
takes another step with every wrong letter (very quick to
draw with stick figures).
. A balloon sinking into the (naturally) shark-infested
ocean.
. A man sleeping at the bottom of the cliff (identify him
as the teacher) while another man at the top (identify
him as one of the students) pushes a big rock onto him.
Every wrong letter means the rock falls a little further.
. A plane crashing into a mountain.
Stand-up Hangman:
Don’t draw a picture, just write up the dashes for the
word. Every time a person says a right letter, it gets
written in the correct space. Every time somebody says a
wrong letter, though, it gets written on the board and
that person has to stand up. This works best in large
classes, because you’re going to use people up pretty
quickly. In smaller classes you could do things to make it
easier: give them clues, give them two chances (the first

time they get it wrong they stand up; the second time
they stand on one leg), etc.
Clues Hangman:
Here is a twist to Hangman that keeps the kids on their
toes: Place on the board the number of blanks for one
word (example "police officer"). Then, provide clues about
the word such as appearance, duties, associated
accessories, etc... This requires the students know not
only the word but, what it means. Works best with
occupations, locations, animals (when compared with
actions words).
Two-team Hangman: Here, split the class into two teams.
Each with a picture to lose. Lots of competitive fun!
* Word Worms:
This is a fun way to revise vocabulary, checking
recognition and pronunciation.
You can present the word worm on the board, or on a
handout. Write a list of words in the shape of a worm
with no boundaries between each word.
Soitmightlooksomethinglikethiswithafewwigglesforaworm
yeffect.
Students must then find the words within a time limit.
They could work in pairs or individually.
Once the majority have found all the words, give them a
few minutes to practice saying them, while you monitor
and correct any pronunciation errors. Then feedback
worm style around the class; you should be able to take
away the handouts!
Next time you teach a new lexical set, get students to
make their own word worms for homework, and use them
next lesson!
* Word searches:
. Draw a grid, write answers in some of the squares and
fill in the surrounding squares with nonsense. The
students then have to find the answers.
. Either you can make the word searches, or students can
make them and then swap them.
. They can do this either with looking for words (in which
case, one letter per square) or looking for sentences (in
which case, one word per square).
* Crosswords:

Grids with areas marked off for words. The areas cross
over each other, going vertically and horizontally, and so
must be arranged so as to share letters. Clues are written
for the crosswords. As with the Word searches, you can
either do these for students to do, or students can do
their own.
* The Secret Word:
Here, the class has to fill in the clues, like a crossword,
to find the secret word that runs through them. Like so:
_ _ _ The second number
_ _ _ _ _ A round red and green fruit
_ _ _ _ When you really, really like somebody
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ An animal that lives in Australia and can
jump really well.
The words are "two, apple, love, kangaroo"; and the secret
word – from reading their first letters downwards – is
"talk".
* Circle Forfeits:
Write up a sequence of numbers with a number of points
of whatever you want to practice included. The students
have to recite it around the circle; anybody who makes a
mistake pays a forfeit - for example, first mistake, stand
up. Second mistake, on one leg; third mistake, out of the
game.
Tips: keep the sequence short and the game brisk. Don’t
let it lag.
· Follow-on Cards:
This is a maths game, and works best for maths, since
what it basically practices is remembering facts.
However, it could be adapted for other topics. It might
work best if the children make their own; or perhaps you
could just write key words on the cards and have the
children make up their own definitions; so if the cards for
a history lesson were:
1. King Henry VIII/ Anne Boleyn
2. Anne Boleyn/ Elizabeth I;
3. Elizabeth I/ Queen Mary…
The game might go:
1. King Henry/ he married this woman then cut off her head.
2. Anne Boleyn/ this woman was Queen of England after
Henry VIII died.

3. Elizabeth I/ this Queen was a Catholic, and had lots of
Protestants killed…
· Bingo:
- The basic game: the children each draw a 3 by 3 grid, and
write numbers in it. The teacher calls out numbers one by
one, and the children cross off the ones that are on their
board. The first person to cross off all the numbers
shouts “Bingo!” and wins the game.
- Notes: the number of squares in the grid can be adjusted;
the numbers need to be within pre-defined limits.
- Numbers bingo: This would usually be maths, of course,
but could conceivably be used in other subjects; perhaps
dates in history, or certain numbers in science. The game
can range from the extremely simple (choose 9 numbers,
1-20, which the teacher will call out at random) to the
advanced (practicing calculations – choose 9 numbers 1-
20, which the teacher will give sums for – addition,
subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions,
percentages, rounding up or down…numbers bingo can be
adapted to virtually any topic).
- Words bingo: this can be used for almost any subject as
well, including maths (names of shapes, for example, or
mathematical functions). In playing words bingo, you
should be careful to set limits on the words they can
write down; perhaps have them choose the words from a
list, a poster or an article; or from a clearly-defined set
of words.
· Feely-bag: Have a bag full of objects; children put a
hand in and try to identify the objects before taking
them out. Lots of applications for lots of subjects.
· How many things can you think of that… A game that
can be adapted for many subjects. Divide the children
into groups and have them write lists. In science, “How
many things can you think of that are made of
metal/cardboard/wood?” At the end, see which group has
the most items.
· Spotting the Mistake: Tell a story/read an article/talk
to the students about something, but warn them in
advance that you’re going to make mistakes, and see if
they’re clever enough to spot them. This should excite
them and get them paying attention. But make sure that

if there are any mistakes they miss, you point them out
and don’t let them get fossilized!
· Invisible Elephant: Perhaps not the most efficient way to
review vocabulary, but a novel and imaginative one that
might make the children pay more attention! Tell them
you’re going to draw a picture of something, and they have
to guess what it is. Draw the picture in the air, outlining it
with one finger in a steady movement around the edge of
the object.
· Odd one out: Write up a sequence of words on the
board, or just say them aloud. Have the class tell you
which is the odd one out. Useful for discussing classes of
words, in just about any subject.
· Selling freezers to Eskimos: A fun, unorthodox way to
talk about objects, a game that can be played in pairs,
groups, or as a whole class. For high levels. Give a picture
of something to a child and challenge him to “sell” it to
the class, telling them why they really, really need it.
· The Laughing Classroom, page 38: Back Drawing: Have
the children pair off and stand with Child One with his
back to Child Two. The teacher calls out a question, and
Child Two will draw the answer on Child One’s back, using
the tip of his finger, with exaggerated movements and
clarity; Child One writes the answer down. After ten
questions, stop and have the children check the answers
with the teacher. If there’s time, swap and repeat with
ten more questions. A fun way to review material!
· The Laughing Classroom, page 46: A Step in the Right
Direction: Create a list of fifty or so review questions.
Choose a place in the classroom for you, the teacher, to
begin, and stand there. Ask the children the questions,
one by one. For each right answer, you move forward one
pace; for each wrong answer, move backward one pace.
The goal, of course, is to get around the class. Variation:
choose a child to move instead of you (NB – could be a
good solution if you have one child who is miles better
than the others and always shouting out the right
answer).
· The Laughing Classroom, page 49: Dream-a-Theme: “I
believe that imagination and dreaming are essential
aspects of learning that are sadly lacking in our
educational approach today. So, each week in my

classroom, we dream a theme that relates to the world,
such as “Imagine a world with plenty of food for all,” or
Imagine a world where everybody tells the truth,” or
Imagine a world that raises all children with great love
and care.” We write our dream theme for the week on the
board and, when relevant, we relate all discussions and
subject matter to the theme. This has added an element
of richness and global perspective to the lessons in ways
that have exceeded my expectations. The idea for this
activity was inspired by a comment by DH Lawrence: “If
you don’t have a dream, how can you have a dream come
true?”
· The Laughing Classroom, page 95: The Six Thinkers:
Adapted from Edward deBono’s Six Thinking Hats. These
represent different conversational functions best used in
creating new ideas. You can choose six children to wear
them, or have children put them on whenever they want
to say something. You can begin by having six children put
them on and have the whole class follow them in an
opening statement:
1. Blue Hat: The Controller – Cross arms and say, “We must
control…”
2. Green Hat: The Creator – raise a finger and say, “Aha!
I’ve got it!”
3. Yellow Hat: The Optimist – palms up, say, “Let’s look on
the bright side…”
4. White Hat: The Objective Thinker – point a finger and
say, “Let’s look at the facts…”
5. Red Hat: The Feeler – put your hand over your heart and
say, “What I feel is…”
6. Grey Hat: The Critic – shake your head and say, “No, no,
no…”
· The Laughing Classroom, page 118: Gibberish
Interpreter
Two children are chosen. One is a foreign expert on
whatever subject you are studying, and the other is his
interpreter. The teacher or children will ask the
interpreter a question; the interpreter will translate it
into gibberish; the expert will reply in gibberish; and the
interpreter will translate the answer back to the class.

Alternatively, if the teacher knows a language the
children do not, the teacher can be the expert and speak
in that language.
· Early in the morning:
Chn sit in a circle. Teacher is postman (initially) – postman
stands in middle and walks around as he sings “Early in the
morning at 8.00, You can hear the postman knock” – walk
steadily to rhythm, chn can clap. Stop at child you reach
when you sing “knock”. Then sing “Up jumps X to open the
door” – child X jumps up – “One letter, two letter, three
letter, four.” (pretend to hand them letters). Works to
get them to recognise rhythm. When they are familiar,
you can get them to be “lively” postman, etc. Once they
know the game, child X can take your place as the
postman.
· Match-up Turnover cards: Have two sets of cards,
different colours – say, red and blue. On one side, the red
cards have questions and the blue answers (or synonyms,
or two things that fit together, or whatever you’re
practicing). On the other side, the red cards are
numbered 1, 2, 3… and the blue cards a, b, c… The game is
to turn all of the cards over 1, 2, 3 a, b, c facing up). Turn
over a red card, showing the question. Children guess
which blue card is the answer by saying its letter, and
turning it over to guess. This game works very well when
the children compete to guess the right card – say, with
cards magnetized on a board and children putting up
hands to guess.
· Snap! The traditional game is for two or more players to
lay down cards in turn, and shout “Snap!” and slap your
hand down on them when one card matches the one it has
just been put down on – ie, a five of hearts follows a five
of spades. Here is a version even more fun: Play as
described, but each player counts as they put the card
down – the first player says “one,” as he puts down the
first card, the second “two,” and so on. When the number
spoken matches the value of the card, say “Snap!” To
make the game even more challenging, count silently.
SNAP! VARIATIONS:
- Ordinals. Instead of saying “One…two…” say “First…
second…”

- The game can be played with anything that has a
sequence. For example, you could remove all the odd
numbers and count in twos; or play with money flashcards,
and count “one pence…two pence…five pence…”
·
From “Getting the Buggers to Behave,” by Sue Cowley:
“Engaging” lessons across the curriculum”
The following are ideas for games guaranteed to grab
attention and engage the children.
· The scene of the crime:
Can be used in history (examining evidence), English
(literature, eg Romeo and Juliet), Drama (the crime
genre), D & T (drawing a plan).
When they children enter the class, they find a crime
scene: a roped- or taped-off area with the scene of the
crime in it – maybe a chalk outline, a gun, a rope, a
handbag with the contents spilt out. Their task is to
examine the scene of the crime, discuss their findings
and, depending on the lesson, draw or write about them.
NO TOUCHING (mustn’t wipe off the fingerprints).
· The can of dog food:
Can be used for D & T (packaging), Art (designing a label)
or Science (analyzing the contents of the tin).
Ideas for starters
(All of these starters require practically no preparation.)
· Five anagram words on the board. I.e. asc à sod = sac a
dos etc
· Write the middle or end of 5 known words i.e. ayo =
crayon tyl=stylo.
· Write 5 words with a letter missing each. The missing
letters could spell another word, if you’re that well
organised.
· On a known theme (i.e. town) write the first letter of 5
different places.
· 5 words each with one deliberate mistake in the
spelling.
· Odd one out i.e chien chat cheval chance

· With times, numbers, dates or any other sequences, i.e.
ma journée write 5 random on the board for them to
put in the right order.
· Mime a word they know (exaggerated lip-reading)
· Skywrite a word they know (you must write it
backwards for them)
· Write the first two letters of five words up, and they
must match the endings.
· Textspeak BB=bébé, K7 cassette, LF1=elephant. G HT
j’ai acheté.
· They have one minute to write as many clothes as
possible, colours, sports,fruit,veg, countries, pets,
rooms, hobbies, furniture.
· They have one minute to write as many words as they
can beginning with….
· Writesixorsevenwordstogetherwithoutabreak.
· Show them five flashcards, jumble them up, and they
must guess which one you have in front of you.
Minimal preparation, maximum effectiveness
activities (for teaching languages, but
adaptable to other subjects)
At the end of a lesson - "What word/sentence am I
thinking of from the lesson". Do either from memory or
with support. All can participate. Write the one you are
thinking of on a piece of paper in case they accuse you of
cheating! Then involve the kids up front.
A sweet for the winner is a great addition to this game...
A mid-lesson game or plenary: Pair noughts and crosses.
They each draw a nine box grid with an English
word/picture/first initial of each word in a sentence e.g.
jml = je me leve if doing daily routine. Then working in
pairs they have to say a word/sentence in TL to get their
nought/cross in the box. They only let them have it if
they are happy with pronunciation! Each pair has two
games to play as every one prepared a grid. Or get them
to use a pencil and they can use the same grid twice!

Listening bingo - use any tape extract. Tell students the
topic then they think of 10 words to do with that topic
and write them down. They then listen to the tape and
every time they hear the words they tick them as a tally
chart of the frequency of the words. Winner is the one
with most ticks - a chewit sweet for the winner. Brill for
predicting what will come up.
You can also use this with pupils preparing mini speaking
presentations. Pupils read them out (with/without
support)and the others have chosen 5 words they think
will come up and do the same tally idea.
A-Z on a topic - word and picture for each letter of the
alphabet. Prizes for winners.
Create a puzzle page for revision of a topic - swap over
and do each others' puzzles... Slightly better than do a
word search then swap!!
Heads down thumbs up. This is the basic version.4
volunteers on floor . rest of class put heads down on desk.
arms crossed under their heads [wish I could draw on
this!] hands making fists with thumbs sticking up and eyes
closed . No peeking. Volunteers creep round room and
each pushes down the thumbs of one person. No-one
opens eyes till volunteers return to front [with any luck
rest have fallen asleep by this point] Four whose thumbs
were touched stand up and in turn say who they think
touched them. [ No-one to say yes or no till all have said]
If they are correct they come out and take place of first
four, If not the original person stays on floor.
Difficult to tie in with languages but if the four on the
floor each have a flashcard the victims could name the
object instead of the persons name.
I use heads down thumbs up to build sentences. The 4
pupils at the front are vocab eg une chambre, un salon,
une salle à manger and une cuisine. The pupils who are
touched on the thumbs guess who has touched them by
saying dans ma maison il y a une cuisine. You could combine

two, or three rooms by having a series of pictures on
flashcards and hanging them around pupils necks with
string. Does this make sense?
Also a game with post it notes. Write different jobs on
them and stick them to pupils foreheads without them
seeing. Pupils ask partner questions eg je porte un
uniforme? Partner can only respond with oui or non. Pupil
has to work out what job is. Its probably easier to have
pre prepared questions for the pupils to use. Good for
GCSE jobs.
Strip bingo – pupils split a piece of paper into 9 sections
and write a different phrase/word in each section.
Teacher repeats words/phrases several times – pupils can
only tear off the strip if the word/phrase is at either end
of the paper. Winner is pupil with one strip left.
Advantage over normal bingo is that the teacher repeats
the words/phrases.
Use a stopwatch to time pupils matching the vocab on
linguascope on IWB - fastest wins a sticker or merit.
Pairs on linguascope on IWB. First one to get three pairs
wins. Winner stays on.
When you've introduced vocab play word tennis. Eg
Partner A .Dans mon sac il y a une trousse Partner B adds
one then volleys it back eg dans mon sac il y a une trousse
et un cahier. Partner A adds another etc. Pupils score
when partner pauses, hesitates repeats word, or can't
remember order. Score as tennis if they know how.
Mallets mallet. Buy an inflatable hammer, or real one for
difficult groups. Choose topic eg colours. Get two pupils to
face each other and pretend you are timmy mallet. Pink
glasses and bermuda shorts are a must. Hit pupil on the
head with the appropriate force, if they pause, hesitate,
repeat word or stray from topic area completely.
the word tennis game also works for questions and
answers and gives them the opportunity to practice
making questions up......
If you have a PALE system [don't know if this has

different names but it is those fixed to the wall tape
recorders round the classroom] pupils make their own
"speaking clock" recordings which they then hand to
another pupil to listen to and write answers
when you have marked one pupils' work hand over the red
pen and send him/ her to mark the next . cascading round
the class.......
Buy a shoe bag and call it sac à magique. Get pupils to
close eyes and hide things in it. Classroom objects,
flashcards etc. Pupils guess what is in your sac à magique
and have to make sentence up with word.
Dictionary Race: 5 / 10 minutes to find as many words
relating to the current topic - prize for the person with
the most - then brainstorm them all onto a flipchart/the
board so everyone has a wider vocab list!
Stand up Bingo. Get pupils to write down 3 words from
the vocabulary that you have been teaching that lesson.
They then stand up ready and sit down as soon as any one
of the words on their list has been called out by you. The
aim is to not have any of their words read out thereby
being the last one standing. It's a great plenary.
Odd one out. Easy for you to put together, good to give to
pupils to make up to reinforce vocab, excellent starter or
plenary.
Get them to scramble up 5 new words they've learnt from
the lesson for a partner to unscramble.
Fruit Salad (takes about 25 mins) - play with 4 different
phrases or 4 questions/answers.
Can do knock out round.
Chef d'orchestre (chanting and class changes line upon a
previously agreed on signal from one child; 2 'detectives'
who had been outside when the signal and person was
decided upon have to work out who is changing the line...)
When you have lost your starter (like I did today) do a
quick test of vocab / sentences from last lesson. You say
the English/French and they write the French/English.
Then go through on board together - points for each
correct word in a sentence makes them not as scared to

write the TL from memory.
Write a blank for each word in a sentence. Give the last
word and work backwards - pupils guess what the word is.
Makes them really think about word order especially for
past tense and any opinion sentence.
Rowdy class... dictation.
Queen Victoria: One pupil at front with back to class.
Teacher indicates one of class to say " Je m'appelle la
reine Victoria" in a disguised voice ... object is to guess
speaker t=retain place on floor [ more linguistic value if
teacher hands over cue card to be read aloud - but
defeats purpose of this thread ..... and sometimes we just
need a bit of fun]
Language Brain Trust : 4 pupils on floor . rest of class
must ask each in turn a language or cultural question. If
correct person stays on floor , if not questioner takes
place[limit number of questions on football] 4 still on
floor at exact moment bell rings gain points, sweets etc.
Statues : useful for verbs Teacher calls out an action
Pupils must get into statue pose of that action and hold it
without moving, giggling etc till next action is called or sit
down
What's missing : read out a list of days of the week,
animals, colours. Reread list omitting one
Zoo :If you have a big room and pupils can sit in a circle
sit them with one fewer chairs than pupils . One pupil in
centre calls out "Je porte des chaussettes blanches" "J'ai
trois freres" etc All those with white socks/three
brothers must swap seats while one from centre tries to
get one of their chairs. If they call zoo everyone changes
seats.
Put flashcards on floor. Send a pupil outside. Agree a
flashcard with class. Invite pupil in. Class whisper in
unison the word then get slowly louder till pupil picks up
right card. Can time each pupil an quickest is winner.

Moving Dictation
You dictate a text, they write a sentence and then pass
their exercise book to another pupil who then continues
to write the next sentence... After as many sentences as
you want, show them the text on OHP, IWB, using Data
Projector or direct them to the page in their textbooks.
They then have to correct the mistakes. Great for
German - capitals for nouns. They are also more willing to
mark other people's work.
Tongue Twister
Write a tongue twister on the board, ask them to work
out what it means using dictionaries, and then ask for 2/3
repetitions. Normally has plenty of volunteers.
Word Recall
Not very exciting, but useful - give the pupils the topic or
idea (price, size..), and they have to think of as many
words as they can, which you then go through with them
on the board after. Can turn it into a competition.
Word categories
Give pupils A4 paper/card, ask them to fold it into 9.
Write the topic in each box, and then when you call out a
word in TL, they have to write it in the correct box.
Same as above - but a game: write the topics on the
board, name the two pupils playing each other and say the
TL word. First pupil to name the topic that that belongs
to wins a point for their team. Could be combined with the
above exercise.
Aural Dominoes
See Resource Bank (made by someone else. Can also be
handwritten onto card - only takes 5/10 minutes to
prepare.
A great way of introducing new vocab or practicing old
vocab.

Headlines
Have pictures on the board (from internet on IWB or
projector) and they have to write a headline for it.
Write the names of the people involved in recent news
and the headlines in TL next to it but muddled up - they
have to match them.
blockbusters - create a grid with lots of hexagons. Copy
to OHT. Write numbers on with an OHT pen. Then use as
and when necessary to reinforce vocab/fill time etc. The
students choose a number and you give them a question
based on the topic you have done. First across the board
(or down) is the winner.
Snowball. thirty secs to write as many topic words down
by themselves. 1 min to work with a partner, two mins to
work with their table. Then go round the class, table by
table. Write the words on the board. Any words written
down by more than one table do not count. Any unique
words get a point. Table with the most points win.
Pass the parcel
Pass a ball/object around the class to music when the
music stops ask who is holding the object a question.
Famous person
Ask the students for the name of a celebrity. Write it on
the board. See who can find a word in the TL for each
letter - no resources allowed
Word combs
They write their names down then find an adjective for
each letter of their name.
starters:
1. GIMME 5 - say "donnez-moi 5 animaux/5 verbes
irréguliers au passé composé/ 5 opinions négatives/5
alternatifs pour 'très' etc. etc. Works with any year
group.
2. Write a word on the board from a recent topic eg
croissant. pupils suggest a sentence containing the word,

for which you award a score out of 10 for their
impressiveness. Vary generosity of your mark scheme dep
on ability of group.
3. "clear the board" - write up 20 or so words or phrases
randomly all over your board. Set the clock. They then put
up their hand, saying one of the words/phrases and its
translation. If correct you rub it out. Penalty of 10
seconds if anyone calls out. They try to beat their own
previous class record each time you play.
4. PASSEZ LA BOMBE - buy a kitchen timer. Get a small
box (empty Neutradol packaging box is ideal)and paint it
black and write "ATTENTION-BOMBE!!! on it. Put the
timer in the box. When you play, set the timer for
between 1-2 mins, put into box and say a question you've
covered recently which can have many different answers.
ive bomb to first pupil, who can pass it on when they've
said an answer. Whoever is holding the bomb when it goes
off has to do a forfeit, like saying 20-1 backwards in
French.
Writing
1.Write a sentence on the board such as (Yr 7) "Dans ma
trousse j'ai un stylo et une gomme." Underline un stylo
and une gomme. They have 2 mins to write as many
sentences as they can, substituting different items.
individuals read their suggestions. Anyone with same
sentence crosses it out. People left with sentences no one
else has win a sweet.
Very simple - at the end of the lesson, get two kids up the
front, you say the English, the first kid to say the foreign
word wins and the loser sits down, to be replaced by
another kid. The person left standing when the bell goes
is officially king or queen of the class. Sometimes I let to
joke run on and call kids 'prince' and 'princess' as well, I
did like it the other day when they called me 'Goddess'!

Best game ever! Can be applied to all topics and levels!
BEAT THE TEACHER!
Example with numbers.
Write down numbers on the board (I use flashcards a lot
for this game)
Point at a number and say what it is. Kids repeat. Then you
try to trick them and you say something that is not
correct. Kids have to stay completely quiet. If they were
quiet: one point for them. If you managed to trick them ie
they repeated robotically what you said without thinking:
point for you. We go to ten but I refuse to carry on if I
have five and they have not had even a point (this is to
stop any of the little trouble makers to repeat the
number and hijack the game! Only happened once)
There are some more ideas over on the MFLE from
Scottish teachers:
http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/mfle/creativeteaching/gam
esandwarmups/index.asp
Snooker. Two teams alternately answer a starter (red
ball) question (an easy one). Then give a category (e.g.
pets, shops, colours, furniture, personal pronouns, etre
verbs, verbs beginning with 'p' etc), and after 5 seconds
deliberation they have to decide which 'colour' (yellow =
2, black = 7 etc). They then have a set time to name that
number of items. If they fail the other team has the
chance to claim the points. Getting 6 on a 'black' = nul
points.
Also love doing vocab cards with GCSE students - they
make them - a phrase in French on one side and nothing on
the other. Once you have taught them about 8-10 phrases
they make the mini cards and then put their initials in
little letters in a corner. They then play in pairs. They
scramble up the cards and hold them in their hands. They
put one card down and the fastest to say it in English gets
to keep the card. If they both say it at the same time

then they put it to one side and the first person to win
the next one gets them both.
You give them about 5 minutes or so to play and then they
count to see who has the more cards and they win. They
then sort out the cards so they get their own back
(that's why they did the initials) and find another
partner.
After a bit they write the English down on the other side
of their cards and do it the other way round (Eng-Fr),
which is obviously more difficult. They can also check
they are correct with the cards if they disagree by
turning them over.
Very high-level of excitement always playing this game!
Gunfight: All pupils stand up with their backs to a
partner, side on to the teacher, hands clasped to make a
'gun'. Teachers calls out a rapid fire of words/short
phrases and pupils call out translation and point their
'gun' at the teacher. They can keep a tally of correct
answers on their hand. Shows you where strengths /
weaknesses of vocab are. Pupils could make gunfight lists
for extension homework.
Poker test: Pupils number 1-10 as per vocab test. Teacher
calls out question. Pupils put hand up if they either know
the answer or are going to pretend to know the answer
and bluff. If they don't know the answer and aren't going
to pretend - they put a cross next to the relevant number
on their sheet. Teacher chooses pupil to answer question -
if he answers correctly - everyone with their hands up
gets the point (whether they knew answer or not!!). If he
gets the answer wrong/didn't know it - he loses all
previously accumulated points. Teacher then chooses
another pupil and if he then gets it right - the rest with
hands up get the point. And so it continues... So it is a
gamble whether they put hand up and risk their points if
they don't really know the answer!! Kids would be so
rubbish at poker cos you can so tell who is bluffing!!

This game has a name, but I can't remember it. You need
a metre stick to act as a rifle. To start the game write a
word on a piece of paper, fold it and hide it from the
class. Walk around the room, point the stick at a pupil and
shout. Halte qui va là? Pupil responds with Je
m'appelle....... Teacher then asks for le mot de passe. If
pupil doesn't say the word you have on the paper shout
non BANG! If they correctly identify the password, the
pupil is given the metre stick and does the same thing.
Reveal the password when correct. Ask pupil to make a
sentence with the word in it for extension. Obviously
narrow the words down to a specific topic or you may be
there a while.
Les Animaux Bizarres. Pupils draw a pet with parts of
different animals. Eg head of a rabbit, body of a snake
and the tail of a fish. Pupils make up name for pet eg UN
LAPSERROUGE. Ask pupils to describe pets when
finished.
Ideas for starters
(All of these starters require practically no preparation.)
1. Five anagram words on the board. I.e. asc à sod = sac a
dos etc
2. Write the middle or end of 5 known words i.e. ayo =
crayon tyl=stylo.
3. Write 5 words with a letter missing each. The missing
letters could spell another word, if you’re that well
organised.
4. On a known theme (i.e. town) write the first letter of 5
different places.
5. 5 words each with one deliberate mistake in the
spelling.
6. Odd one out i.e chien chat cheval chance
7. With times, numbers, dates or any other sequences, i.e.
ma journée write 5 random on the board for them to put
in the right order.
8. Mime a word they know (exaggerated lip-reading)
9. Skywrite a word they know (you must write it
backwards for them)
10. Write the first two letters of five words up, and they

must match the endings.
11. Text speak BB=bébé, K7 cassette, LF1=elephant. G HT
j’ai acheté.
12. They have one minute to write as many clothes as
possible, colours, sports,fruit,veg, countries, pets, rooms,
hobbies, furniture.
13. They have one minute to write as many words as they
can beginning with….
14. Writesixorsevenwordstogetherwithoutabreak.
15. Show them five flashcards, jumble them up, and they
must guess which one you have in front of you.
my fave plenary is the hot seat, pick a pupil they take the
seat and students can ask them 5 questions related to the
lesson. we usually do this in the TL. great because it's all
about them!
for speaking practice with year 10 and 11, play your own
version of that yes/no game. pupils have to answer
questions about a certain topic for 30-60 seconds without
giving yes or no as an answer. (based on game show but
can't remember the name)works very well for getting
them to manipulate the verb and turn questions around.
kind of similar idea they have to present about certain
without using key basic words e.g. shopping but no mention
of the supermarket or shopping centre, it gets them
broadening their vocab and gives them the chance to be
really creative with language.
verbal pictionary: students describe item in TL and a
volunteer had to draw representation on board.
to consolidate gender with yr 7 I like the line game (need
big room or moveable furniture for this) get students in
big line (I do girls then boys and playoff after) explain
one direction is masc. objects one is fem objects. then
call out vocab e.g. estuche= masc so jump left etc. lose
when go wrong way and then have eventual champion.
My lot love pronunciation competitions- I make a big over
the top fuss about mistakes (hay in Spanish pronounced as

it looks etc) they love the drama and get v.competitive -
is all boys though. They also love memory games- can you
remember all these new vocab words (in a specific order
or not) in 30 seconds for example. Word tennis is the
other one- haven't actually read through the thread so
apologies for any overlap- there are a few variations on
this one- not exactly a new one I know. Get one of the
kids to choose a theme (eg:food) and get a representative
from each team (class is always split into 2 for games)to
name a word from that topic in turn. If they hesitate,
repeat or mess up a word they' drop' the ball and then
the point goes to the other team.
Has anyone mentioned the one where you write the initial
letter of each word in a sentence:
jsaen= je suis alle en ville
jabuc = j'ai bu un coca/un cafe
etc
for classes who are struggling to build a paragraph, this
sort of modelling works well.
My idea is mini-whiteboards. Once you get the initial
stuff sorted out - boards, rubbers, pens, one of each in a
plastic wallet you can bring it out for a really nice active
10-15 minutes where you tell them what to write, they
hold it up, and you get feedback on every single individual.
Takes virtually no time to write it into a lesson plan.
Ghosts : go round class . or get them to gently throw soft
ball[!] to next person . each must add one word to make a
sensible sentence anyone who cannot add another word
loses a life . 3 lives and you are a ghost . you can also
challenge the person before if you think their answer
does not make sense in that case they lose a life . but if
they can justify it you do .. good for a small class or group
who are reluctant to talk......
as ghost above but you add one letter at a time and the

object is not to end a word.......
mixed up spelling ........ teacher says letters in a word at
random . class must guess word e.g. hiearc
Group game : each person has 5 paperclips to start with .
One person begins a presentation on self, school etc
Other members of group must interrupt with relevant
questions If speaker can answer straight away questioner
hands over paperclip [or sweets if it is not healthy eating
week] If speaker cannot answer the questioner gets
paperclip from speaker.
In advance prepare a coded alphabet a=1,b=2,c=3 [maybe
you can hold it in your head! I can't!] Say numbers to class
they have to convert into word ... without a crib ... you will
be amazed at how they can do it and boys especially love
the challenge eg 3,1,8,9,5,23
Ah yes - mini-whiteboards. Brill for all kinds of activities
when you want all the class to join in.
10 pictures lettered a-j.
T says a sentence in past/pres/future linked to one or
more of pictures.
P writes both correct letter and arrow to indicate tense:
backwards arrow = past etc.
Great for tense practice.
With any text:
find all the nouns (verbs, past participles, infinitives,
words to do with food etc)
read in pairs and peer assess accent / intonation
do paired dictation - one sentence each
stick it to wall and do running dictation
find the vocab - you choose 10 English translations of
words in the text and tell them all to find word number
one (ie the word in the text for ....). In groups they find it

and bring it to you whereupon you whisper the number 2.
Winner is first to 10.
You read the text but change words. They underline
words that you changed. Challenge them to say how many
you changed (make some hard). Offer a house point for
those that get the right number.
Translate the text out loud in pairs.
Not with a text but ace for numbers: write a list of about
15 random numbers on the board e.g. 12, 186, 98, etc.
(Even works at AS if you make the numbers more
challenging). In pairs / small groups time each other
reading the list in TL. Find the two quickest in the class
(or quickest boy and quickest girl if you want it to be
really competitive) and challenge them to a play off at the
front.
Very similar with photocopied text and coloured pencils.
Circle cognates green, positive opinion phrases blue etc.
You could ask for words with acute/grave accents. The
list goes on.
draw a word snake on the board (or worksheet) with
hidden infinitives. Pupils come to the board and circle
them. You can then ask questions like ; regular/irregular,
past participle, sentence in the past/present/future
incorporating that verb etc.
Been using the activité de glisser-déposer
on linguastars to practice the crossover
Foundation/Higher question. Get them to cross out the
words along the top that don't fit. Ask them why they
don't fit. Narrow list down and ask them to choose
answer and justify reason. They will hopefully come up
with things like infinitive after modal verb, plural, past
participle etc.
for those who don't have mini white boards: On the first
day you issue new exercise books get pupils to write on
the centre double pages in HUGE letters Oui/Ja etc on

one page and NON/Nein on the other page.
Then when you want to do a quick listening read out some
true/false sentences and get them all to hold up the
correct page - instant feedback on who has understood
and all must listen.........
Miscellaneous games,
puzzles, etc.
* Tongue Twisters:
* She sells seashells on the seashore
The shells that she sells are seashells, I’m sure.
* How much wood would a woodchuck chuck
If a woodchuck could chuck wood?
IF a woodchuck could chuck wood, it’d chuck
As much as a woodchuck could.
* Red leather, yellow leather.
* The sixth sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick.
* Mrs. Smith’s Fish Sauce Shop.
* Eleven benevolent elephants.
* Beth’s birthday is on the third Thursday.
* Seven wet vets went to Venice.
* Usual Asian confusion
* Theophilus Sistle, the Thistle Sifter, sifted a sieve full
of unsifted thistles.
* Once upon a barren moor
There lived a bear, also a boar
The bear could not bear the boar
The bear thought the boar a bore
Until the bear could bear no more
That boar that bored him on the moor

And so one morn he bored the bore
The boar will bore no more.
DVD activities:
* Discussion:
Watch a part of a film, and then use it as a starting point
for a discussion.
* Prediction:
Watch part of a film. What’s going to happen next? Why
do you think so? You could do this as:
Discussion
Acting out
Or saying the next line.
* Imitation:
Use the film to provide a model for speaking. With
scripts and/or subtitles, have the students practice
saying the lines, imitating the inflections of the actors.
* Description:
Have the students narrate the film, telling you what’s
happening. This is particularly useful for practicing the
present simple and present continuous.
* Novel:
Read (or, for homework or as a writing task, write) the
description of a section of the film. If you’re doing it in
class as a speaking exercise, you can freeze the film on an
evocative still.
* Acting:
The students can act out what happened in the film; or
they can watch part of it then act out the rest (here,
don’t give them too much planning time – a mixture of
planning and improvisation works well).
* Exercises to do with videos:
. Do a ten-question true-false exercise before watching a
video, to see who manages to get the most questions
right. This gets them all involved in watching the video
and paying close attention. Make sure they write the
whole word "true" or "false" out, as they are quite easy to
change!
. Give the students a handout of questions, multiple-choice
or fill-in-the-gaps, which has to be completed while
or after (or even before) watching the video.

Board Games
* Noughts and Crosses:
The basic idea is that you write letters or words or
tenses along the vertical and horizontal axes, and the
teams have to shout out combinations of these as
coordinates to place their marks. So, for instance, write
a, e, o on the vertical and t, r, b on the horizontal. A
player who wanted to put his mark three across and one
down would have to say a word like "otter" or "out" to do
so.
* Battleships:
Much like noughts and crosses; the students shoot their
shots by using coordinates. Could do conjugations on one
side and verbs on the other, or different words to be put
into the same sentence. Be a bit difficult to do the four
boards required. Perhaps the class could play against the
teacher, or perhaps two groups could play against each
other using A3 paper; or perhaps students could play
against each other in pairs.
Of course, this is only a problem if you want the full,
classic, two-boards-per-player version. Perhaps you could
just have the class playing against the teacher, who
doesn’t fire back.
Resources:
Suggested Links:
http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/more/index.htm
· Clip art: A wide selection of free clipart here:
http://www.abcteach.com/directory/clip_art/
MATHS (SOME ALSO GENERAL)
http://www.uk.knowledgebox.com/
http://www.mathsisfun.com/
http://www.primarygames.co.uk/

http://www.raisingstandardsinmathematics.com/
Code: 2602
http://www.thebigbus.com/
http://www.cleo.net.uk/
http://www.andrewjeffrey.co.uk/freegifts.asp
http://www.wirral-mbc.gov.uk/maths/
MR JENNINGS
http://www.mrjennings.co.uk/
Bibliography:
* The Laughing Classroom – Loomans and Kolberg, 1993

Class room activities general reg class

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