By Rebecca Moody
Georges River Grammar







Are motivating and challenging.
Provoke a reaction - amusement, challenge,
interest, surprise, competition
Help students to sustain the effort of learning.
Provide practice in all language skills.
Provide a welcome break from the usual routine
of the language class.
Encourage students to interact and
communicate.
Create a meaningful context for language use.
Games are FUN!
Self esteem building
Involve the whole class
Gives everyone a
chance to ‘shine’
 Help students learn
vocabulary/structures
 Great for revision
 Students as facilitators
of the game









Can be used to
introduce new
vocabulary
Can be used to
informally assess
students’ progress
Can be used as a
reward or time filler
Fast finishers /
extension
Learn through play
Grouping –
May be in desk groups (at tables), teacher
allocated to mix abilities, in a big circle, in
small circles, lines on the floor, in pairs, or
solo.
I usually have different groups each time
(unless it’s at their tables as it’s much easier
to set up and pack up)
Demonstration of the game is ESSENTIAL!

Large A4 laminated
flashcards with TL text
on the reverse, just a
picture on the front.

Chalk, pointers, mini
flashcards, counters,
dice, puppets, toys,
costumes…

Mini whiteboards,
white board markers,
and whiteboard
erasers. (1 set per
board)

Anything and
everything!

Use objects that are
interesting / noisy /
used for a different
purpose.
MARU (CIRCLE) = CORRECT
BATSU (CROSS) =
INCORRECT
NOISY AND FUN!





Students are divided into colour teams – eg, red, blue and green. They
are then mixed (as equally as possible) into 3 circles. They are playing for
their fly swatter colour.
Mini flashcards are spread out on the floor in their circle (have about 3
sets of cards per circle).
Explain rules to students: “Swatters up” until the word is called out, they
can’t touch anyone with their swatter, tell them that if they fight with
someone else over a card you will give a point to the opposing colour.
Call out a word and the students have to use their fly swatters to swat
the cards. Do not let them pick up the card until you have checked it is
correct. When you have checked, they can pick up their card and sit on it.
Continue in this way until all cards are used. Students then need to stay
in their circle and count their cards. Tally the points for each colour.
Students then put their circle’s cards back in a plastic sleeve.
Can be used for any vocabulary.
AMAZON $18
USE FLASHCARDS / TEXT
CARDS

Mini flashcards –
bingo/snap/memory
games

Labelling body parts

Can be used for lots of
games / races.

Amazon – Learning
Resources $14



Divide students into teams. Give students a finda-word etc to work on when it’s not their turn.
Use desks at the front to play the game. Position
students in teams near their ‘egg’ so that it’s
easy for them to get to their team’s chair.
Number players so they know when it’s their
turn to play.
I usually ask about 3-5 questions before I change
players so that it’s fast and keeps students
interested.
EGGSPERT – AMAZON $38
QUIZZARD (SALE OF THE
CENTURY)
LOOK ON EBAY FOR OLD
SOTC GAMES


Pick a student to do the
scoring on the
whiteboard. I pick a
‘volunteer’ by asking the
class a question – first
correct answer is the
score-person.
Pick a student (or a few
students) to run the
game – choose the
words, check the
answers, allocate points.
They LOVE being the
teacher!





Be seen around the school – “show off” your
students’ amazing language skills
Students can move around and be noisier
than when they’re in the classroom.
Sports games – country specific
Mini athletics carnival
Write vocabulary on concrete – how many
words can your students write in 5 minutes?

Fruit salad – 2 teams sitting opposite each other with
legs out and feet touching (leave gaps between pairs).
Can be used for any vocabulary.

Teams are in 2 rows and each pair is given the same
word. The teacher calls out the word and they have to
run over people’s legs towards the ‘end’ and then back
up the outside of their row, and run over the top of the
people’s legs at the ‘top’ of the row.

The first person to get back to their starting position
and sit down gets a point for their team.

Call out a number in the TL and students have
to form groups of that number. Can also be
used for shapes – students have to use all of
their bodies to make a shape on the ground.

Students can also try to find the called-out
number/shape in their classroom in a set
time.
Students can practice asking and saying the time.
The ‘Mr Wolf’ student stands far away at one end, and
the rest of the class stands at the other end, and they
ask in the TL “What’s the time Mr Wolf?”
 ‘Mr Wolf’ answers with a time (….o’clock) and the
students take that number of steps towards ‘him’. This
continues until either a student touches Mr Wolf, or
Mr Wolf calls out “dinner time!” and turns and chases
them back to their starting point, hopefully catching
the next student who becomes ‘Mr Wolf’.


Teacher says the name of a body part in TL and
students have to touch it. I usually have a
‘countdown’ of 10 seconds when they are
beginning to learn the vocabulary, and then I
reduce it to 3 – 5 seconds as they become
faster at the game.
Can also be used for verbs and adjectives –
teach the students actions for each word, eg
running on the spot for ‘to run’, arms wide
open for ‘big’.



Students sit in a circle (or at desks). Student A
stands behind the student (B) next to them. The
teacher shows them a flashcard/says a word in
TL or English.
The first student to give the correct answer
continues around the circle. The other student
sits back down.
The winner is the student who gets the most
correct answers. (If it is new vocabulary etc I will
give a prize to any student that gets eg. 5 correct
answers)


Each team has 3 sets of
alphabet cards, and
about 6 cards of each
vowel.
The teacher calls out a
word that the students
know, and progressively
calls out more difficult
words. Depending on
the class, you can call
out unknown words to
test their receptive and
productive skills.
JAN KEN PON - JAPANESE
HOM PIM PAH
STUDENTS TAKE TURNS TO THROW
THE DIE TO DRAW BODY PARTS OF
THEIR CICAK.
STUDENTS HAVE TO ROLL A 6 (MAIN
BODY) TO BEGIN. THE FIRST TO
COMPLETE THEIR CICAK IS THE WINNER.
GAJAH (ELEPHANT) BEATS ORANG
(PERSON)
ORANG BEATS SEMUT (ANT)
SEMUT BEATS GAJAH
SUT ‘PLAY OFFS’






Play games that students already know the
rules of.
Hangman
Use bingo cards to play snap/ memory/ whole
class bingo
Simon says
Writing words on concrete with chalk
Scrap paper bingo – students quickly write
some numbers etc on paper to play

Merit system used by your school

Personal merit system

Small prize, eg stickers or jellybeans (check
for allergies!)
STUDENTS RECEIVE A STAMP FOR
COMPLETING CLASS TASKS / WINNING
GAMES ETC.
WHEN THEY HAVE ACHIEVED 10
STAMPS, THEY CAN CHOOSE A PRIZE
FROM THE ‘PRIZE BOX’.
Students can choose a prize
from the prize box when they
have completed their merit
chart.
 Fill it with erasers, pencils,
coloured pens, McDonald
toys, sherbets, milky ways
etc. Buy prizes at beginning
of year back-to-school sales,
and throughout the year
when they’re on special.
 My students are so keen to
get stamps on their merit
charts, that they will stay ‘on
task’ and finish their work
quickly just to get 1 stamp.
