Activities to use in Large Classes

Small group discussions: Use topics related to a theme, or ask students to submit topic suggestions. Who Am I?: Tape the name of a famous person to the back of each student. Students go around the room asking questions and trying to identify themselves. Once they guess who they are they can place their nametag on the front and continue helping other students identify themselves. Team spelling contests: Each student who gets the spelling correct gets a point for their team. Balderdash: Large class can be split into teams. Teacher calls out a word and students have to write down the part of speech and definition. Each student to get both correct gets a point for her team. Write the question: Large class can be split into teams. The teacher calls out an answer and the students have to write the question. (ex. "Lynn") Each student to write the correct question gets a point. (ex. answer: What's your middle name?") Questionnaires: Students circulate around the room asking each other questions. Students can create their own questions on a given topic or theme, or you can provide the questionnaire handout. Follow up by asking each student to report the most interesting answer they received. Categories: The teacher calls out a category, such as fruit, and each student has to name a fruit when it is his turn. If a student hesitates for more than five seconds, he or she has to choose a new category and sit out the rest of the game. The last person to get out wins.

Answer all questions in English.

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How many years make a century? Name three oceans. Which is heavier, gold or plastic? Name two gases. How many cents are there in a euro? Name three deserts. Name three metals. Name three islands. Name three birds. How many legs does an ant have? Of which country is Vienna the capital? How many inches are there in a foot? Is Spain bigger than Portugal? Where do polar bears live? How many legs does a spider have? How many feet are there in a yard? Is Laos or Wales nearer China? Name three rivers. Is a jellyfish animal or vegetable? How many sides does an octagon have? score (out of 20):

Answers marked with an asterisk (*) are example answers. In these cases, other answers are also possible.

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How many years make a century? Name three oceans. Which is heavier, gold or plastic? Name two gases. How many cents are there in a euro? Name three deserts. Name three metals. Name three islands. Name three birds. How many legs does an ant have? Of which country is Vienna the capital? How many inches are there in a foot? Is Spain bigger than Portugal? Where do polar bears live? How many legs does a spider have? How many feet are there in a yard? Is Laos or Wales nearer China? Name three rivers. Is a jellyfish animal or vegetable? How many sides does an octagon have?

100 Atlantic, Indian, Pacific* gold hydrogen, oxygen* 100 Sahara, Gobi, Kalahari* iron, aluminium, gold* Madagascar, Iceland, Hawaii* eagle, robin, kingfisher* 6 Austria 12 yes Arctic (North Pole) 8 3 Laos Thames, Mekong, Amazon* animal 8

Categories
A basic game but lots of fun for students and good workout for vocabulary. The students write 6 or 7 different categories, for example Country, Adjective, Irregular Verb, Profession etc. The trainer then gives them a letter and the students have to fill the categories with words beginning with this letter. Example B: Brazil, Big, Be, Baker etc. If they all have the same word for each category: 5 points each; different words 10 points; and if only one person can get a word 20 points. Lots of fun.
Contributed by: David P Codd

Controversial Statements
Here are some great controversial statements to get the conversation going. Use them in various ways. Give one or a few to students for pair/group discussion. Or casually toss one of these statements yourself into the conversation at an appropriate moment. Or organize a debate.

A woman's place is in the home. Fare-dodging on a train or bus is ok if you can get away with it. Boys and girls should not have equal education. A foreign language cannot be taught. It must be learned. A country gets the government it deserves. A man should have a wife for the family and a mistress for pleasure. All property should be owned by the state. Murderers should be executed. Soft drugs like marijuana should be legalized. Beauty is only a matter of taste. Riches are for spending. We are all basically selfish. Punishment never has any good effect. Those who can do, those who can't teach. You will be happier if you stay unmarried. People work better if they are paid more. Committing suicide should be made legal. Royalty and democracy are incompatible.

Group Improvisations
The Fire. Detective or journalist interviews witnesses (one of whom may be a suspect) about what they saw/heard/did. (The Fire can be changed to a Bizarre Noise, Disappearance, Murder, Theft etc). Lots of questions and past simple. The Hold-up. Group of gangsters planning a hold-up. "Stop. Now it's two days after the hold-up and you're all in prison. Now discuss what actually happened, whose fault etc." Could be a Hi-jacking. Socio-economic Inquiry/Comparison. Journalist interviews other students about their countries (hours, mentality, capital, pay, recreation etc). Suitable for mixed-nationality classes. Television Interview. Filmstar, politician, sportsperson etc.

Television Program. Presenter interviews group of presidential candidates (or writers, film-makers etc). Press Conference. Group of journalists interview a politician (or sportsperson, filmstar etc). The Amnesiac. Student A is in bed in hospital, having lost his memory. The other Students are medical staff, police officers, visitors (family, friends etc) who try to bring memory back. They must be careful. A shock could be fatal. The Extra-terrestrials. Two female aliens have come to Earth. Their appearance is totally human. Their mission is to procreate because they need to repeople their planet. They accost any unsuspecting male they can find, asking discreet questions to test them and so find suitable mates. They must be careful not to reveal the truth to the males because this will frighten them. The Putsch. 1 Why: Guerrilla chief explains to followers. 2 Commitment: one or two outsiders want to join therefore interview to test suitability. 3 Preparation: planning meeting. 4 Afterwards (in prison): interview with journalist about what went wrong. Teachers' Meeting. Teachers discuss imaginary students to decide who should continue next year. One teacher is the "chairman" and has a list of students ("Now we'll discuss Erika...") The Neighbour. A neighbour who needs to sleep or revise etc knocks on door and complains about the noise from a party.
The Adulterer. Starts with wife and lover. Husband arrives. Or vice versa.

When You Turn Off The Light

This is an activity I created with my students aged 11-12 all together during a class. I wanted them to learn how to give directions. As it was very difficult for them because we needed a context, I picked one of them and blindfolded him using my jumper. That was really funny for them. He was placed in the middle of the classroom and told to find a word on the blackboard following instructions given by the group. It was nice and funny work!! Good luck!!
Contributed by: Maria Jose Gil Roma

Beat The Teacher

Objective: lesson revision If you tutor a student one on one then this game is perfect for revision of your previous lessons, as well as finding out how much the student may already know. It's a form of Naughts and Crosses or as the Americans would call it - Tick Tack Toe. Before your lesson write down as many questions that you can think of to ask your student and number them 1 to whatever.
1. 2. 3. What is the simple past tense word for Run? What is an Abstract noun? etc...

Ask your student to draw the nine squared naughts and crosses grid by overlaping two horizontal and two vertical lines.

| | | | -------|-------|------| | | | -------|-------|------| | | |

Let's say, you thought of 60 questions to ask your student. Ask your student to write down on a piece of paper the numbers 1 to 60. The student first chooses a number from their list of numbers. Let's say for example, the student chooses number 3, then question number 3 on your question list is the question you will ask them. Note: after the student chooses a number they have to mark it off their list, so that, that question can only be asked once. You ask the student the question. If they get it right then they get to place their naught or cross, whichever symbol they choose, in whichever square they like on the grid. But, if the student gets it wrong then the teacher places their symbol in whichever square they like. If the student gives an incorrect answer then don't forget to tell them the correct answer afterwards. The game goes on like this until the winner gets three symbols in a row.
| | X | | -------|-------|------| X | | | -------|-------|------| | X | |

This game is great for the teacher because it gives them an idea of how much the student has retained from previous lessons, and also, what they already know. My student likes playing this game because she beats this teacher - a lot!

Odd-One-Out
This simple activity practises vocabulary and to some extent speaking. Make a list of four or five words, all but one of which have something in common. Ask the students to find the "odd-one-out". Don't be surprised if they come up with some surprising answers. Just ask them to justify their choice. You may well find it logical. Take, for example:

dog, cat, donkey, dragon

The answer could be dragon (because it is the only mythical creature) or cat (because all the other words start with "d"). Ideally, the students should phrase their justification in a form such as:

I think the odd-one-out is dragon because it is a mythical creature and all the others are real creatures.

Here are some suggested words. You can easily find more. And one good exercise is to ask your students to create some lists (along with valid justifications).
Words Some possible answers

dog, cat, donkey, dragon

cat - begins c dragon - mythological

banana, tomato, peach, apple, pear

banana - shape

Thailand, Singapore, Tokyo, England, Vietnam

Tokyo - city, not country England - not in Asia

car, aeroplane, truck, bus, train

aeroplane - flies truck - not for passengers train - guided by rails

camera, computer, television, telephone, fax-machine

camera - doesn't need electricity television - 4 syllables

love, hatred, fear, greed, anger

love - positive greed - not an emotion

hotel, motel, town-house, condominium, classroom

condominium - 5 syllables classroom - not for residence

water, bottle, shop, pencil, river

water - uncountable noun

branch, strawberry, anvil, iceberg, boat

anvil - doesn't float in water