I thought to myself, “Could there be a more boring thing to teach in the world of ESL?” Years ago, I taught at a winter camp and was assigned “vocabulary” as my area to teach. If you like this vocabulary review game, then you’re going to love this book: 39 ESL Vocabulary Activities: For Teenagers and Adults. You could also elicit the other team’s help to watch for any infractions such as making actions or not speaking in English. You can also mention that any word that a team has “passed” on could come back into play so it’s good to pay attention. A way to alleviate this problem is by keeping the rounds very short so that waiting time is reduced. One of the cons of this game is that the other team is sitting idly waiting while the other team is going. The same immediate finish rules applies for this as well. I warn students at the beginning of the game that if I hear a word in the first language, that round will immediately finish, even if they are only 5 seconds into it.Īlso, be sure to tell your students that they cannot use actions, but must only give hints by speaking. It is simply too easy for students to say the word in the first language and then the captain to say it in English and then it’s not a useful speaking activity. Make sure you emphasize that this game requires speaking only English. Teaching Tips for this Vocabulary Review Game I give each group one “pass” per round in case there is a word that the captain really doesn’t know. Each round is three minutes and you can play 3-4 rounds with different captains. At that point, the team moves on to the next word. The team has to give hints in English to the captain until she can guess the word. If you use flashcards, make sure they are big enough for everyone to be able to see them, even at the back of the class. The teacher stands behind the captain with vocab words on a flip-chart or a stack of flashcards. The “captain” sits in a chair at the front of the class facing her team. More than that and not everyone is able to participate. It works equally well for all, but the ideal number of people on a team is around 5-6. I’ve used this activity for small classes of 10, or big classes of 20. It lends itself particularly well to nouns and adjectives (more ideas here: Top 10 ESL Adjective Games). It can work for any level of student, but it’s ideal for beginners to intermediatewhen the vocab words are quite simple. This is a fun way to review some vocabulary words. Materials Required: Flip-chart or flashcards ESL review activity game: Flip Chart | Vocabulary Review Game for Kids and Adults
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