Методичний посібник з англійської мови "Let's plays the lesson"

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Методичний посібник з англійської мови "Let's plays the lesson" вчителя Лавренюк Галини Василівни

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Let’s play at the lesson

2017

Упорядник

Г.В Лавренюк вчитель англійської мови

Let’s play at the lesson

2017, - 45 с.

Посібник буде корисним учителям для урізноманітнення навчальної діяльності, подання матеріалу в ігровій формі, що сприятиме мимовільному швидкому поповненню лексичного

запасу учнів, розвитку абстрактного мислення.

CONTESTS

Introduction 5

Handy tips 5

Instant Attention Getters 6

Tips for playing games 6

How to use flashcards 7

Games

The Blanket Game 8

Relay Race 11

What’s the time Mr Wolf? 12

All Change 13

Kidnap 15

Writing Race 17

Listen 18

Pre story activities 20

Post story activities 23

Literature 25

Make learning English

a joyful activity to develop a positive

attitude to language learning.

Don’t forget you are teachers of children,

not just teachers of English.

Nowadays every teacher seems to agree that the main aim of the teaching process is to develop pupils’ competence and fluency in English so that they can become effective communicators by forming and consolidating their linguistic, communicative and socio – cultural knowledge and skills.

If you are working in a school know the law and rules of

your institution before you go into the classroom.

Have your pupils define the rules in the first lesson, and post them on the wall for reference. Knowing WHY a rule is in place makes it easier to keep. You must establish the rules on day one and stick to them!

Be consistent in applying your rules. If you are arbitrary about how you dish out your rewards or 'consequences', or punishments you will undermine the rules themselves.

Praise good behavior to generate love and self-esteem. Whatever you do, avoid being like so many parents who spend their whole time telling their children, "don't do this", and "don't do that". By focusing on the positive in order to draw more attention to it you apply the universal law of "you attract what you focus on.”

Handy Tips

There is nothing so sweet as the sound of one's own name. So use an individual's name for praise and avoid using it when ticking someone off. Ask a naughty student, "Do you want me to speak to your Dad?" By asking them the question you give them the power to choose, whereas if you threaten them with "I will call your Dad if you do not behave", you take the initiative away and seem tyrannical.

Prevention is better than cure, so try giving boisterous students an important task BEFORE they start to play up. They may respond well to the responsibility.

Do not break your own rules by raising your voice to be heard. Instead talk quietly or stop and wait. Your pupils should know that for every minute you are kept waiting they will receive extra homework, or whatever consequence you have designated.

Hand things out quickly or use a system to have things handed out, such as giving the well-behaved students the task as a reward. Sing a song together or do some counting to occupy the class while materials are handed out.

Instant Attention Getters

Play a mystery game and say that during the activity you will be watching out for 3 well-behaved students who will be rewarded.

Create teams and use peer pressure to encourage good behavior. Deduct or reward behavior points to a team's score during a game.

Start a song the children know and love – they will all join in with you and at the end you'll have their attention.

Clap out a pattern which they must clap back, or start a rhyme they know with actions.

Use quiet cues such as heads down or lights off. Vary these with other fun quiet cues such as "Give me five". 1--on your bottom, legs crossed; 2--hands folded in your lap; 3--face the speaker; 4--eyes and ears open; 5—mouths closed. You teach thisrepeatedly in the first lessons and after a few weeks, you only have to say "Give me five: 1,2,3,4,5", and they do.

For children aged 6 to 12 you could think up a fun 1 to 5 with actions such as clap your hands, turn around, sit down, eyes front, finger on lips". You would adapt this idea depending on the space you have in your class.

You can also use the Magic 1 2 3 idea. When a child does not comply start counting 1, 2,… The child knows that if you get to 3 there will be some sort of consequence, such as missing out on the next game. If you use this and you reach 3, you must follow through with an appropriate consequence consistently.

To summarise, establish the rules and consequences for good and bad behavior, apply them consistently, set a good example, use peer pressure and points, and use attention grabbing cues such as favorite songs, rhymes with actions and countdowns.

You can be firm and fun at the same time, and if you cannot manage your class, you should realize that, although it sounds harsh to say it, you are wasting their time.

Tips for playing games

And now for some ONE TO ONE TIPS for teaching children aged 4-12To use games successfully when teaching classes you sometimes need to join in and play the game too.You could say, well then I'd just win all the time, and yes in some games that would be true. Many games are pure luck however, so you can play along with those no problem. If you are playing a game where you are in competition with your pupil, and normally you would win all the time, then you do things like this:

- give your pupil a head start of 10 to 30 seconds – make your task harder give yourself double the task to complete in the same time your pupil completes it once award your pupil three points to your one - award your pupil 10 bonus points at the start of the game – lose deliberately by being slow (but pretend to hurry), or 'accidentally' drop your pen, or paper. You don't always want to be in competition with your pupil so you can also use a stopwatch or timer to add an element of excitement. Time your pupil each round of a game and see if they can beat their previous time. You can also use the stopwatch to give a time limit to an activity, aiming to allow only just enough time so that your pupil(s) is more stimulated than if he or she were simply working methodically through the exercise. You can also use a timer. Oven timers that tick and have a bell which goes off after the given time is up are good. Your pupil must complete the task before the bell goes off.

An alarm clock would be a substitute for this, or a wind up musical box or an egg timer could also be used.

Use the kind of bells you find on hotel reception desks in some games. The students race to tap on the bell when they have their answer. This is more effective when you have two or more students but is still an added fun element for the younger children even in one to one lessons.

And finally, always be sensitive: If you are racing your student, or have two students racing each other, be careful that one person does not always lose. Use competition if you see that it enhances the mood rather than causes unnecessary tension or a loss of morale. Rig the game freely to allow both players to win as equally as possible.

Teaching one to one is immensely rewarding, as progress can be fast. In addition to games I highly recommend putting on short plays with your student(s) in front of their parents or friends.

Songs are also a great way to learn, and if you have the resources lend or recommend videos to watch for homework. By videos I'm talking about films such as Spiderman, Batman, King Kong, or Cinderella and Walt Disney movies - all in English with NO subtitles. Your pupils will watch these many times over willingly and will absorb a huge amount of language subconsciously, even if initially they cannot understand the dialogues.

You could also consider building a library of comic books to read for homework, which will also help immensely. You would not expect your student to understand all that much initially but the subconscious will be absorbing the language all the time.

It's a good idea to take a deposit for the replacement cost of the video or comic (including postage) - that way if your pupil disappears off into the night with it you are not out of pocket.

The combination of giving fun classes with games, getting results and offering extra services such as a video or comic library, will set you apart from your colleagues and you'll be sure to get lots of recommendations from parents to you for private classes.

How to use flashcards

You may have heard of Baby Einstein flashcards for keen parents with great aspirations for their babies. Along with the diapers and bottles, flashcards to make your baby a genius even though he or she is still regurgitating milk have apparently become part of the essential baby kit! You have to agree with the authors of 'Einstein Never Used Flash Cards: How Our Children Really Learn', (Hirsh-Pasek and Golinkoff), that our children learn best through play rather than trying to force-feed babies to learn before their natural time.

Hirsh-Pasek and Golinkoff talk mainly about preschoolers, but their view that reciting and memorizing will produce "trained seals" rather than creative thinkers holds true for any child in my view.

However for children aged 3 and upwards the use of flash cards exactly because one can use them to play creatively. Through games one can use them to tremendous effect for language learning.

You won't argue that flash cards are better than real objects - of course not - but logistics are an issue here and flash cards certainly serve as excellent replacements to the real items they represent.

There are literally unlimited games to invent with flash cards. For example how about this idea for a spelling test for age 6 and up: Instead of the traditional dictation method, how about if every child starts with a flashcard face down on their desk. On "go" the children turn their picture card over and write down the word it represents - testing both vocabulary and spelling at the same time. Every 20 seconds you clap or blow a whistle which means that the card must be passed to the next person and you continue until the flash cards have done a full circuit of the room.

The flashcards can be numbered and the students copy the numbers down as well as writing the word. This prevents the wrong word being spelt correctly; i.e. correct spelling of bird when in fact the picture was a bear.As the word order will be different for each student, it's difficult to know which

picture the student was looking at, without a reference number.

Obviously you can adapt this idea if you have a big class by splitting the class in two and giving out two batches of the same words, or you find a way of doing it that works with your numbers and classroom arrangement.

If you like the idea of everyone doing well in tests you could allow one minute at the end for the pupils to consult with each other and fill in any blank words before going through the answers.

If you have a smallish group with some space you could put flash cards around the room, say "go" and give the children a time limit to go around and write down each word.

At the end of the day all you have done is a vocab and spelling test - but you have clothed it in fun packaging that will be sure to capture the children's imagination.

Here's another fun idea for flash cards - All the flashcards are face down and you play some music - a song you will be teaching soon or one they know. While the music plays the children pass the cards quickly to each other. When the music stops the children look at the flash card they are holding and if they know the word on it they jump up, spin round in a circle, call out the word and clap. Then they sit down again. If they don't know the word they have to stay seated.

If you think your children will be traumatised not to be able to jump up, you can allow a second round where those children jump up and name any word of their choice.

If you have a few children who have learning difficulties or are always behind the class you could do a second round where they show their card, the class tell them the word and then everyone jumps up, spins round and calls out the word together. That way they feel included and part of the class.

If you have more advanced pupils, or if you want to practise saying more than just individual words then flashcards can also be used in so many ways. For example give out random cards and let the students invent a story including those cards - however crazy it is. The more advanced students have to put something together on the spur of the moment, or you can give them a few minutes to prepare before telling their story to another student or to the class.

You could work in a more structured way and hone in on some specific target language such as certain question forms or tenses. For example divide the class into small teams, turn over a flash card, team A makes a sentence with the word in it - along the lines of the language you are teaching, team B makes another and team C a third. Team B and C must not use the exact same sentence as team A. If there is only one answer each time then each team makes a sentence with a fresh flash card each time. Award points for correct answers and use a time limit to generate excitement.

The Blanket Game

Category: Speaking

Group size: From 2 players. Small & large class variants

Level: Beginners to intermediate

Materials: A sheet or blanket and flashcards

Age: 4 to 12

Pace: Calm down, & lively version

This game is to be played once your students are familiar with the vocabulary and sentences that you wish to practise. This is a speaking practise game, or a revision game.

1. HOW TO PLAY

First create a barrier for someone to hide behind. You can do this by setting up a clothesline and pegging a blanket on it, or by having two students hold the blanket up, or by draping the blanket over a couple of chairs so some one could sit behind it and not be seen. Now you have your barrier, here is an example of how to play this using clothing vocabulary:

A class member hides behind the blanket and puts on a selection of clothes, or props, such as a hat, belt, tie or scarf. The class asks in unison, "What are you wearing?" The person behind the blanket replies, "I'm wearing a hat", or "I'm wearing a red hat". Each class member decides whether he or she thinks this is true or false. 8

Whoever thinks it is true stands up. Whoever thinks it is false sits down. Now the person behind the blanket reveals whether or not he is wearing a red hat. (He may use real clothes or use pictures, of clothes or any vocabulary). If he is wearing a red hat then all those who sat down are out and only those standing up are in. If he is not wearing a red hat, but a black coat, then those standing up are out and have to sit down while those sitting down, who are still in, stand up again for the next round.

Another way to play is for each class member to up a paper with either a "True" or "False" on it. Every one starts the game standing up. The person behind the blanket chooses whether or not to wear the red hat and the class hold up either a True or a False card. Then everyone who got it wrong sits down and stays seated while you play the next rounds until you only have a few students standing. With younger children play with a tick or a cross rather than the words true or false.

Continue, and then swap over the person behind the blanket. Only allow that person a few seconds to dress up, to ensure that the class do not get bored waiting. You can have the class count up to thirty, or say the alphabet while the person puts their prop on. If there are only 2 of you - you and your student - then you can take it in turns to go behind the blanket. You can keep score each time one of you guesses correctly.

Dressing up is only one idea for this game to practise clothing vocabulary and short questions and sentences such as "What are you wearing?" However you may use flashcards instead of props. See just below for ideas on how to adapt this to different language and vocabulary.

2. Language ideas to use with this game

So now let’s explore how else we can exploit this basic idea, and what other language we can use in this game.

Simple vocabulary repetition variant – small class

For elementary levels, or to revise vocabulary you could place two pictures (or word cards) on the floor behind the blanket – for example a picture of a plane and a truck. A class member stands on one of the cards and says, "Plane". (Or a sentence such as "I'm going to Paris by plane"). The student may stand either on the plane or the truck and the class must guess whether what he says is true or false as described above.

Simple vocabulary repetition variant – large class

If you have a fairly big class then you will not have time for everyone to go behind the blanket, so in that case, to get the most out of the time spent, instead of the person behind the blanket saying "plane", you could have your class say "plane" or "truck" depending on which one they think their classmate is standing on. Once the person behind the blanket is on their chosen picture you say "Ready, Go!" and the class call out the picture they think is correct. They may also call out the sentence you are requiring them to practise. That way everyone has a chance to say the words, rather than just the person behind the blanket. They can award themselves points if they get it right. Many of the children will cheat and pretend they said the right word – but does it really matter? I mean, who cares, after all we only want them to

practise English and feel good about it.

3. Question Practise Variant

This isn't a true or false variant, but while we've got the blanket out we might as well use it to the full.

Put one class member behind the blanket along with a few picture or word cards. Lay out 3 to 4 picture cards for the young children, and up to twelve for older children. The words should all be in the same theme and if you need to you can also have a set of these cards in view of the class. With the older children you would probably not do this to make it more challenging for them. Allow the class member behind the curtain five seconds to select a picture to stand on. He or she now cannot move from that spot. See below for how to continue depending on whether you have a large or small class.

Question practise – large class

Display pictures, or write up, the words you are using. One class member comes up to the front and points at one of the words – for example the car. The class ask the question form you wish to practise in unison, such as "Have you got a car?" The person behind the blanket replies "Yes I have, or no I haven't", or "True" or "False", or they answer the question as appropriate according to the language you are teaching. The class sees how many questions they need to ask each time. Alternatively you could divide them into two teams and each team tries to guess in fewer goes than the other one.

Question practise – small class

Each class member in turn asks a question and hopes to be the one to guess correctly. For example, the first student asks, "Have you got a car?" Answer, "No, I haven't". The second student asks, "Have you got a plane?" etc. until the answer is "yes I have." You can give points if you wish. If you only have one or two students then join in the game with them.

Here are some examples of questions you could practise with transport vocabulary: "Is it the car?" "Are you going by car?" "Have you got a car?" "Do you have a car?" "Can you drive a car?" "Are you buying a car?" "Are you going to buy a car?" "Will you buy a car?" "Did you buy a car?" "Have you bought a car?" "Did you go by car?"

And here are some more questions you could practise if you used countries: "Are you from China?" "Are you Chinese?" "Do you like China?" "Do you like Chinese food?" "Have you been to China?" "Are you going to China?" etc.

And here are some questions you could practise with animal vocabulary: "Do you like fish?" "Do you eat fish?" "Are you a fish?" "Is it a fish?" "Are there any fish at the zoo?" "Have you seen a fish?" "Have you eaten fish?" "Did you see a fish?" (when you went to Africa?) "Would you eat a fish?" "Could it be a fish?" "Have you been eaten by a fish?" etc.

As you can see you can adapt this game to ask any question. Think of the question form you would like to practise and then pick some vocabulary that goes well with that question form.

4. Sentence practise

Instead of questions, play as above but using sentences. Here are some examples using the countries theme:

You're in China. You're Chinese. You are going to China. You have been to China. You went to China. You speak Chinese. I'll see you in China. You're in China, aren't you? You've been to China, haven't you? You said you were going to China.

5. A lively variant

Here is a rather more lively variant on this game:

One child goes behind the blanket and the class all say this rhyme together – quickly and rhythmically if possible.

What is it? What is it? What could it be? What is it?

What is it? One two three.

It helps if the children clap on the 'what', 'what', 'what' and 'be' And on the 'what', 'what'; 'one', and 'three'.

By the time the class reach 'three' the person behind the blanket MUST be standing on their chosen card. After the class have pronounced the word three they are free to call out any possible word. Each class member can only call out one word but they can all call their words out together. There will be some noise! As soon as the child behind the blanket hears the correct word they jump out and all those who called out that word award themselves points (mass cheating no doubt, but I shouldn't pay attention to it). The next child up to go behind the curtain heads over there while the class immediately start up the rhyme again. The pace should be fast and exciting with no time in between rounds.

You can replace the simple rhyme above with one that you make up, which may include the sentence or question structure you wish to practise, or it may be a rhyme with some vocabulary you would like to reinforce. Here is an example: Travel on a bus, Travel on a train. Ride on a bicycle, Fly in a plane.

When this game played well is really pretty noisy and fun, and the children have a chance to repeat the same words over and over so they will remember them. You might want to teach the rhyme in a previous lesson, and you can use it again in all sorts of other games. The first time you play start slowly, and pick up the pace as and when your class understand what is happening. When you play it again in future lessons – using the same words if you are revising, or using a new set of words, you'll find that you can pick the pace up another notch.

6. Materials for you to try this game

You can use any pictures or word flash cards you may already have to play The Blanket Game. In addition prepare a set of picture and words cards for you using transport.

7. Reading and spelling

Please see sections 1-5 for how to play, for ideas on using the game, and for where to get your materials. Use word flashcards instead of pictures. This allows the children to read the words and become familiar subconsciously with the spelling.

Relay Race

Category: Speaking

Group size: From 2 players to large classes

Level: Beginners to intermediate

Materials: None

Age: 4 to 12

Pace: Wake up

This game is to be played once your students are familiar with the vocabulary and sentences that you wish to practise. This is a speaking practise game, or a revision game.

It is ideal for drilling in new vocabulary or grammar, in a fun way of course!

1. HOW TO PLAY

Divide your class into teams. If you have space then line the teams up in your space. If you have rows of desks then make each row a team and have the children stand up in between their desks. If you have children on benches with no room to move, then make each horizontal row a team.

Give the first child in each row a flashcard with a picture on it. When you say "go", the first child turns to the next one, names the item on the card and passes it along the line. Each child must take the item and pass it to the next child in the row while naming the item.

The winning team is the one which gets the picture card down the end of the line first. You can of course play so that the card has to come back to the front again.

It is a good idea to use referees. A referee is someone nominated from another team who listens in as the card is passed down the line and makes sure that the word is said properly, and that accuracy is not sacrificed for speed.

If you would like this game to be quiet then play as above but make a rule that only whispering is allowed.

If necessary you can make a rule that anyone not playing properly or messing around, or being loud, will mean that the card in that team has to start back at the beginning again, or is confiscated meaning that the team cannot win a point in that round.

The use of picture cards is good because it adds a fun element to the game. The children can see the progress of the card travelling down their own line, and the lines of other teams, so it adds some excitement.

In addition it allows you to see who should and who shouldn't be talking.

You can have a useful rule where only the players holding the card can talk - it is a "pass" to be able to speak. In that sense you don't even have to pass down a relevant picture, but can use anything - such as a book.

2. Language ideas to use with this game

So now let’s explore how else we can exploit this basic idea, and what other language we can use in this game. You can use it as shown above to drill in and reinforce vocabulary. However it is also very useful for practising a specific target structure, such as a tense, or question form. In fact you can have

any language passed down the line, which makes this an extremely useful game to have up your sleeve.

If you wanted to make the game a little more challenging then you could use the game to practise questions and answers. The first player asks the required question, hands the card over, and the second player answers the question, and then hands the card to the third player, who asks the fourth player the question.

3. Reading and spelling

If you use word flashcards instead of pictures the children will see the spelling of the words frequently. However it is better to use pictures for memorising.

A spelling variant on this game is to give the first child a sheet of paper with several words on it. This child is not allowed to show the paper to the second player but must spell out the first word. The second player has to work out what the word is and say it out loud. If the second player is correct the first player hands the paper over and the second child spells the second word to the third player, who names it, takes the paper and so on.

This is quite challenging so you could play with intermediate players and even teenagers and adults will find this fun.

What's the time Mr Wolf?

Category: Speaking

Group size: Variants for 3 players to a large class

Level: Beginners to intermediate

Materials: Variants with no materials needed, or with flashcards

Age: 5 to 12

Pace: Quiet & controlled variant. Wake up variant.

Excitable variant.

During the game your class will repeat the sentences of your choice many times, thus making these phrases become a part of their speaking repertoire.

1. HOW TO PLAY

VARIANT ONE - The classic game - suitable only for small groups in a 'summer camp' type environment.One pupil is the Wolf. The wolf walks slowly ahead with the class following behind. The class ask in unison "What's the time Mr Wolf?" Mr Wolf replies "It's one o'clock" (or whatever time he likes). The class repeat the question until Mr Wolf replies, "It's dinner time!" At this point Mr Wolf turns round and tries to catch one of the group. I suggest swapping Mr Wolf over at this point, regardless of whether the wolf catches anyone or not. If you like Mr Wolf can also call out breakfast

time, lunch time, tea time, supper time, and even elevenses, (a British custom of coffee or tea and biscuits around 11am). Whenever Mr Wolf calls out a time involving eating he turns and chases the group.

VARIANT TWO - Quiet, controlled classroom variant. 3 to 60 pupils.

One pupil is the wolf. The wolf faces the black board or away from the group. The class members stand behind their desks and ask in unison, "What time is it Mr Wolf?" Mr Wolf replies, "It's one o'clock". The class repeat the question until Mr Wolf says, "It's dinner time!" At this point the class freeze, Mr Wolf turns round and sees if anyone is moving. If the wolf catches anyone moving they become the new wolf. See variant three for more time telling options. Combine this with variant three for more fun.

VARIANT THREE - Classroom variant no materials. 3 to 60 pupils.

One pupil is the wolf, facing away from the group. The class each hold up 1 to 10 fingers, 1 arm in the air for 11, two arms in the air for 12. The class ask in unison, "What time is it Mr Wolf?" Mr

Wolf replies with a time, e.g. "It's 5 o'clock". Anyone holding up 5 becomes the wolf. If more than one pupil has five then the wolf picks one of them out. You can combine this with variant two for more fun and variety.

To use more time telling possibilities you can use the following idea. 3 o'clock would be three fingers held above the head. Quarter past 3 would be three fingers held to the right of the body. Half past 3 would be three fingers held over the stomach. Quarter to four would be three fingers held to the left of the body.

VARIANT FOUR - Classroom variant with flashcards. 6 to 60 pupils.

Pupils stand at their desks with a wolf up front. In this version, each class member has a flashcard with a different time on it. Remember you can ask the class to draw a clock and choose a time themselves, to have everyone kitted out with their own flashcard in minutes. When the wolf gives a time, e.g. "It's half past five", anyone holding that time must call back "It's half past five", or "Is it really?" The class keeps their flashcards flat on their desks or hidden from the wolf. The wolf then turns round and must identify who replied by the sound of their voice. If the wolf does this successfully that person becomes the next wolf. Or you swap the wolf over each time.

VARIANT FIVE - Classroom variant with flashcards. 5 to 30 pupils.

This variant is a little more lively, but still very manageable. Basic set up as above. The class holds up their flashcards (see variant 4) to the wolf. The wolf mentally picks one of the times he sees and turns away from the class. The class ask in unison, "What time is it Mr Wolf?" Mr Wolf says "It's five o'clock", and then counts to four at a steady pace. The class members holding "five o'clock" may, if they choose to, quickly swap their card, or give it to a neighbour before the wolf turns around. Every one freezes. On the count of 4 the wolf turns round and tries to catch someone moving. The wolf then names the person he believes to be holding the 5 o'clock card.

2. Language ideas to use with this game

The most obvious, easy adaptation is to use the time theme, but with different tenses. E.g. "What time did the wolf come in?" The wolf replies, "It came in at 5 o'clock". Or, "When will the wolf come in?" "It'll come in at 5 o'clock". Or, "When is the wolf coming in?" "'It's coming in at 5 o'clock".

You can modify this game to practise other questions and answers you would like to practise. Here is one example to give you the idea. Use with variants two to five, using flashcards.

Let's say you want to practise, "Where are you going on Saturday?" The wolf replies, "I'm going to the beach."

All Change

Category: Listening and understanding

Group size: 6 to 30 children

Level: Beginners to intermediate

Materials: Picture or word flash cards

Age: 4 to 12

Pace: Wake up to Excitable

This game is designed to be used for several purposes:

1. when you have just introduced some new vocabulary and you want to reinforce it aurally before having your pupils start to use it

2. for revision

3. when you want to plant a grammatical structure in your pupils' minds

4. to expose children to reading and spelling when you use word flash cards instead of pictures

1. HOW TO PLAY

Seat the players round in a circle, on chairs, or on the floor (on cushions if you have them), with one player standing in the middle. Each player has a picture of an item, or a word flash card, except for the player in the middle. Call out two of the picture card items or words. The two players holding these cards have to change places without the person in the middle grabbing one of their spots.

If the person in the middle manages to sit on the chair, or the spot in the circle then the one left standing goes in the middle. The new person in the middle hands their flash card to the child taking their place in the circle. If someone is stuck in the middle for two turns say "All Change!". When the players hear this they must all change places, which gives the person in the middle a very good chance of joining the circle.

Once everyone has had one go ask your class to pass their picture to the right, and take the one handed to them from the left. You can give them another go with the new picture.

And it's that simple!

2. Organising the group

With anything from six to fifteen children you can have only one circle. With sixteen to thirty children you would need two groups. Each group should have the same picture or word flash cards so that the two groups move simultaneously when you call out the words or sentences. If you have different age groups or abilities this is an opportunity to put all the older ones together, or all the brighter/more advanced ones together.

One thing to bear in mind is that you need an odd number of children per group - for example seven pairs in the circle and one child in the middle.

If you have an even number then you can play too – starting in the middle. Alternatively you can pull out one of your best students to call out the words or sentences.

It is very important, especially with larger groups, that you keep the pace moving calling out the next change immediately the players have swapped over. Do not give the children time to start chatting to each other. Keep them on their toes.

3. Language ideas to use with this game

The simplest version of the game is to call out two words, for example, if everyone has a food or drink picture card you could say: "bananas and pie". The child with the picture of some bananas, and the child with the picture of some pie change places. (If they can without the one in the middle taking one of their spots first).

You can also incorporate the two words into a sentence such as: "I like bananas and pie". You can use more sophisticated sentences to match the ability of your class and to introduce phrases you would like them to learn.Here are some examples to give you the idea:

"I would like some bananas and some pie please". "I like bananas but I don't like pie". "Do you like bananas?...No, I like pie". "Can I have some bananas and pie?" "Where can I buy bananas and pie?" "Do you have any bananas and pie?" "I really love bananas but I can't stand pie". "I feel sick when I eat bananas and pie".

There is/there are:

"In my kitchen there are bananas and apples". "In my kitchen there is a pie and a banana".

You can see from the above examples how you can adapt the game to your purposes.

You can be revising food vocabulary while introducing a new phrase to them such as "You should eat bananas, but you shouldn't eat pie".

Alternatively, you could be revising a phrase while introducing new vocabulary.

For example let's say you recently taught them the days of the week, and now you are going to introduce food vocabulary.

You can say:

On Mondays I eat bananas and pie". "On Wednesdays I eat potatoes and sausages". "On Saturdays I drink coke and milk". "On Thursdays I drink water and I eat bacon". And so on.

If you have an advanced class there is no reason why they cannot enjoy this game from time to time, and you can use it in the same way described above, simply use the grammatical structures you are teaching them at the time, however complex. For example: "I only wish I could have some bananas and pie". "You ought to eat bananas and pie". "How can you think of eating bananas and pie".

4. More language variants

Other vocabulary ideas for this game are: sports, Next weekend I'm going to windsurf and play tennis, or animals, On my farm there are pigs and sheep, or professions, My mum's a doctor and my dad's a dentist, or places in town, On Monday I'm going to the bank and the supermarket, or fairy tale vocabulary, The princess married the Martian.

If you have a few star students who pick things up quickly you can give them the task of calling out the sentences.

5. Materials for you to try this game

You can use any pictures or word flashcards you may already have to play All Change. In addition prepare a set of picture and words cards for you using food.

6. Reading and Spelling

Please see sections 1-5 for how to play, for ideas on using the game, and for where to get your materials.

Once your students have learned the vocabulary by heart, you can practise reading and spelling by playing All Change with word flashcards instead of pictures. This allows the children to read the words and become familiar subconsciously with the spelling.

Kidnap!

Category: Speaking

Group size: Any class size including very large classes

Level: Beginners to intermediate

Materials: Children need pencil and paper

Age: 5 to 12. Playable by teens & adults

Pace: Wake up - Fun while being highly controlled

This game is useful for speaking practise of any target structure and for reinforcing vocabulary. It is important that you have either new vocabulary or a new target structure - but not both. One thing at least must be revision, and the other thing must already have been introduced using some listening games. Here's a simplified version: 15

Give out one picture per student - use a selection of pictures of vocabulary that you want to revise. Say "Go". The students pass their pictures to one another either randomly swapping them or passing them in a structure way around the class (quite a good idea for maintaining order).

Now pull out one of those same pictures out of a hat and say "stop". Call out the word you have - all the students holding that picture are taken hostage and have to do a fun forfeit to be released.

Don't make people out because that means you have students not participating.

You can vary this by having just three pictures passed at one go - this makes it less likely that you will pull one of those out of your hat.

For language students can say the vocabulary on the picture as they pass it or say a short sentence containing the vocabulary word according to what you want to practise.

Now for the full version of KIDNAP

This game is hard to explain if you cannot speak the native language and your students understand no English. To ensure the game works the first time you use it play just passing pictures as described in the section 'The play'. When students successfully complete that part of the game add in the 'kidnap' papers, as described below. That breaks the learning of the game up into two simple stages. Teachers have found that children absolutely love this game and it is worth learning.

SET UP

Divide the class into teams and draw or stick up simple pictures of the vocabulary you would like to use on the board. Tell each child to copy one of these pictures and make sure that all the pictures are being drawn more or less equally. One way to do this is to number the pictures on the board and then count round the children. The children draw the picture their number corresponds to. Children then write their team name or letter on the picture.

In this game it is OK if the teams are not exactly even.

Use words instead of pictures if you are practising a sentence with a target structure, but if you are working on vocabulary pictures are much more effective.

While children are drawing write out the team names or letters in a vertical column on the board and allocate nine lives to each team horizontally. Each time a team loses a life in the game you will rub one off the board.

By now each student has a piece of paper with a picture on it. Make sure students have written their team name or letter on the paper. Ask students to each take a second piece of paper and one pupil from each team only draws a square on it, pressing lightly so the pencil line does not show through the paper. The other pupils leave their paper blank. Everyone now folds this second piece of paper in half.

Now all students pass the folded papers around until no one knows who has the papers with the square on. Your pupils look secretly at their folded paper to see if they have the square, and don't tell anyone if they do.

THE PLAY

Now you are ready to play. Call out one of the words such as "bananas". All those with a banana picture hold up their hands. Pick one and that person stands up and is the collector of all the banana pictures. Do the same for another picture, such as milk. You now have two students standing, one who will collect in all the bananas and the other all the milk.

You now give the word or sentence that is to be repeated on passing a picture. A picture can only be passed when this word or phrase is spoken otherwise it's cheating. You can use plain repetition of the given vocabulary, or short sentences such as "I like bananas" if passing the bananas, or "I like milk" if passing the milk.

Use whispering or murmuring only so you can keep a lid on the noise. Anyone talking or saying anything other than the given vocabulary or phrase loses a life for his or her team. You can rub out one of the lives you drew on the board earlier.

Anyone with a banana picture must pass his or her paper along the line in the direction of the collector, while the milk simultaneously makes its way to the milk collector. Everyone passing a picture must say the given word or phrase to the person he or she hands it to. The paper must take the most

direct line towards the collector and no one can be missed out in the line of flight so to speak. Alternatively have a rule that the paper cannot travel diagonally but can only go up or across rows. Use whatever works best for your classroom configuration so that the maximum number of people have to pass the paper to include as many students as possible.

After a few goes ask if anyone has not yet had a go at all. Specify that for the next round the paper must go via those people who have not had a turn, and ask them to stand up so they can be identified.

THE KIDNAP PAPERS

Now here's the snag! Those with the papers with a square can kidnap a picture if it comes their way, and take it out of the game. If anyone succeeds in doing this they shout out "Kidnapped!" and tell you the team letter on the paper they have intercepted. This is like the equivalent of a member of that team being taken hostage and that team loses a life from a given number of lives. With older children they can also write their name on their paper, along with their drawing and team letter, so that specific class members are kidnapped. (The younger ones won't really like this so for them keep it general.)

Continue to play using the other words. You may have a blank paper swap every couple of rounds so that the square 'kidnap' papers can secretly circulate. At the end you see which team has the most lives.

You can use this game for absolutely any language you like, and it's great because everyone has a chance to speak and drill themselves in the given words or phrases while having quite a lot of fun!

2. Language ideas to use with this game

You can practise any grammar or vocabulary with this game. Here is an example to give you the idea. Let's say you want to practise the past tense. Use food vocabulary for the pictures for revision and use the target structure: "Yesterday I ___________ (past tense) ____________ (food vocabulary)" Round one could be "Yesterday I ate apples" Round two could be "Yesterday I bought pears" Round three could be "Yesterday I washed potatoes" and so on.

Your class revise food vocabulary so that does not use up much of their concentration, meaning that they can apply themselves fully to saying the sentence with the new structure correctly.

As mentioned above, use either new vocabulary or a new target structure - but not both. Revise vocabulary if using a newish target structure, and vice-versa.

Play a couple of listening games with the new vocabulary or structure before playing this speaking game.

3. Materials for you to try this game

For this game your pupils need a pencil and two pieces of

paper each.

Writing Race

Category: Writing

Group size: From 2 players to medium-sized class

Level: Beginners to intermediate

Materials: Pens or pencils and paper

Age: 4 to 12

Pace: Wake up

This game is to be played once your students are familiar with the vocabulary and sentences that you wish to practise. This game is particularly good for practicing specific grammatical points or spelling.

It adds a really fun twist to worksheets!

1. HOW TO PLAY

Divide the class into pairs, threes or fours, but no more than four per group.

Each group has two pencils, one worksheet and one blank piece of paper .

On the word Go! The first child of each pair or group runs to the worksheet and fills in the first item. The pencil stays with the worksheet so the children are not running with them. He or she then runs back to the blank piece of paper and writes the item out

in full there. If you have long sentences then you'll only ask the class to write out the relevant part or it will be long and laborious.

As soon as the first child reaches the blank piece of paper the second child can run to the worksheet and fill in the second item, leave the pencil on the desk and run to the blank piece of paper. The first child should have finished writing out the item by now, and either runs back to the worksheet to do the third item, or waits in line until his or her turn comes round again.

Here is a concrete example of how that works. Using the worksheet for a/an provided the first child runs to the worksheet and fills in item 1, in this case 'an' before elephant. The child then runs back to the blank piece of paper and writes out 'an elephant', while the second child runs to the worksheet and fills out item 2, and so on.

A variant is to have two worksheets - either identical for reinforcing newly learned things, or different ones for revising a greater number of items.

When the worksheets are all filled up the game is over.

For marking suggest that everyone marks their own, or the sheet is marked by the group. Each person or group can have three lives, which means that as you go through the answers, they can rub out three incorrect answers and replace them with the correct ones. This means that it is highly likely that the whole class will get 100% which is great for the feel-good factor. In addition the fact of rubbing out the wrong answer and rewriting the correct one

helps learning far better than a big red cross does. Now if any children rub out more than 3 incorrect answers then I say so what? Let them, just pretend you haven't noticed.

If a child squeals on another then you could say, thank you for helping but in this case it's better if you concentrate on your own worksheet. That has got to be better than putting the spotlight on the child who has got so many wrong answers that they have to keep rubbing them all out!

2. Language ideas to use with this game

This game lends itself to any language as long as it is short - being a writing race it isn't practical to have great long sentences to write out. However if you use 2 worksheets and just do fill in the blanks then the sentences can be as long as you like.

If you wanted to reinforce some spelling then you could have one worksheet which the children run to, they memorize the first word, run back to the blank piece of paper and write that word down from memory while the second child runs to the worksheet, and so on. You could use that idea for very short sentences or vocabulary. For example the worksheet could just have pictures on it, the child looks at the first picture, runs back to the blank piece of paper and writes down the word.

Those are two spelling ideas. You can also use fill in the blanks, and that means you can practise just about anything, such as question forms, verb endings, parts of verbs, vocabulary, pronouns, etc.

Listen

Class size: Small group and classroom variations

Level: Ideal for beginners to lower intermediate

Age: 4 to 12

Materials: None required, some optional ideas for props

1. How to Play

This game is excellent for practising new vocabulary, or for revising large amounts of known words.

A. Small Group Variation:

Stand in a space with the children all around you and close to you. The children should either be touching you with an outstretched hand, or you can tie scarves around you and each child holds onto the end of a scarf. The younger children love this

kind of prop, but it is optional. Another optional prop is to stand on a square of coloured paper. The children must all have one foot on that square.

The children must stay touching you, or holding the scarf until you say a specific word. When you say that word you can try and catch one of the children and they have to escape before you do.

With the very young children it can be necessary never to catch them as it can make them cry.

So for example start by telling the children the magic word, it could be "summer". You now start to say words such as spring, winter, autumn, sun, rain, etc. When you say, summer, the children must run off and you try and catch one of them. You do not necessarily have to chase after the children, you can just try and touch one of them before he or she has let go of you, without you actually moving from the spot. If you like you can make a rule where you are allowed to take one step only.

You can add great variety to this game by changing the way you say the words. Sometimes you can use a flat monotone for several words and then suddenly say a word with great enthusiasm. This alone can make some children let go of you even though you did not say the magic word.

You can also add variety by changing the set up. For example you may have the children seated around you on the floor. When they hear the magic word they must get up and move away to safety. You can also use ideas such as having the children balance on one leg while they listen out for the magic word and then clap and run away when they hear it. If a child cannot balance, or forgets to clap before running away he or she is out.

Instead of having children who are out sit around getting bored and restless, let them just sit down for one turn and then join back in again, or have them do a forfeit. There are plenty of fun forfeit ideas in my e-book of games.

If you have a strong group member you can let them take your role in the game.

B. Classroom Variation:

To use this idea in a classroom situation where you have desks and chairs plus too many students to play the small group version you can adapt the game as follows:

Use the magic word idea as described above but this time the children must clap when they hear the magic word and the last one to clap is out. Or the class sits down on hearing the magic word, and last one seated is out. Use any action you fancy that suits your classroom situation.

2. Language ideas to use with this game

This game lends itself to any vocabulary. You may also use short sentences by way of revision, or in preparation for introducing those phrases properly later in the lesson, or in the next lesson. For example you could have the word train as the magic word and say, I like buses, I like cars, I like planes, I like trains! Replace the phrase I like with more or less anything that you would like to practise. For example if you want to teach the past continuous then the magic word can be reading and you say sentences such as I was driving, I was walking, I was reading!

If your children are too naughty then use a quiet version of the classroom game and have a rule where any noise and the child is out, or loses a point for his or her team.

Make the most of these games while they are still such a bargain. You'll never be short of ideas for fun teaching again.

It works best for up to about 20 students. If you have a bigger class you can do a demonstration first so

everyone knows how to play and then split the class into two or three groups.

Originally this game is a name game warmer. The class sits in a circle game where someone is in the middle. The person in the middle calls out someone's name three times as fast as possible and the person whose name it is has to try to say their own name once before the three repetitions are finished.

You do not need to sit in a circle - this is nice because all students can see each other's faces, but it can also be played while sitting at desks.

You may practise vocabulary by giving the person in the middle a vocabulary picture to name three times. Students listen and must try and jump in to say the word before the three repetitions are up. The student saying the word first takes the place of the pupil who said the three repetitions.

If you want your students to practise specific words you can give pictures out for the words to be named, or you can write a theme on the board and tell students to think up a word in that theme. Students can only come into the middle if they have thought of a word that has not yet been said. This avoids everyone sitting waiting while someone tries desperately to think of a word.

If the same students jump in time and again then put them in a group together and let them work together as a "fast" group in future. Or simply tell them that they cannot win every time and must play one turn and take one turn out. Or make them judges and in charge of a group.

Hetty and the Lion

The keywords and target language to pre-teach for Hetty and the Lion. A mini-lesson plan using games to give you fun ideas on pre-teaching this vocabulary and language. The flashcards you need to do it.

The target language for Hetty and the Lion

And now here is the mini-lesson plan to pre-teach the keywords and target vocabulary for Hetty and the Lion. Here first is the main language that is used in this story.

Greeting: Hello, how are you? I'm fine thanks.

Nouns: lion, milk, orange, apple, banana, pear, ice cream

Verbs: drank, ate

Other: would you like some...? Oh yes please, little…

Please note that the greeting, the nouns lion and milk, and the adjective little are actually revision for children following the course of all ten stories. However you can also use this story in isolation, it just means you have a little more vocabulary to pre-teach.

So let's get started. Depending on the ability of your children and how often they are exposed to English you might take one to three half hour sessions to introduce all the above words using games and other fun activities.

Remember that to read the story you only need the children to understand the vocabulary, and not necessarily be able to say it. In later sessions you can play more and more speaking games with the target language as the children become confident and familiar with the new words and the sounds of the English language.

Pre-story activities

1. Listening games for the first three fruits

Introduce the first three fruits and play Run and Touch. First lay out the picture flashcards, or the fruits themselves and tell the children to touch the fruit you name. After a few minutes spread the pictures out over the room and tell the children to run over to the picture you name.

Next have the children make the shape of the fruit you name with

their bodies.

If your children are doing well you can introduce the other three food words and play the above games again either with the three new words or with all six words if you have children who are fast learners. Only you can know exactly how fast to go.

Next play Show me, variation 3. In this game you hand out different picture cards to the children who secretly look at their card and place is face down on the floor or hold the picture into their chests. You can play some music for ten seconds or so and have the children move around the room. When you stop the music name one of the fruits and the children with that fruit must show the picture to everyone. You can add an element where when the music stops everyone must freeze and only those children with the picture you have called out can move. After you have called out all the fruits and vocabulary swap the pictures around and play again, or move onto another game.

2. Greetings

Now you have given the children some practice understanding the first three fruits, introduce the greetings. Seat the children in a circle and take a ball. Ask the whole group, "Hello, how are you?" and have the group answer back with, "I'm fine thanks." Have the children repeat this back to you three or four times in unison. Now roll the ball to one child and say, "Hello, how are you?" Help the child reply to you with, "I'm fine, thanks". The child rolls the ball back to you and you repeat with each child. You can only do this with a group of 8 or it gets boring.

With a bigger group put the children into pairs in the circle. Seat the two in a pair close together and have them hold hands, then leave a clear gap between the next pair. Now you can roll the ball to a pair of children and they can reply together, which cuts down the whole exercise by half.

3. More listening games and the rest of the food words

Now introduce the remaining food words and play some more listening games. For a listening game that also revises colours name the fruit and the children call out the colour of that fruit. For example you say, "banana" and the children say, "yellow", etc. Children following the course of ten stories will know ten colours by now.

Musical fruits

Lay out the colours of the fruits, and the milk on the floor. With a large group you will want several of each colour. Use the coloured feet or the Twister sheet, or whatever you have. Play music while the children dance around. Then call out a question such as, "what colour is a banana?" The children must jump on the colour yellow. This listening game allows the children to hear the words named several times in preparation for saying them, and it also allows for the revision of colours. Remember to include, "what colour is milk?" as well as the fruits.

If your children do not know the colours then play musical fruits by just naming the fruits and food vocabulary in turn and letting the children jump on the correct pictures. You will need several pictures of each so that you do not have the whole group converging on one small picture. You want to be sure the children have enough space and pictures to move around and play without bumping into each other.

4. Speaking games

You may decide to leave these speaking games until after you have read the story or for another lesson - it just depends on your group. If you feel your children are not ready for these games then skip

ahead to more listening games where you introduce the question, Would you like some..?

Mystery box

When the children are ready for some speaking practice play some games such as mystery box where you cut holes in a cardboard box, turn the box upside down and place real fruits

inside. The children have to feel inside the box and name what they can feel.

Cut several holes in the same box to give more than one child a go at a time, and if you have a big group you will need more than one box. Two to four children feeling in one box at any one time so if you have eight children one box is enough as the children can wait one turn. However if you have 12 children take two boxes as you do not want half of the children sitting around doing nothing for more than a minute or two or you may start to have discipline problems. You can play a variant of this where you place three objects in the box. Two are matching and one is the odd one out. For example you place two oranges and one banana in the box. The children feel inside and name the odd one out.

Hide and Guess game

Play a guessing game such as Hide and Guess where a child picks up a fruit while hiding behind a blanket, and the other children have to guess which one the child picked. If you do not have a blanket you can let the child pick out a picture card secretly and hold that card behind his or her back while the other children guess which item it is.

Listening games to introduce would you like some?

Moving on now from simple vocabulary words to the key phrase in the story, Would you like some..? At this stage it is enough to play a few listening games so that the children understand the meaning of this phrase so that they can follow the events in the story. Explain the meaning of the question first and with the children in a circle ask them each if they would like some ice cream, or some apples, etc. Let the children answer yes or no and if they answer yes hand them the fruit or a picture of the fruit and the children can pretend to eat it if they like.

Play All Change. In this game, hand out the fruit and food words that the children have been practising in the previous games. Hand out pairs of words so that at two children have the same item. You then ask the question, would you like some apples? The two children with an apple or a picture of an apple change places. Continue through all the vocabulary.

Then you jazz the game up by putting one child in the middle. This time when the two children change places the child in the middle must try to jump into one of the spots in the circle, leaving a different child to take the place in the middle. There are six food words in this story, which would mean that you could play with thirteen children - one being in the middle. If you have more than thirteen children and you have a helper consider forming two groups and let the helper look after the second group. If that is not possible then you will have to have up to three children holding the same cards. If the group gets too large this game can lead to chaos so more than 15 children and you must have two groups and a helper.

If you have less than thirteen children then instead of handing out two bananas, two apples, etc, hand out all the vocabulary and ask, would you like some apples and bananas? Then the child with the apples changes places with the child with the bananas.

At any time during the lesson, when you want to calm the children down or give them a break, you can hand out the black

and white version of the vocabulary and allow the children to

colour them.

Here now is the link to your flashcards that you can use to pre-teach all the target language. You will find a colour set to use in the games. If you purchase the full preschool resource you will also

receive black and white flashcards for colouring and a bingo set for each story.

If you can use real fruits as well that is ideal for young children, but the flashcards can be helpful if you cannot access real objects and for some of the games where flashcards are more practical.

The word lion is not included in the above games to keep everything to a food theme. You will be able to introduce the lion just before you tell the story.

Post Story Activities

1. Tasting game

If you are fortunate enough to have the real fruits easily available then bring them in and play a blindfold tasting game. Be careful to wash the fruits and your hands carefully beforehand and cut the fruits into small pieces. You can give the children the black and white pictures to be colouring in while you are doing that, or you can have the fruits pre-prepared, which would actually be a lot easier.

Blindfold one child and feed them a piece of fruit on a spoon. The child must guess what fruit it is. This is only suitable for small groups of course otherwise you would need an assistant to help you get through the children faster.

2. Make a fruit salad

Again if you are fortunate to have the facilities to do this making up a real fruit salad is always a popular activity with the children. Make sure there is plenty of naming of the fruits as you put them in the bowl and eat them afterwards.

You could play a game once the fruit salad is made where each time a child has a go they are allowed a spoon from the salad bowl. You will have to serve them yourself in a separate dish as these days everybody is paranoid about germs, and you can't be too careful with other people's children.

3. Hot Potato

Seat the children in a circle and hand out the different fruits at intervals around the circle. Play music while the children pass the fruits around the circle. When you suddenly stop the music the children holding the fruits stand up, call out the name of the fruit they are holding and sit down again. You start up the music again and repeat until all you feel the game has gone on long enough and all of the children have had a go.

4. Chanting game

First have the children chant or sing these simple words: Bananas oranges apples and pears - four times in a row. The trick is to say these four lines in a singsong type way, with the intonation going up at the end of the first and third lines and down at the end of the second and in particular the fourth line. It is better if you can make up a simple tune, or use a tune that you already know and put these words to it. So you seat the children in a circle with eyes closed. One child stands outside the circle holding one of the fruits. The whole group sing or chant the four lines while the child with the fruit walks round the outside of the circle and at some point secretly puts the fruit behind another child's back. When the song or chant is over all the children feel behind their backs, and the one with the fruit must jump up and run round the circle and try and catch the other child. The other child will never be caught and will run round the circle and sit down in the place of the child now holding the fruit. Repeat until as everyone has had a go.

If you have a big group you can cut the chant down to two lines and have a little chasing session

every two lines instead of every four to get through faster.

5. Would you like?

Play question and answer dance. First practise the language saying, "Would you like some milk?" in unison a few times. Count the children in with a one two. Then hold up a picture of the apples and count the children in. They must ask, "Would you like some apples?" Have one go with each food picture until the children have more or less got it. This should have taken you two minutes total so far.

Now you are ready to spend another 3-4 minutes on the game. The children dance around to music. When you stop the music the children must stand still in the position they are in. Hold up a picture card of one of the food items from the story. Count the children in and ask the question with them. If the children can do it on their own so much the better, then you can answer them with, "yes I would", or "no thank you".

6. Role play

This is something to play once the children are very familiar with the story and are ready to start using more language than just naming individual words.

Sit your group down on the floor and tell them to pretend to be in a restaurant where they are to order. One of the children is a waiter. If possible give them a tea towel and tray as props. The waiter comes up to the group and asks them, "would you like some milk", "oh yes please" say the group, and the waiter goes off, selects the correct flashcard and brings it back to the table. Now swap the waiter over and let another child have a go. If possible have the real fruits available for the waiter to take over to the table.

7. Shopping race

Divide your children in to two teams and give each child a picture flashcard of a fruit or food item that he or she must buy. At the other end of the room are two shops, one for each team. Place your two best children in each of the shops. On go the first two children from each team run down to the shop and the shop assistant must ask them what they would like for example, "would you like some bananas?" The child doing the shopping must say, "oh yes please" if his or her picture is of bananas and "no thank you" if it is of any other item. You can vary how you play with this idea. For example you could allow the shop assistant to see the flashcard so that all the shopping is done very quickly, and this is the best way with the three year olds anyway. Or you could allow the shop assistant three guesses, and if none of those guesses are of the picture in the flashcard then the shopper has to go back to his or her team empty handed.

There are so many different varieties of game that you will have enough ideas to keep your students happy for several years.

We hope you enjoyed these games ideas, we’re sure that they will help you to think of tons more ways you can liven up your teaching and still keep control of your classes.