Різноманіття ігор

Games are lots of fun! I use them as a vocabulary practice or review before a test. There are so many different games. They work perfect with small kids in a primary or middle school.

• Here is one more vocabulary game which doesn`t require any preparation. I use it when we organize a kind of competition. To play it you need word cards and definition cards. Players take turns flipping a card and giving the definition or if it is a definition card - they give the word.
• Divide your learners into two groups. One volunteer from each group sits on a chair with their backs to the board, facing their group. The teacher writes a word on the board so that the volunteer can't see the word. Their group must give explanations/ synonyms/ antonyms to their volunteer so that their volunteer guesses the word first. The first one to guess the word gets a point for their team. Then the next member of the team sits on the chair. And so on. Works great for all levels. You can practice any vocabulary.
• Divide the class into two groups. In turns team members come to the front of the class and mime the words/phrase that the teachers gives them on a slip of paper.
• The next game we can call "Where am I". I think it is great for practicing questions structures. One of the children (A) is given a picture of a famous location. The rest of the class by asking yes or no answers has to find out where the learner(A) is. For example, "Do people speak English there?" or "Is there the river in this city?"and so on. You can encourage your learners to use different tenses or special grammatical structures. It`s up to you.
  

Інтерактивні вправи

I couldn`t miss online games. They can be very helpful when your learners are bored and you just need to draw their attention to something important. There are many different sites which can help us to create our own games. For example, https://learningapps.org/  You can try some of them. But not every teacher can use them. Unfortunately, we just don`t  have so many computers.

Building the writing skills

It's important to develop students' ability to write without much preparation. The tasks may take only some minutes but they will boost students' confidence. There are many techniques and we all have our favourites. I can`t miss collaborative writing because it allows students to learn from each other. A good example of this technique is "Story circle".

All the children in a group are sitting in a circle around a table. Everybody has a blank sheet of paper. The teacher dictates a sentence (e.g. Once upon a time a beautiful princess lived). They all write it at the top of their piece of paper. Each student is told to write one sentence. Once they have done it, they all pass their piece of paper to the left and each student writes the next sentence of the story. This procedure continues until each student has their original piece of paper in front of them. They are told to write the last line of the story. This activity encourages students to analyze their partners' writing. Besides this task is real fun!

Riddles

Once surfing the Net I found this great riddles collection site.  There they have a huge variety of different riddles for all ages. I`m sure you can find something interesting for your students to make lessons more interesting! Here I have just some of them. Try and have fun!

• Riddle 1:

I am a word of six; my first three letters refer to an automobile; my last three letters refer to a household animal; my first four letters is a fish; my whole is found in your room. What am I?

 Answer: a carpet

• Riddle 2:
  

What is in you and is said to be broken without being touched, held or seen? 

Answer: your heart

• Riddle 3:
  

I can hurt, I can help, I'm kind, Sometimes I'm not, I can be said, You can hear me, Yet you can't see neither touch me. What am I?

Answer: a word

• Riddle 4:

What gets dirtier the more you washes?

Answer: water

• Riddle 5:
  

What is twice in a week, once in a year, yet never in a day or month?

Answer: the letter 'e'

• Riddle 6:

What travels around the world but stays in one spot?

Answer: a stamp

• Riddle 7:
  

I am free yet priceless, you can't own me but you can use me, you can't keep me but you can spend me. Once you lost me you can never have me back. What am I?

Answer: time

• Riddle 8:
  

What room can no one enter?

Answer: a mushroom

• Riddle 9:

I never was, am always to be, No one ever saw me, nor ever will And yet I am the confidence of all To live and breathe on this terrestrial ball. What am I?

Answer: tomorrow

• Riddles10:
  

What can you catch but never throw?

Answer: a cold

https://www.riddles.com/

Icebreakers

If your pupils don't feel comfortable speaking English or they are shy and not communicative, try a simple icebreaker question.  I`m sure it can help! But Just choose an activity that will be understandable for everybody!

• Deserted Island

Instructions:

Put students in pairs or groups. Tell the group that they will be trapped on an island for one year and cannot leave. They can take 5 things with them. They must tell the class the 5 things they decided to bring and what the importance of each is.

• One lie, two truths

Instruction:

Think of two true things about yourself and one lie. (For example: I got a diving license when I was 15, I have been to Europe, My parents own a restaurant).

Students must ask you questions to find out which is the lie. (For example: Where did you get certified? Where did you last go diving? What is the capital of England?...) You can limit the number of questions or put a time limit on asking questions. Then learners make their guesses and you tell them if they are right or not.

• Personality Quiz

Instruction: