Top 5 Classroom “Games”.

I strongly believe that games have a huge place in the classroom and are ultimately a means of engagement, behaviour management and reward. Not a lesson goes by where I don’t include a game and here are my top 5…

1. Beat The Teacher.

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Display key images or words on the board. Teacher points to them and says what they are/translate them/define them. If said correctly, students must all repeat in unison, if said incorrectly (on purpose, obviously!) students must ALL stay silent. The repetitive nature of this game embeds vocabulary really well.

2. Ready, Steady… Draw!

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Divide the class in two and have a volunteer come to the board from each side. Provide the two students with a whiteboard pen and secretly show them a word from the lesson. They then need to draw this word but with their hands behind their back, facing away from the board. This is not only a great way to encourage logical thinking, but it is also hilarious, seeing the concentration on their faces! The rest of the class must try to decipher the drawing by giving the key word or a definition of it.

3. Secret Student.

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Place a list of vocab on the board and choose one student to leave the room to become a detective. Whilst this student is outside, choose one member of the class to provide you with a signal. Once decided, get the detective back in. Have the class chant the first word in the list until you get the signal from the secret student to change to the next one. The detective must circulate the room, trying to guess who the secret signaller is. Again, the repetition of this game embeds pronunciation and vocabulary.

4. Beat the Buzzer!

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Prepare some cards with approximately 8 words per card, in a list. Get students in teams of 4. 2 students from the group will be describers and the others, guessers. Have a timer, but ensure that the set time is different for each round and don’t tell the students the length of time they have. As soon as the timer starts, the first describer must describe the first word on the list WITHOUT using the word, gesturing or spelling. As soon as the guesser gets it, the card passes to describer 2 who describes the next word on the list, and so this continues. The losing team is the one who has the card in their hand when the buzzer goes off. This is a really engaging and exciting game for the students, and it gets them thinking outside of the box!

5. Place Your Bets!

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Provide students with an imaginary £100, which they write in their margin/on a piece of paper. Next, ask them a question based on the learning/skills of the lesson or topic. Before the answer is given, ask them to place a bet from their £100 on how confident they are with their answer. They must then write this stake down, under their £100 as well as their answer (I tell students that they must bet at least £10 to ensure involvement by all). Once all bets have been placed, tell students the answer to the set question. If correct, they double their STAKE and add it to their original £100. If incorrect, they must subtract their stake from their £100. This is another game that creates a real buzz and gets the students REALLY thinking, because it is not just simply Q&A and it also incorporates numeracy.

Happy gaming!

Find more inspirational ideas for your classroom in: "OUTSTANDING LESSON AHEAD" by Amy Sargent (published by JNPAQUET Books Ltd). A book that will just fire your imagination with its thought-provoking style and provides both aspiring and current teachers with suggestions, ideas and techniques to incorporate in their lessons.