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Sometimes it can be difficult to think of different ways to get teens and adults to get creative and speak in class. On a recent episode of the More Than English Podcast, professional English teacher and ELT Consultant, Harry Waters shared a fun game to allow your students to explore their creativity and think on their feet. This EFL speaking game is called, "Why is there a monkey in your bag?" How it works:The teacher starts by asking a student why there is a monkey in their bag. A flustered student will say whatever answer comes to their mind. The teacher will give a follow-up reaction based on the student's answer followed by another question. And the conversation goes back and forth for a few rounds of questions and answers. After that, the student will choose another partner and start the conversation over again, and they can change the monkey to something else. Pro Tips:Awarding Points Works - Figure out a simple point system to keep interest. (Ex. 1-3 points based on creativity, follow-up responses or questions) Teach the Language - Take time to explore and correct the language that they use. Consistency is Key - If you do this on a regular or semi-regular basis, the students will be able to come up with different answers as they get comfortable with the game. Easter Egg LessonsThinking on their feet - This is always a useful skill to have whether in public speaking or regular conversation. Building Community - If lead well by the teacher, your students will feel a part of the community in being able to laugh at themselves and get a bit silly during the exercise. What else can you find?
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One of the best pieces of advice that I would give to a new teacher of young learners is to establish routines and make them fun. This will help you:
That's great. How do I do that?Jessica Yip shared some important advice when teaching young learners concerning routines.
Watch the video below for even more pro tips! Some examples of starting routinesUse your routines to do typical things that your kids are already doing. Just do it with style.
Easter Egg LessonsConfidence - Your kids will eventually feel more confident in your class because they will know your style and what to expect in your lesson. Teamwork - Your kids will start helping each other and rooting for each other to do the games well. What else can you find?
If you've seen Inglorious Bastards, you may have noticed the soldiers playing a table game in one of the scenes. Let's bring that game to our English class, of course with a few tweaks to help it flow for a lesson. In class, I like to combine games in a general theme for a given class. This helps the flow of a class as one activity builds on another. In this lesson, I like to use two types of games that go well together. The focus we're working with today are questions and answers. In particular, YES/NO questions. How it works:Activity I: 20 Questions
Tell the rules of 20 questions and begin playing. Teacher thinks of a word first. Choose a student to go next. (8-12 minutes) 1) The chosen person thinks of a word, and the class has up to 20 YES/NO questions to figure it out. 2) The chosen person can only say YES/NO 3) The person who correctly guesses the word goes next (if they want). · Break bigger classes into small groups to continue playing the game. Activity II: Who am I?Explain the rules of "Who am I" 1) Give everybody a small piece of paper. 2) Students write a thing on the piece of paper. 3) Pass the paper to the right 4) Ask questions to figure it out 5) If the answer is 'yes', go again. If the answer is 'no', it's the next person's turn. (10-14 minutes) · Begin playing in their groups. Pro Tips:· More advanced classes can work with questions like, "Can I ____ with you?" and other types of questions · Keep track of how many questions remain on the board for the class to see · Explain Activity II to individual groups around the room for classes of 20 or more. Good luck! Let me know how it worksfor you and if you have any special touches that I can try in my classes: Easter Egg LessonsUsing Authentic Language - They want to find out the answer, so they will ask questions. It's our job to help them ask it correctly. Listening - They will have to pay attention to other people's questions so they don't waste a question and repeat a question (which will happen in 20 questions) Great for 1-on-1 LessonsBoth of these games would work perfectly fine for you your 1-on-1 lessons, too! The only adjustments you would have to make for your 1-on-1 students are:
Test it out and try different things, and let us know what works best for you!
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Have more time.
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