Jazz up Your Lesson

Student interaction is a truly important aspect of any education. And it becomes twice as valuable, when they can communicate and learn more about each other speaking English.
So here you can find a great game to help your students get together, check whether they know each other well and just have fun! There are no age limits in this game.

Game  1:
“A  step  in  togetherness”

Material needed:
– sheets of paper;
– pens.

How to play:
Let every student choose a person in his or her class whom they know least of all. Let them sit in pairs. Then give five minutes to talk to each other on any topic they want – the goal is to learn as much as they can about the other person. (As a teacher you may go round the class to check that the students do speak English.)
When the 5 minutes are over, let these pairs sit back to back to each other and give everyone a sheet of paper and a pen. Then by turns, start asking one row of the class the questions about the other row of the class, that sit with their backs to them. For example: “If a person, sitting back to you had a chance to be an animal – what animal he (or she) would be?” The asked ones write, the ones about whom the question was – keep silent. Pose 5 different questions to each row of students and then compare their answer. The winner is the pair with the most answers alike.

Here are the questions:
1) What animal would your friend like to be?
2) What celebrity of all times (dead or alive) would your friend most like to meet?
3) What magic power would your friend like to possess?
4) Which book or film character does your friend associate himself or herself with?
5) What is the most valuable quality your friend has?
6) What would your friend grab first when running from his or her house in case of fire?
7) Which animal would your friend like to have as a pet?
8) What is your friend’s favourite kind of sport?
9) What job would your friend prefer to do all his or her life?
10) What is your friend’s favourite musical instrument?
11) What would be the first thing your friend did, if he or she would become a person of the opposite sex?
12) Continue the phrase about your friend: “He\She would rather die, than…”

Game 2:
“A  step  in  togetherness”

This may serve as a warming up activity for game # 1, instead of talking for five minutes in pairs or it may be a separate game.

Material needed:
A big pack of M&Ms or Skittles candies

How to play:
Write down on the blackboard the “meaning” of the candy colors:

– red	– what do you like most of all?
– yellow	– what’s your favourite book?
– green	– what’s your favourite animal?
– blue	– where in the world have you been?
– orange	– what’s your favourite food or dish?
– violet	– what are you afraid of?
– brown	– who would you like to be?

Then give your children some candies from the pack – about 4 or 5 to each. After every one receives the candies, let them talk about themselves according to the candy color they have.