I went to the Zoo

Have students sit in a circle. Choose a student to begin. This student will say, "I went to the zoo and I saw a lion." The next student will then say, "I went to the zoo and I saw a lion and a cheetah." Game continues, with each student recalling all previously mentioned animals and adding another zoo animal. If a student misses an animal or cannot think of one to add, start all over again. Challenge students to remember all of the animals presented in the class.
You can use most of the vocabulary you introduce in class to play this game.

Do you really?

Pairs write ten sentences about things they think, like or dislike. Three of the sentences should be false.
Pairs form groups of four.
One student in each pair says each sentence aloud; the other student from the same pair responds with "So do I, I don't, etc". Three of the responses should be false.
The pair who has been listening says which of the statements and responses are false.

Twenty questions

This is a more advanced guessing game. Students have to guess the identity of a mystery person, practicing question formation, nationalities, jobs and adjectives.

• Play the game in groups or a class. Write the names of famous people on cards. One student draws a card and assumes that person's identity. The others have up to 20 questions to find out who it is.
• The student with the card can only answer Yes, (I am) / No, (I'm not) or I don't know. If they don´t know the question doesn't count.
• Elicit and splash on the board examples of the kind of questions students have to ask.
• The student who guesses correctly draws the next famous name, an so on.

This is also good for guessing a job, e.g. Do you work indoors/with your hands? Do you have to drive/wear a uniform? Again, practice some of the questions first.

Categories

Aims of the game:
This is a game that is good for revising lexical sets.
Playing the game.
Basic procedure:

• Choose five categories of lexix that you would like to practice with the children and then show the children how to play the game.
• Either draw a grid on the board and ask the children to copy it into their exercise books, or give the children a photocopied grid.
• Give an example of what they have to do. Elicit from the class one word for each of the categories, and write them in.
• animal    food    family    color    sport
• fish         bread  mum      red      tennis
• Then give the children three minutes (or however long you think the children need) to fill in as many words as they can. Allow them to use their coursebooks or dictionaries to help.
• Let the children compare their answers with a friend, and fill in any gaps they may have. Check the answers with the whole class and see how many words they found for each category.

Adapting for older children.

• Older children might like to play the game in teams. Divide the class into pairs or teams of four. Give each team a grid to complete.

Adapting for higher levels.

• Higher-level students might like to play the game using sequential letters of the alphabeth or even words with 2, 3, 4, etc. letters in them. Let the children use plural forms, but if you play the game this way, tell the children that not all letters have appropriate words.

Play I'd like a...

Choose a few students to come to the front of the class. Explain the game very quietly so that the rest of the class cannot hear. Students are going to say what they would like. They can choose any word they like, but it must begin with the first letter of their name. For example, Carmen can say "I'd like a coconut", but she can't say "I'd like a tomato".
Start the game: Say "I'd like a (choose a word starting with the first letter of your name)". Point to a student and ask "What would you like? Prompt them to say I'd like a...
Each time a students chooses a word incorrectly, say Oh, no (Pedro), you can't have a (coconut) but you can have a (pencil).
Give clues: Alicia would like an appple and Ernesto would like an elephant.
When students work out the trick, they shouldn't say anything but just continue playing.
Ask the students who know the trick to explain it to the rest of the class.

What's missing?

This is a game that is good for revising lexical sets and vocabulary. It can be extended to practice reading and writing skills.
Playing the game:

• Collect together between five and ten picture flashcards illustrating words that you want to revise or consolidate with the children.
• Line up the flashcards at the front of the class. Ask the children to identify each of the items. Then give them one minute to memorise the words.
• Tell the children to close their eyes. Remove one of the flashcards. Then tell the children to open their eyes and to see if they can spot which one has disappeared.
• Repeat this process until all the words have gone.

Older children might like to take the role of teacher and to lead this game.

Chain games

Chain games are good for consolidating sintax patterns, lexical sets and vocabulary. It is easy to adapt the games to the grammar structure and the vocabulary taught in the lesson.
Basic procedure.
. Show the students how to play the game using, for example, animal lexis. Choose two confident students to help you.
. Say "I have a dog". Ask student A to repeat what you said and to say another animal, e.g. "I have a dog and a cat".
. Ask student B to repeat what student A said and to add another animal, "I have a dog, a cat and a mouse:"
. Check that students have understood what they have to do, then play the game with the whole class.See how many words the students can remember. When the chain breaks down, because somebody cannot remember the sentence, the whole class count to five and the chain starts again.