All-in-One Game

Riyad Al-Homsi, Syria

Riyad Al-Homsi has been in the teaching arena for almost 7 years as an ELT and ESP instructor. He has taught English, both to undergraduates and postgraduates, at different colleges at Al-Baath University, Syria. Currently, he is a Teacher Trainer at the Higher Institute for languages, Al-Baath University, where he teaches at the MA and Diploma English Language Teaching Programmes. He is a keen supporter of autonomous learning and teaching. His research interests are autonomous learning and teacher training.
Email: rafh79@yahoo.co.uk

Skills: listening, speaking, and writing.

Level: beginners, intermediate, advanced.

Time: 10-20 minutes.

Materials: whiteboard, markers, post-it notes.

Procedure: In this game the class consists of 15 to 20 students. Three or four students leave the classroom and the remaining students are divided equally into three or four groups, A, B, C (and D where applicable). Post-it notes are stuck on the students’ foreheads indicating their group letter. They are then asked to mingle together and move round in the classroom where desks or chairs should be cleared aside.

Each of the students who left the classroom is assigned to a group and given a sentence by the teacher to memorize. Then, they have to rush into the classroom looking for their group members as indicated on the post-it notes on their foreheads where they have to WHISPER the sentence to one of them who, in turn, rushes to whisper the same sentence to another member of the group and so on till all the group members have heard the sentence. Then, the last member has to dash to the board to jot it down as they heard it from their colleague. At the end of the game there should be three or four sentences on the board equal to the number of the groups. The winners are those whose sentence exactly matches the original sentence given by the teacher to the student outside the classroom.

The game is basically challenging as the students try to find their way among other students to find their group members and whisper the exact sentence to them. It might sound easy, but in such a mess, students often miss-hear some words in the sentence ending up, sometimes, with a totally different sentence.

Variations: Instead of giving a full sentence, the teacher may have students practice any structures given previously or a set of vocabulary or idioms. Thus, this game could be easily modified to suit the content of almost any lesson whether grammar, vocabulary, idioms, or general structures. The teacher can also easily modify this game to suit any level or age group simply by changing the practiced material.

Comment: The game can be applied with young learners as well as with adults. It can also be applied in moderately large classes. I have tried it with adults to practice some idioms and it worked very well. Such activities give the students a lot of fun in the classroom, along with an easy way to memorize some English content.

The Creative Methodology for the Classroom course can be viewed here