Circle Games

Mario Rinvolucri

Mario Rinvolucri teacher, teacher trainer and author. Has has worked for Pilgrims for 32 years and used to edit Humanising Language Teaching. Regularly contributes to The Teacher Trainer. His books include: Creative Writing, with Christine Frank, Helbling, Multiple Intelligences in EFL, with Herbert Puchta, Helbling, Unlocking Self-Expression through NLP, with Judy Baker, Delta Books, New edition of Vocabulary, with John Morgan, OUP, Humanising your Coursebook, Delta Books, Using the Mother Tongue, with Sheelagh Deller, Delta Books, Ways of Doing, with Paul Davis and Barbara Garside, CUP, Imagine That with Herbert Puchta and Jane Arnold. Mario's first CDrom for students, Mindgame was written with Isobel Fletcher de Tellez, and engineered and published by Clarity, Hongkong in 2000 . E-mail: mario@pilgrims.co.uk

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Game1
Game 2
Game 3

This game formula was presented at a Seminar in Bozen. South Tyrol -Italy.

GAME 1

Steps: for groups of 6 (or more / a good number is 8) people, let them sit in a circle and then let them circulate (sit next to the person they have chosen or were chosen by). Make sure in each circle is an extra spare chair.

Aim: practise description of a person, practise comparatives

Steps: One person (A) starts out with one of the following sentences and the chosen person (B) goes and sits next to the person she was chosen by. After this, person (B) continues in the same way as "A" did.

Game: I want someone with long hair to come and sit next to me.
I want someone shorter than me sitting next to me. (Someone to whom it applies gets up and moves to the person who has formed the request).

GAME 2

Aim: contrast present perfect and past simple

Steps: The same as above! A: Has anybody been to Paris? Come and sit next to me. B: Gets up and sits there and then A: asks: When did you go to Paris and where did you go there? B: Answers the question!

Game variation: Has anybody been to Paris? Come and sit next to me.

When did you go to Paris and where did you go in Paris? Modified version

Eg: I want a person who likes …… sit next to me!
I want a person who dislikes …… sit next to me!
I want anybody who has got a key / is wearing gray trousers / a pink pullover ….. to sit next to me.

GAME 3 Revision game: "One-suits-all"

Aim: revise verbs, articles, vocab, opposites (if pairs cut up and handed out)

Useful for testing vocab of any unit in the book! Any level and nationality!

Preparation: depending on variety chosen!!!!
- cut up sentences reconstruct them
- memory game (prepare pairs of words = 1 x picture 1 x English word) or 1 x English word 1 x mother tongue - photocopy and cut up: vocab lists texts ( whole sentences, text snippets, paragraphs)

Can be played with the whole class or units can be put into envelopes and handed out to different groups in the class.

Steps:
1) choose a unit in your schoolbook, photocopy the page (house - Haus, eat - essen ecc.) then cut up the copy into snippets
2) then distribute the snippet to your pupils they look at their snippet
3) each student needs to find his/her partner.
second foreign language or sentence are optional

Extended and more demanding version as shown in the graph below.

Variations:

1. Add a drawing, a translation, another language, a sentence

Procedure: ask students to find partner / partners with the corresponding terms. Allow students to look at their cards or ask students to find partners that have parts of a text / story / snippets of a sentence . They can reconstruct the text of a Unit in the book or for example fairy stories they know.

2. When testing vocab in: "memory form" (played like the children's game MEMORY)

Steps:
1) hand out all the snippets of a vocab page in an envelope
2) tell them to put all snippets face down.
3) Each player is allowed to turn over two pieces
4) Each students tries to memorize where the parts are to form a pair
5) If a student has found a correct pair then he is allowed to turn over two more cards. He goes on like this till 2 cards/snippets don't match!
6) If a pupil's cards don't match then it is his/her neighbours turn.

Bear in mind, if you want to use pictures that explain the vocab then you need to find them!!!

Follow up: write all correct matches on the board and in their folders. Or with a fairy story in rhyme form put it into normal writing using "linking words".

Remember movement is vital but action is important.

Please check the Creative Methodology for the Classroom course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Humanising Large Classes course at Pilgrims website