Category: Present Continuous

Categories
A1 A2 Games Materials Past Continuous Past Perfect Past Simple Present Continuous Present Simple Primary Secondary Speaking

Connect 4

This is a no preparation activity you can do to revise virtually any subject for controlled sentence formation practice with young learners, though I suppose if you wanted to, elementary adults might also like this game!

Materials

All you need is a whiteboard and markers in at least 2 different colours. If you havenet got access to a whiteboard, you could easily do it with a piece of paper and pens too.

How to play

Draw a grid on the board. Usually at least 6 squares accross and down, but more can be good for longer games. In this example, I played using the subject of animals and actions, so on the x-axis I selected some animals that had different abilities (flying, walking, swimming, etc.) and on the y-axis I put the actions (jump, run, swim, bite, etc). We were practicing can/can’t, so making sentences such as, “the crocodile can bite” or “the frog can’t fly”.

You could easily put body parts on the y-axis and use sentences with have/haven’t got (e.g. “the dog hasn’t got feathers”) or comparatives… put animals on both axes and write adjectives in the squares so they have to make a comparison between the animals using the adjective given (e.g. “the elephant is bigger than the snake”) or have them practise positive/negative/question forms… the possibilities are endless.

Students must make a sentence using the items on the axes that intersect on the square they want to win. If they give a correct sentence, they win the square.

Simple! You can play this game with groups from 2 upwards.

Why I use it

It works really well because it is fun, and the students practise controlled sentences with repetition to build confidence and better pronunciation too.

The best way to understand how this game works is to watch it in action on my Tiktok or instagram accounts, where I have posted a video of the activity in my own classroom.

Here is a link to the Tiktok video.

Categories
A1 A2 Adult B1 B2 C1 C2 Games Materials Past Continuous Past Perfect Past Simple Present Continuous Present Simple Primary Secondary Speaking

Tenses Rummy

Tenses Rummy

I created this game to do controlled practice of verb tenses in positive, negative and interrogative forms.

Setting up

Print the cards, laminate and cut them out. That’s it!

I have used this with groups of up to 8 players, however if you have bigger groups you may want to print off 2 copies.

You can use these cards in a variety of ways. You can play a rummy type game, where the winner has 3 of one type and 4 of another. I prefer to play with ‘happy families’ rules, as they are simple to understand, so that is what I will explain here.

Playing the game

  1. The cards contain different verbs and pronouns. I have deliberately chosen the most common and irregular verbs. There are 6 cards for each verb. The objective of the game is to collect a set of 3 card of the same verb to gain a point. The aim of the game is to get as many ‘points’ as possible. The pronouns used on the cards are I, you, he, she, we, and they. It is possible to get 2 sets of 3 from each verb.
  2. Students use the pronouns to form the question, so in the ‘Happy Families’ version of the game they don’t have any other use. The important element for the cards is the verb.
  3. Shuffle the cards and deal each student 7. The rest are put in a pile, picture side down, in the centre of the table.
  4. Students choose any other student to ask for a ‘verb’. They may only ask for a verb that they have in their hand. They do so as follows:
    • In this example, the verb card they are looking for is ‘visit’ europe and the tense we are praticing is Present Simple, however you can decide to use any tense for the game.
    • The student will ask using the pronoun they have on their own card, so if they have the card HE – VISIT EUROPE in their hand, the question would be : “Does he visit europe?“
    • The other student would need to respond in either the positive, or negative, depending on whether they have any visit europe cards in their hand. “Yes, he visits europe” or “No, he doesn’t visit europe“.
    • With Present simple, you will practise the change in 3rd person Do/Does for questions and Don’t/Doesn’t for negative, plus the 3rd person ‘s’ for positive statements. If you play using Past Simple you will practise the past simple irregular verbs in the positive and use of did + infinitive for negative and questions… etc. Choose your verb tense at the beginning for what your students need to practise.
  5. If the other student has the verb card, they must give it. If they have 2, they must give both of them.
  6. If a student successfully asks and receives a card/cards, they can take another turn. If not, they take a card from the centre pile and play passes to the next left.
  7. Once a set is on the table, it cannot be stolen.
  8. The student with the most sets at the end of the game is the winner.

The game usually lasts a full hour depending on the size of group. The more players, the better the game is. It’s good, as students have to listen to each other to work out who has got which cards.

You can use this game for any verb tense for controlled practice, as repeating the correct sentences in positive, negative and interrogative forms reinforces their understanding. It can fit in with any curriculum and planning.

If you are still unsure how the game works, I have posted a video of actual game play in my classes on TikTok and Instagram, so don’t forget to follow me for updates.

I hope you enjoy it!

Here’s the download link for the PDF :

https://classroomgames.net/product/tenses-rummy/

 

Categories
A1 Actions Games Infant Materials Present Continuous Primary

Action verbs bingo game

Classroom Games - Action Verbs Bingo

This is a simple bingo activity for use with infant or primary learners.

Print off as many bingo cards as you need, with a corresponding number of vocabulary card sets with the card backing on page 3 of the PDF so that you can set your printer to print them double-sided if you have that option. Cut everything up and laminate.

Learners have a card each and the smaller card sets are placed face down in the centre of the table. Learners take it in turns to pick up a card from the centre and look at it, saying the word. but NOT showing the card to their classmates. They then place it on top of their bingo card, if they need it, or return it to the table if they don’t.

The game will be easier at first, but will get harder as they fill up the bingo card. Other learners have to listen to their classmates so that they can tell where cards they need are located on the table.

This is a short 10-15 minute game that can be used at the end, or in the middle of a class to take a break and boost brain function / learning as part of other themed activities when learning actions vocabulary.

You can even use more complex functions with older learners, by getting them to say sentences rather than just the word when they pick up the cards. For example:

  • “I like running” “I like to run”
  • “I can / can’t run”
  • “I am running” / “(S)He is running” etc…

If you like this activity, or you have any suggestions to improve it, please comment below.

Categories
A1 Actions Family Materials Present Continuous Primary

Action verbs battleships

Classroom Games - Action Verbs Battleships

This is an information gap activity. Split your class into pairs, or teams and give each student or group a copy of the activity sheet.

Students fill in the top (green) part with their own choices – 2 actions for each family member.

During the task they have to ask the other team and try and find out what their choices are, marking the answers from their partner in the bottom (blue) part of the activity sheet.

  • Student A: “Is dad running?”
  • Student B: “No, he isn’t” (Student A marks an ‘X’ for ‘Dad’ and ‘Run’)
  • Student B: “Is brother swimming?”
  • Student A: “Yes, he is.” (Student B marks a ‘?’ for ‘Brother’ and ‘Swimming’)

The winner is the first team to find all their partners’ choices.

This task covers both actions and family vocabulary with present continuous practice in a controlled way. It is suitable for elementary learners.

If you use this activity, please comment below with your thoughts or any suggestions and improvements!

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