Three Wise Monkeys
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Title Person Level Aims Grammar Time Materials
Clapping rhymes: Patty Cake Joan Froelich elementary school English with rhythm none 5 minutes none
What are you? Le Nguyen senior high school time-filler none 10-15 mins. none
Kokon Tozai Minefields senior high school To 'brainstorm' vocabulary review. none 10 mins none
Rows & Columns Minefields junior high school to senior high school speaking any 10 mins none
Thumper Joan Froelich elementary school and above English with rhythm none 10 - 30 mins. none
Machigae Alphabet Minefields elementary school to junior high school first year Review alphabet, teach, "Thank you", and "You're welcome". ABCs; "Thanks", "You're welcome" 20 mins Chalk and Blackboard
Lies Ed Edgar junior high school speaking any 25 mins none
Letters to penpals Melissa Paulse junior high school first year and above letter exchange any 10 mins per lesson? none
Circle the Word Game Minefields junior high school second year to third year Text review and listening practice. Good warm up game. any 20-25 mins Blackboard and different coloured chalk.
People Bingo Minefields junior high school to senior high school To 'brainstorm' students' use of English. any 10 mins None, or whatever you decide to prepare
Red Rover, All Over! Minefields elementary school To practice colour word recognition in a TPR environment. Colours 15 mins Students, a gymnasium (taikukan) or playing area.
Shiritori Minefields junior high school first year & second year To build students' confidence in their writing skills, and develop their vocab through a 'brainstorm'-type activity. Speaking skills can also be targeted. none 10 mins Chalk, a blackboard, and students.
Sentence Shiritori Minefields senior high school To have students create grammatically correct sentences. any 10 - ? mins Chalk and blackboard.
Ladders Minefields elementary school To consolidate listening memory for any group of nouns. none 20 mins A large, clean area (school gym).
Q. and A. Scraps Minefields junior high school To have as many students speaking as much English as possible. Q. and A. forms 20 mins 80 scraps of paper; 2 per student. (Finally, a good use has been found for all
Gokiburi (Cockroach) Minefields senior high school Minimal pair revision. none 10 mins List of minimal pairs (e.g., rice/lice, light/right etc.).
Charades Minefields junior high school To practice ing form, and "You told him/her to..." -ing form, "You told him/ her to... 10 mins Imagination, and maybe a list of topics for the ALT.
Wakaranai (Sentence Writing) Glen Mathes senior high school first year grammar review any 10 mins. question list(s)
Can Quiz Ed Edgar junior high school grammar review can, can't 15 mins question list(s)
Inane Third Year Quiz Rob Jones junior high school grammar review relative clause 20 - 25 mins question list(s)
Circle Race Game Mel Brashaw senior high school first year extra fun any 30 mins pre-prepared list of questions
Jeopardy Questions Rob Jones junior high school and above teach Western stuff various entire period this question list
Commands Minefields junior high school second year grammar review, listening practice imperatives 10 mins A list of imperatives for the ALT and JTE.
Baseball Glen Mathes senior high school, first year extra fun any 15-20 mins. Four lists of questions
Spot the Difference Minefields junior high school to Adult To demonstrate the difference between sounds Japanese S/s always have difficulty with. E.g., 'th', 'r', 'l', 'sh'..... none 15 mins 'Word-tree' work sheets
Negotiation Abby Wakelin senior high school - adult Use English to express a desire and to negotiate a situation none 15 - 20 mins. Pre-prepared situation cards
Miss Body Tara Grove junior high school second year extra fun body parts 15-20 mins. Cards with body parts drawn on.
Taboo Ed Edgar senior high school just speaking none 20 mins Cards with words to explain and words you mustn't use in the process.
Doctor Abigail Wakelin senior high school dialogue practice health and visiting the doctor 20 mins Pre-taught vocab worksheet
Dictionary of Japanese Culture Ed Edgar senior high school grammar review relative clause 25 mins worksheets
Battleships Minefields junior high school to adult Consolidate words, phrases, sentences or questions any (eg. to inf. + time-frame) 10-50 mins worksheets (and/ or OHP sheet)
Plane Crash !!! Minefields senior high school to Adult to get students creating their own English none 30 mins Item lists for each group.
Future Bubbles (not known) junior high school grammar review future tense 30 mins cards, worksheets...
Job For You Ed Edgar junior high school dialogue practice want to..., enjoy ...ing, jobs 30 mins worksheets
Congo Bongo (not known) junior high school extra fun any 30 mins game sheets and markers
Yes and No Natalie Sellmer junior high school grammar review Yes, I do/ No, I don't, Yes, I did/ No, I didn't, Yes, I have/ No, I haven't 30-40 mins. Worksheet
Mystery Interview Ed Edgar Senior High School 1st Year pair-work follow-up must 35 mins. Pair-work interview worksheets, Pre-prepared funny possible answers to the questions on the worksheet (just in your head is OK), Big cards with "A", "B" or "C" written on (optional).
Sentence Building Tara Grove junior high school second year- third year grammar review any a whole period various props
Japanese-Style Show and Tell Bryan Esenberg senior high school first year culture what, where, when... Eternity worksheet
Mad Libs Minefields junior high school third year to senior high school To review material from the year's work in a relaxed environment. any 20-25 mins Mad Lib sheets
The Hunt Minefields junior high school To have students use English as a communicative activity. any 10 mins Work sheets.
What's The Time ? Minefields junior high school to Adult Asking and answering the time; time zone awareness. time 15 mins 40 Work sheets
How Many? Minefields elementary school and junior high school first year To practice counting, and asking "How many___ are there?" "How many...?" 20 mins Pairs of work sheets
Kathy's Game Rob Jones junior high school second year grammar review There are structure, those place preposition thingies 20 mins strips of paper with instructions for each group
Bingo! (s) Minefields elementary school to junior high school grammar review any 20 mins Bingo work sheets
Where are my Glasses? Minefields junior high school second year to Adult To practice prepositions of place: under/on/next to/opposite etc. place prepositions 30 mins Work sheets
What@Number is That? Minefields elementary school junior high school first year To provide number listening practice, and to help understand and practice the question, "What is it?", and answer, "It's a ______!" numbers, 'What' + interrogative 20 mins Worksheets
Weather Interview Task Minefields junior high school To have S/s ask and answer questions concerning the weather. To practice more than one reply to the question. To have S/s begin using English as more than just a rote-learned sound. weather, days of the week 20 mins Work sheets
Animal ESP Minefields junior high school second year To have fun using comparatives to describe animals Comparatives 30-45 mins Work sheets
Family Feud Minefields junior high school to Adult To review and build vocabulary. none 10 mins Blackboard and chalk, card with large red spot on it.
There's a Zoo in The Loo Minefields elementary school - junior high school first year to provide number listening practice, and help understand and practice "What is it", and answer, "It's a ___". "What is it?" 20 mins Pairs of work sheets
Rainforests Minefields junior high school first year To have students consolidate specific words, phrases, sentences, or questions between themselves. Examples target colours + nouns, past progressive, can, and has/have to. any 10 to 50 mins Game-grid worksheets, (OHP master-grid also possible)
Fruit Basket Minefields elementary school To review known nouns, and consolidate new ones. none 15 mins Flash cards and miniature copies
Criminal Craig Brierley junior high school speaking wh' words 25 mins worksheets
3Ws GAME Minefields junior high school first year Give practice asking and answering What/When/Where, and using 'sometimes' and 'always' in a fun atmosphere What/Where/When,@Sometimes/Always 20 mins Question and answer sheets, and name cards
Spelling Bees Minefields junior high school first year Vocabulary consolidation and listening practice. none 10 mins Letter cards
Ultimate Communication Game Minefields junior high school to Adult Students will learn; that English is a means of communication just like Japanese, that a language can be understood by native speakers despite minor mistakes, how to manipulate some of the words and patterns they have studied. None (or all) entire period Situation sheets in JAPANESE (!!!).
Gambling Rob Jones junior high school extra fun comparatives (but adaptable) entire period worksheets, lotsa counterfeit money
Partial Pictures Minefields junior high school first year To consolidate asking and answering "What is this?" "What is this?" 15 mins Large flash cards
Charades 2 Minefields junior high school to senior high school Kinesthetic use of English for better comprehension any 25 mins Task cards
Do Me A Favour Minefields Club or Adult To practice asking, agreeing and refusing, and household tasks "Can/Could you...?" 30 mins Game cards, a list of nouns and verbs
Time & Place Minefields junior high school third year to Adult Consolidation or warm-up activity. "Have you ever been...?" 20 mins "Time and place" cards
Find Your Partner Minefields junior high school To have every student actively communicating in English, while practicing ‚”ext-book grammar. Interrogatives or any 20 mins 20 pairs of information cards
Tell Me A Story Minefields junior high school third year grammar review Relative pronoun 'that' 40 to 50 mins Sentence strips (x2), copies of the worksheet
N.E.W.S. Minefields elementary school To teach the directions; North, South, East, West. Directions (north, south, east, west) 10 mins Four large cards with N, E, W, and S on them, and tape.
Dialogue Puzzles Minefields junior high school third year to senior high school teach dialogues in a fun way, make students think, use real English, accomplish a task without translating EVERY word. Interrogatives and sundry other forms. 10 mins dialogues, cut into strips, paper-clipped together
Word Bridge Minefields elementary school to junior high school@second year To consolidate new words none 10-15@mins 15cm cards with target words or pictures on them.
Nervous Breakdown Minefields junior high school first year to second year To consolidate the 'ing' form of verbs Present continuous (-ing) 40 mins Two sets of paired picture cards.
Test Your Knowledge Minefields junior high school third year to senior high school first year To have students ask and answer clues using 'which'. relative clause 40 mins Pictures (calendar size are great) and sets of clues for each.
Who's Who Minefields junior high school second year To have students actively use comparatives and superlaties. Comparatives and Superlatives 40 to 50 mins Work sheets and 6 sentence cards.
Jeopardy Minefields junior high school to senior high school extra fun any 30 mins Category- and degree-of-difficulty- cards; questions
Evening News Minefields junior high school second- to third- year Consolidation of passive voice through speaking & writing. passive voice 10 mins Copies of 5 variations of the w/sheet, pictures.
Magical Tsuno Power Minefields elementary school to junior high school To consolidate and increase students' vocabularies. any 10 mins Large, colourful flash-cards (use pictures for elementary S/s).
Karuta Minefields elementary school to junior high school first year To improve the students' listening abilities, and reinforce vocabulary. any 15 mins About 8 - 10 packs of picture cards, or 4 copies of 30cm x 30cm picture cards.
Who am I? Minefields junior high school first and second year Review exercise "Did you... yesterday?" / any 15 mins Game cards and worksheets
Go Fish! Minefields elementary school junior high school first year To familiarize S/s with: this game, vocabulary, asking simple questions. "Do you have ___ ?" 45 mins Picture, letter or number cards (about 30 matching pairs) for every 4 students; master sheet showing all items in game
Discovery Minefields junior high school To practice reading, speaking, listening, and writing. any entire period Four large copies of a story - one on each wall.

10 sets of 4 'Task' cards (class of 40).

Party Crawl Minefields junior high school second year to Adult To consolidate or review direction giving and understanding. directions 15 mins Work sheets, an OHP sheet master map.
Jigsaw Conversations Andrew Taylor junior high school general any 30 mins dialogue scripts cut up line-by-line and jumbled
Feelings Minefields elementary school to adult To create or reinforce memories of different feelings. "How are you" 20 mins As many copies of the game cards as necessary.
A Bird in the Hand Minefields senior high school to Adult To get S/s thinking in and about English any 40 mins 3 copies of a story cut into strips; tape; 10 sheets of paper.
Go Fish!(2) Minefields junior high school second year To have students actively practice using 'to' infinitives. "to" infinitive 20 mins Game cards you have made.
Celebrity Schedules Minefields junior high school second year To have students practice the target phrase "...is going to...". "to" infinitive 50 mins 'Schedule' worksheets, envelope, character name cards.
Valentine's Day Cards Rob Jones junior high school and above cultural exchange, an excuse for you to write raunchy things to your JTE various entire period lots of A4 paper, color markers
English Challenge Minefields junior high school third year to senior high school extra fun any entire period Clue sheets distributed about the school.
Wear My Clothes Rob Jones junior high school extra fun any 15 mins dress shirts
Newspaper Information Search Natalie Sellmer High School/ Adult Class Familiarize students with an English newspaper format and how to search for information. none 20 min Old copies of "The Daily Yomiuri" newspape
Fan Game II Melissa Paulse (originally by Tara Zuhlke) junior high school and above extra fun any 20 minutes two fans
Whisper Down The Alley Minefields junior high school to senior high school To promote memory acquisition of target phrases and sentences, and to encourage information exchange in English. any 20-25 mins Students, a text book, and a timer.
Basketball Tara Grove junior high school and above extra fun any entire period question cards, a basketball goal and ball.
Object Hop Minefields easy senior high school Warm-up and review activity. none 15 mins 10-20 objects (or name cards).
Price is Right Glen Mathes senior high school first year prices and money (good for an intro to a shopping lesson). numbers 15 mins. three or four common objects, money, paper and markers.
Thief Minefields junior high school first year To consolidate the grammar 'Whose' and 'It's', and to reinforce the distinction between her/his. whose, his, hers, mine... 15 mins a big, opaque bag or box
Map Game Ed Edgar senior high school, first year speaking place prepositions (in, on, near...) 20 mins. a big map of your home country
Mr. Wolf Minefields elementary school To teach how to ask the time, and basic replies. "What's the time", telling the time 20-30 mins A large area in which to run around; maybe a large toy clock.
Board Games Minefields junior high school to senior high school Practice test grammar in a time-pressed situation, with stress relievers. any 35 mins Game sheet(s), dice
Crazy Animals Minefields junior high school first year To have students ask and answer, "What's this?" "What is this?" 40 mins OHP sheets and markers.
Getting To Know Canada Minefields junior high school to senior high school To introduce your country (not necessarily Canada) and review the English the students have already learned. any 45 mins Large map of the target country
Telephone Minefields junior high school to Adult To emphasise (ize) spoken English. any 45 mins Toy/real phones (x2), work sheets.
Snakes and Ladders Minefields junior high school to Adult grammar review any 10 - 50 mins 4-6 die (preferably with word numbers on - see Cube of Fortune template), place markers, question cards, OHP copy of game
Fortune Telling Minefields junior high school second year To provide fun practice of 'will', reading aloud, and listening. future tense 40 mins 40 worksheets, 20 dice or spinners.
Jump Rope Chant Joan Froelich junior high school, first year English with rhythm none 10 min a jump-rope
Ball and Bag Game Lindsey Bridges elementary school - junior high school and above extra fun any 10 minutes Question cards, ball (or other item), music tape, tape recorder
Fan Game Minefields junior high school to adult Consolidate or review learned material. Get students relaxed, & comfortable asking and answering questions. Good warm-up game. any 10-15 mins cassette of loud, exciting music; two fans; questions

written on cards (optional); and a large

Fast Food Cashier Kirby Minor senior high school 1st/ 2nd year dialogue practice money terms 15 mins (more with dialogue practice) Real money from your own country if you have it, calculator for the math impaired, copies of the menu for everyone
Cube of Fortune Minefields junior high school to Adult Review grammar patterns and new words. any 30 mins A Cube (the bigger and brighter the better), and timer.
Squeaky Hammer Sentence Halves Mel Brashaw low-level senior high school extra fun any 25 mins Two squeaky hammers, genki students
Minefields Minefields elementary school to junior high school second year To teach asking for, and giving, directions. Giving directions 20 mins A blindfold, and misc. books, cushions, and/or chairs.
Twister Minefields elementary school To teach/review colours, shapes, and body parts. none 20 mins Ground sheet.
Paperbag Drama Kirby Minor senior high school use English creatively none two periods various props in a bag
Sentence Deconstruction Minefields junior high school to Adult To have students discover grammar rules for themselves. any unlimited A sentence, and white or black board for ALT use only.
How Does She Look? Minefields junior high school second year to third year To practice, "How does s/he/it look?" "S/he/it looks ___". Adverbs 10 mins Lots of clippings of people from magazines from your country.
Commercials Ed Edgar senior high school Jump-start the economy by facilitating your students' transition to hollow, soul-less consumers. none 40 minutes TV, VCR, tape of commercials, big pieces of paper with product names, slogans, et
Internet Challenge Ed Edgar senior high school information searching, play on the internet none 35 mins + Computers hooked up to the internet, worksheets.