Games for English Language Learning & Teaching Word Prompts (Team A Team B) Students from Team (B) have to guess the words on your LIST. Before each guess, say a
word which will help Team (B) to guess correctly. Students from Team (A) have to guess the words on your LIST. Before each
guess, say a word which will help Team (A) to guess correctly.
YOUR LIST (Team B must guess) YOUR LIST (Team A must guess)
A1 horse
B1 car
A2 window
B2 Big Ben
A3 elephant B3 cup
A4 England
B4 floor
A5 teacher
B5 kangaroo A6 London
B6 lemon
A7 river
B7 Russia
A8 book B8 ice cream
A9 Bill Clinton
B9 Micky Mouse
A10 karate
B10 bath02 Kim's game (longer & longer lists)
In my [pocket] [shopping bag] [house] [garden] [country] [dream],
there is / are / was /were
The teacher imposes the necessary restrictions according to the vocabulary area)
I packed my bag and in it I put:
an X (longer & longer list)
an X and some Ys.
an X, some Ys, a Z, an ___ and some _____s
(As you go round the class each student has to recite the existing list and add an item in the same category).
03 Guessing nouns via "Is it + adjective" questions Guessing Games: Vocabulary. Questions with ADJECTIVES
Group A Questions to ask opposing team(s)
1. chair Ask YES/NO questions:
2. bus Is it big / round /square / rectangular?
3. head Is there one in this room?
4. bicycle Can we eat it?
5. computer Is it made of wood / plastic / metal?
6. chocolate Ask your own questions
Group B Questions to ask opposing team(s)
1. tree Ask YES/NO questions:
2. shoe Is it small/yellow/light/dark/circular?
3. tea Have you one in your house / country?
4. knife Do you like it?
5. finger Is it used every day?
6. button Ask your own questions
Group C Questions to ask opposing team(s)
1. bra Ask YES/NO questions:
2. pen Is it larger than a chair?
3. mouse Can I see one now?
4. coffee Do you find it indoors or outdoors?
5. jumbo jet Are there a lot of them in this school?
6. mobile phone Ask your own questions:
Group D Questions to ask opposing team(s)
1. cat Ask YES/NO questions:
2. house Is it hard / soft / high / tall / low ?
3. gate Is it liquid or solid?
4. guitar Do I see one every day?
5. sugar Have you got one in your house / with you?
6. washing machine Ask your own questions:
04 Spanish merchant: guess the connection (I can sell + LIST)
Ss: I'm a Spanish merchant and I can sell (camcorders) (compact disks) (televisions).
T: That's right. You can.
Ss: I'm a Spanish merchant and I can sell (steam engines) (saucepans) (guitars)
T: No you can't.
CONNECTION: Invented after 1900.
Other possible restrictions
1. objects must begin with the same letter as the S's first name.
2. objects must begin with the same letter as the first name of S on the right of speaker.
3. must be in the room
4. must be made of special material / must include wood or metal
5. must be objects you can grow. Instructions Each student has a turn of saying "I'm a Spanish merchant and I can sell...."
The person who knows the connection (T or S) gives feedback (Yes, you can or No, you can't.
The students must guess the connection. Either call it out or write it down after a reasonable number of examples have been
given.
05 Comparisons: How is XXX like YYY? Finding Connections (Word Fields and Adjective Comparisons
Group A How is XXX like YYY? How does XXX differ from YYY? X Y X Y
1. milk cheese 2. computer television 3. café restaurant 4. umbrella sunshade
Group B How is XXX like YYY? How does XXX differ from YYY? X Y X Y
1. kettle teapot 2. moustache beard 3. doctor dentist 4. cooker fridge
Group C How is XXX like YYY? How does XXX differ from YYY? X Y X Y
1. horse dog 2. sock stocking 3. beer whisky 4. wristwatch egg-timer
Group D How is XXX like YYY? How does XXX differ from YYY? X Y X Y
1. ice snow 2. chemist pharmacist 3. dictionary encyclopaedia 4. record compact disk
06 BLIP (sometimes known as COFFEE POT) Guess the verb
Each student is given a VERB. (See that it is suitable for the level of the class).
In pairs or as a whole class, discover the VERB through QUESTIONS.
The nonsense word "BLIP" should be substituted for the target VERB.
Write sample QUESTIONS on the board
When / Where / Why / How do you blip?
Can you blip someone / something / somewhere?
Do you often blip?
Did you blip yesterday?
Are you blipping now? Are you going to blip this weekend?
Have you blipped since you arrived in England?
Do you like blipping?
Do you blip with your hands?
If I saw you blipping, would you be embarrassed?
The aim of the game is not to guess the meaning of the word "Blip" straight away. When you think you know the meaning of the
word "Blip", you could ask further questions which make the meaning of the word "Blip" clear to the rest of the class or which
amuse the student who is answering the questions.
Sample Verbs
cook / live / cry / love / dance
read / draw / run / dream / shout
drink / sing / drive / sleep / eat
swim / fight / talk / fish / think
fly / undress / jump / worry / kiss argue / paint / bathe / plan / complain
rest / diet / scream / explore / sew
fidget / smile / translate / hesitate / understand
iron / vacuum / joke / whisper / knit
win / move / yell / oversleep / zigzag
07 Guess the ADVERB
One student goes out of the room. The rest of the class think of an adverb or the teacher selects one and writes it on the board
for everybody to see. It is rubbed off the board before the student outside returns.
The returned student asks a variety of questions to different students. They all answer in the manner suggested by the adverb.
Alternatively, the returned student can ask members of the class to do things. They then have to perform the actions in the
manner suggested by the adverb.
After hearing a sample of answers or observing a sample of actions performed by different students, the student who originally
left the classroom is then asked to guess the adverb.
quickly slowly noisily quietly angrily politely sadly happily sleepily shyly
