Blankety Blank

Age/Level: Any Time: 25 minutes Players: 2 equal teams Preparation: A

list of sentences

Aim: To write down the same answer as another player

This is an excellent ESL TV game show for practicing vocabulary and sentence
structure.

Procedure

Separate the class into two equal teams. Everyone in the class should have
several pieces of paper and a pen.

Have one player come up from each team and sit at the front of the class.

The teacher reads a sentence, e.g. "It was so hot yesterday my _BLANK_
melted."

The teacher uses the word 'blank' as the missing word in the sentence.

The aim of the game is for each team member to write down the same "blank"
word as their player at the front of the class.

Both players and team members keep their answer's secret.

When everyone has written a word, you ask the players to reveal their answers.

For each answer, the team members have that matches their player's answer.
They get a point.

Repeat with different players.

Example sentences:

1. It was so hot yesterday my ________ melted.

2. My brother never ________ with me.

3. I haven't ________ for a long time.

4. I always go ________ after class.

5. I'm so hungry, I could eat a ________. Student writing

6. I like ________ before I go to school.

7. I saw a ________ man on the bus.

8. Last night, I ________.

9. (Student's name) has a small ________.

10. He was so drunk, he ________.

11. My teacher is ________.

12. My dog likes to eat ________.

13. Look! I've never seen such a big ________.

14. I couldn't ________ until I was 15.

15. I am going to ________ tomorrow.

16. (Student's name) is the ________ in the class.

Blankety Blank.PDF

Blockbusters

Age/Level: Elementary and above Time: 25 minutes Players: 2 teams

Preparation: A list of clues for words beginning with each letter of the alphabet

Aim: To guess the word from a clue given by the teacher

This ESL vocabulary game is originally from an English game show. It works well
for revising vocabulary. It can also be used as a general knowledge game.

Procedure

Draw a 5 x 5 hexagon grid on the board (Example in the PDF).

Write letters in the 25 hexagonal spaces.

Split the class into two teams and allocate each team with a different colour, e.g.
red and blue.

Then start with the central letter, e.g. if the letter was B, the clue/question might
be "A person who bakes bread."

The two teams race to answer the clue/question.

If the red team got it right, then the B hexagon is coloured red. The red team
then chooses the next letter.

The teacher then asks another letter associated clue/question, which both teams
race to answer.

The aim of the game is for one team to get from the top to the bottom of the
board and the other to get from the left to the right.

The first team to make the connection is the winner.

Remind the students that this is a fairly strategic vocabulary game, and they
need to choose their moves carefully.

Blockbusters.PDF

Family Fortunes

Age/Level: Any Time: 25 minutes Players: 2 teams Preparation: Survey

results from 100 people

Aim: To guess the top 5 answers in a survey

This fun ESL quiz game is adapted from a famous TV game show of the same
name. Before you play the game, you will need some survey results of 100
people (See PDF).

Procedure

Divide the class into two teams and have each team choose a family name.

The aim of the game is for the two families to guess the top five answers to a
survey. Each round begins with a member of each team coming to the front of
the classroom and answering a question.

The first student to answer correctly (with a top five answer) can choose for their
team to "play," or "pass" to the other team. The teacher then asks each
"playing" team member in turn for their answer.

After each answer, the teacher writes on the board as follows

If the answer is in the top five, the teacher writes the answer next to the
appropriate number.

If the answer is not in the top five, the team loses a life. The teacher draws a big
X and says the phrase "Uh-uhh."

If the playing team loses three lives, the other team is given the chance to steal
the round by coming up with one of the missing answers.

If they answer correctly, they win the round. If not, the team that had given the
three incorrect answers wins points.

Repeat the game with a new survey question.

Family Fortunes.PDF

The Price is Right

Age/Level: Any Time: 20 minutes Players: 5-6 teams Preparation: Pictures
and prices of different products

Aim: To accurately guess the price of a product

This ESL shopping game has been adapted from a famous TV game show. This
game can be used when teaching prices and shopping.

Procedure

Before the game starts you may wish to revise some buying expressions and
large numbers with the class.

Also, have pictures of different products and know the price of each product.

Divide the class into five or six teams.Price tag

Show the teams a picture of one of the products.

The objective of the game is for the two teams to guess the actual price of the
product.

Each team bids one at a time. The team that bids closest to the actual price
wins.

Each bid has to be different. However, a team is out of the round if they bid over
the actual price.

When every group has guessed, give the actual cost of the product.

The winning team gets the amount of points they bid.

Repeat the game with a different product and so on.

A different team should go first each time, as it is advantageous to go last in this

game. Try to vary the products you have in this game from basic everyday items
to luxury goods.

The Price is Right.PDF

The Weakest Link

Age/Level: Any Time: 20 minutes Players: Pairs Preparation: A list of

questions

Aim: To answer general knowledge or review questions

This ESL TV game show is great for asking revision questions.

Procedure

Split the class into pairs. Give each pair a number.

Try to put a strong student with a weaker one.Weakest link

Ask the first pair a question. They must discuss the answer and tell you.

If they are correct, add 10 points to the group pot.

Now move to the next pair, if they are correct, add 20 points.

The next pair would play for 30 points and so on.

However, if any pair answers incorrectly, all the points scored by the pairs before
them are removed.

Note: Before a pair has their go, they can choose to bank the points on the board
first. If they bank, they can only answer for 10 points.

The aim is for the pairs to make as many points as possible for the pot.

After each pair has answered two questions get the pairs to vote off the weakest
pair.

Then after each round, the weakest pair is voted off. The last pair in the game
wins.

The Weakest Link.PDF

Wheel of Fortune

Age/Level: Any Time: 20 minutes Players: 2 Teams Preparation: None

Aim: To guess a word or phrase from letters that are gradually added

This game is adapted from the TV game show of the same name. However, there
is no wheel in this version.

Procedure

Split the class into two teams (A and B).

As in Hangman, think of a word or phrase and write a blank space for each letter
on the board.

Consonants can be guessed, but vowels have to be bought, using points earned
by correctly guessing consonants.

Team A starts by guessing a consonant. If the consonant is not found in the word
or phrase, play passes to Team B.

If the consonant is in the word, Team A gets 1 point for every occurrence of the
letter.
Team A can then buy 1 vowel for every point they have.

If the vowel is not in the word, play passes to Team B. Team A keeps any
remaining points for their next turn.

If the vowel is in the word, Team A can buy another vowel (if they have any
points) or guess another consonant. Vowels do not earn points.

The first team to guess the whole word or phrase wins. If a team guesses the
wrong word or phrase they lose any points they have and miss a turn.

Play a few rounds to see which team is the overall winner.

Wheel of Fortune.PDF