Gamifying your classroom for success. 10 fun and challenging games for you to use in your classroom

As a teacher trainer, I have visited innumerous schools and institutes over the years who hang onto the 20th century philosophy that “A quiet classroom is a successful classroom”. Well, I could not agree less. Activities such as games and challenges that inject enthusiasm into students is undoubtedly one of the keys to success.

Today our students live in the age of the internet, computer games, smartphones, etc and virtually each and every one of them thrives on the challenges which these present. We as English teachers, if we are to generate enthusiasm in our classrooms, then we too must emulate the stimulation that they receive from these activities and use this as a basis for most of the activities that we use in our teaching methodology. When we can achieve a state in the classroom where students enjoy learning English, then our students will look forwards to coming to class and actively participating in every activity.

Below I have listed some of the tried and tested games that I have used with students in my classrooms, not to mention taught to teachers in training workshops. I hope that you find them interesting.

One. Solving the riddle.

1. Divide the class into two groups: The QUESTION group and the ANSWER group.
2. Give the questions to the first group and the answers to the other group.
3. Each student in the first group is supposed to read the question he has aloud and whoever has the answer in the other group reads the answer aloud.
4. If the question and the answer match put the students in pairs. If they don't, then continue until the right answer is found. Each student can read his part only twice. When all questions and answers are matched ask the pairs to read the riddle they have just for fun.


Some Suggested Riddles
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q. What animal is gray and has a trunk?
A. A mouse going on vacation
Q. What animal eats and drinks with its tail?
A. All do. No animal takes off its tail when eating or drinking.
Q. Why do mother kangaroos hate rainy days?
A. Because then the children have to play inside.
Q. How can you tell the difference between a can of chicken soup and a can of tomato soup?
A. Read the label.
Q. Why is an eye doctor like a teacher?
A. They both test the pupils.
Q. Why did the cross-eyed teacher lose his job?
A.Because he could not control his pupils.
Q. Why is mayonnaise never ready?
A. Because it is always dressing.
Q. Do you know the story about the skunk?
A. Never mind, it stinks.
Q. If a papa bull eats three bales of hay and a baby bull eats one
bale, how much hay will a mama bull eat?
A. Nothing. There is no such thing as a mama bull.
Q. What does an envelope say when you lick it?
A. Nothing. It just shuts up.
Q. Why do cows wear bells?
A. Because their horns don't work.
Q. Why shouldn't you believe a person in bed?
A. Because he is lying.
Q. What is the best way to prevent milk from turning sour?
A. Leave it in the cow.
Q. Why does a dog wag his tail?
A. Because no one else will wag it for him.

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Two. How crazy is that!

1. Prepare sheets of paper with six columns that bear the following titles at the top
 WHO?
(a man's name)
 WHOM?
(a woman's name)
 WHERE?
 WHAT DID HE SAY?
 WHAT DID SHE SAY?
 WHAT DID THEY DO?
2. Divide the class into groups of 6. Give each group one sheet of paper. Ask the first student to write under the first part and fold the paper so as to cover what he has written. Tell the student to pass the paper onto the next person. As each person writes, he should only look at his fold. When all students finish, one student from each group will be asked to read their story in the following format. You can write the format on the blackboard.
 ............. Met ............... in/at..............
 He said..............................................
 She said.............................................
 And so they........................................

Three. Deductive reporting.

1. Cut out news items and their headlines from a newspaper. Paste the
news and headlines on separate sheets of paper. Photocopy them.
2. Ask students to work in pairs. Give each pair the photocopies of the
news and headlines.
3. Ask them to match the headlines with the news items.

Four. Verbal variations.

1. Find or draw two pictures that are the same except for seven features.
Photocopy them on separate sheets of paper.
2. Ask students to work in pairs. Give one copy of each picture to the pairs.
The pairs are not supposed to show their copies to each other. Partner A's will describe their copy and Partner B's will listen carefully and examine their own copy to find the differences. They can ask questions if they require more detailed information or need any clarification. The pair that finishes first wins the game.

Five. Codebreaker.

I sometimes give instructions to my students written in code that they have to interpret before completing tasks. I have used this at various levels:
Here is an example: to revise the alphabet and simple present verbs/vocal.
• Tell students the code e.g. each code letter represents the letter that
comes before it in the alphabet a is b, m is n, o is p, x is y, 'dbu' is cat etc.
• Then they decode their message and do the task:
o xbml up uif cpbse - walk to the board
o kvnq ufo ujnft - jump ten times
To make it more difficult, I have...
• used more complex codes,
• let them work the code out for themselves,
• have not defined where words end,
• have given more complicated tasks or vocabulary
• Or given them half an instruction which they must decode
and then find the classmate with the other half of their task information.
This activity can be used to review or practice vocabulary or structure or simply be a different way to introduce the topic for the day's class -- each student gets one or two words to decode and then the classwork to put all the words together.

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Six. That story is crazy!!!

This is an activity that will make your students speak in class and be creative.
• Ask students to write a word on a piece of paper and tell them not to show anyone. This word should be a verb (or whatever you would like to review).
• The teacher starts telling a story, then stops and chooses a student.
• That student will continue the story and must use his/her word. This student then chooses the next student to continue the story.
• The last student must end the story.
• After the story is over, the students then try to guess what words each student has written on his/her paper. The student who guesses the most words wins the game.

Seven. Cell phone Scavenger Hunt

This game may require students to leave the classroom depending on how you set it up.
Make a list of things students must take photos of. Then put your students into teams, each with their own camera or cell phone, and have them go out and take the photos. The team that comes back first with all the photos is the winner.
Some ideas for lists are:
• Bus, taxi, car, bicycle, etc.
• Restaurant, post office, mailbox, traffic light, etc.
• In the classroom: pencil, pen, eraser, blackboard, etc.
• Around the school: principal's office, copy machine, cafeteria, etc.
For further review of vocabulary, have the students look at all the photos and identify other things that appear in each photo.

Eight. Forbidden.

This game is a simplified version of the board game "Taboo".
Before class, create several index cards. On each card write one word in a large font with a circle around it, and underneath write 2-4 related words in a smaller font. The goal is for students to get their teammates to guess the circled word. They can say anything they like to try to make them guess, except for the words written on the card.
Divide the class into groups of two, and write each group on the board to keep track of points. Place a desk in the front of the room facing the class, so that someone sitting it has their back to the board and can't read it. Place another desk in front of it, so the teammates are facing each other.
Pick a team to go first, and have them choose a card. Have the teammates decide who will guess and who will talk. The guesser sits with their back to the board. On the board, making sure the guesser can't see, write the circled word as well as the other taboo words. The talker then has to try to make their partner guess the circled word without saying it, or any of the other words. After they guess it have another group come up. When all the groups have gone, do it again and have the teammates switch roles.
My students really enjoy this game, so much so that they often give the guesser clues even when it is not their team! It's a great way for students to practice forming sentences, and it forces them to use words and structures they might otherwise not use.

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Nine. Words that begin with…….

The teacher chooses a letter from the alphabet. Then each student must say a word that begins with that letter.
If a student repeats a word that has already been said, then he/she is out of the game. The game ends when only one student remains. That student is the winner. In high-level classes students lose if they say a past form of the verb.
Example: see-saw. You can increase the difficulty by adding a timer. Only allow each student 5 seconds to think of a word.

Ten: My theme Cards

For this activity, you will need a deck of cards, and an imaginative theme that could be crafted into some sort of story.
For example, I choose "send the teacher on a vacation". On the board or projector, make a list like the following.
(You could ask your student for input.)
• A-exciting
• 2-depressing
• 3-expensive
• 4-heroic
• 5-romantic
• 6-fantastic
• 7-sad
• 8-almost fatal
• 9-cheap
• 10-dramatic
• J-happy
• Q-weird
• K-change one option
Prompt the students a little to get them started; perhaps offer a beginning to the story. They then must continue making an oral story by drawing one card and continuing the story along those lines. For example, if they get 4, then the teacher/protagonist must do something heroic or some kind of heroic event must occur. If the students draw a K (or whatever card you stipulate), then they can change one option. This seems to help keep the momentum in the game. Continue through all cards, with the stipulation that the story must be concluded by the end of the deck. Obviously, there is a lot of room for variation here. Your word list and theme could be related to your unit of study.

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