I think that games that take an all encompassing approach and integrate present and previously learned grammar points are best, because the kids can compare and learn how the rules of grammar operate under particular contexts.
That being said, I will add more here from time to time. Many grammar points can also be effectively illustrated using the games in the games section.
New Comparatives Worksheets- From Bruce - Good for revising the superlative and comparative. Here and Here
NEW - Directions Game - Control Tower - Right, left, no left! left! left! - Boom! Good TPR game for reviewing directions. Here
Future Tense - From Edochan
Comparatives - Who Would Win
Comparatives using advertising. From ESL4U
Comparatives and reasons worksheet
Comparatives Reporter/Scribe game - from edochan
Past Tense Bingo - Boggles World
Present Continuous Pictionary
Grammar Consolidation Activities
Grammar Review -from Edochan
Grammar Review 2 - from Edochan
Grammar Dialogue Review Game - From Edochan
Let's make a sentence - Using any grammar point, use the words provided to make a 3,4,5,6,7 etc word sentence. Can be modified depending on level.
Most JTES have flash cards with the Japanese on one side and the Eigo on the other. Use this to learn or consolidate Vocab.
Practice the target words with the cards until the students
are fairly competent at naming them. Then arrange the cards (nihongo side
up) into the form of a bridge across the board in the illustrated fashion.
Divide the class into six teams, and assign each a name. Draw a competition tree
beneath the bridge on the board using the teams' names. E.g.,
I
------------------------------
I I
------------------ I
I I I
-------- ---------- ----------
I I I I I I
Natto Semi Namekuji Gokiburi Tororo Onara
Have the first two teams come to the front and line up on either side of the board. Beginning with the first in line, the students must make their way across the bridge from opposite sides, touching each card and naming its picture or word. Encourage them to speak in a loud voice. When the crossing students meet on the same card, they must jan-ken to see who continues. The loser returns to the end of their team and the next player begins from the start of the bridge again. Draw a finish line at either side of the bridge, two cards from the end. The team whose player names the card across the line (i.e., the 2nd to last card) wins the match and goes through to the next round. Continue with the next two teams.
I I
O O I O O O O O O O I O O
I I
The boys especially enjoy it. All that you need for this is a stack of index
cards, each with the name of possible combatant written on it. For example:
samurai, tiger, battleship, pro-wrestler, ninja. Make at least 30 or 40 cards.
Shuffle the cards and choose two, then ask your students who would win a fight
between the two combatants named. The idea here is to get your students talking
and, if possible, speculating. Ask them why they think this or that fighter
would win. Is he / she stronger, larger, or faster, than the vanquished foe?
As always, its good to add a few comedy entries in the list of fighters. How
would "the smallest dog in Osaka" fare against a bull? How about Tom
Cruise vs. a chicken? Godzilla vs. Madonna? Ichiro vs. an army tank? You can
also add the names of students--this always gets a laugh, and can cause animated
debates among your kids.
The great thing about this format is that it can always be randomized, simply by
re-shuffling the deck.
Running
Pictionary:
Especially useful to review
present continuous if you'll be working with it. Play in 2 teams for five
minutes at the start of the class. One student from each team has to run
forward, look at your sentence and draw it. The first team to guess gets a
point. Enforce a time limit per sentence so it doesn't drag.
This is a consolidation activity for questions such as:
"What sport do you play?"; "Where do you play ___?";
"When do you play ___?". Give each student a card with a sport, place,
and time on it. E.g.
The students must ask the target questions in order to find their match. They then go to either the JTE or the ALT and perform their dialogue again. This activity has proven surprisingly popular with students
Football
in the park
after school
* Give the students some listening practice by
performing the dialogue with the JTE before having them commence it. Follow this
up with a comprehension check (the JTEs province), and then chorused drilling of
the questions.
* Make the exercise more interesting, challenging, and enjoyable by requiring the students to find groups of four, each having the same sport, place, and time. This assists the slower learners, who feel more comfortable if they can recite in unison with others.
1) The ALT makes up three paragraphs of six sentences using
the grammar the students have recently studied.
2) The ALT divides the sentences into words or phrases and writes the words or phrases on separate cards of construction paper.
3) The classes will do one paragraph at a time. Each paragraph should be more difficult than the one preceding it. One way to make the second and third paragraphs more difficult is to make the sentences longer and/ or more broken apart.
4) The ALT should draw a picture that corresponds to each sentence (so a total of 18). This does not require great artistic skill -- trust me, if I can do it, it requires no skill. Stick people are fine; just make it good enough to convey the meaning of the sentence. (The trick is to write about things that you can draw.)
5) It helps to make prize cards to give to the teams once they make the sentences. I made 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th place cards. The first team to finish got 10 points, 2nd got 8, 3rd got 4, 5th got 2 and 6th place got 1 point.
Class Procedure:
Before class, put the six pictures corresponding to Paragraph 1 on the board vertically.
1) Divide the class into six teams.
2) Hand out the cards of words and phrases face-down -- one sentence per team.
3) When all the cards are handed out, the students may turn them over and try to make the sentences, with help from the ALT and JTE.
4) When a team thinks they have the right answer, the ALT will check it. If the sentence is grammatically correct, then the ALT will ask the students which picture it corresponds to on the blackboard (this checks their understanding of the meaning of the sentence). If they can answer, they get the card corresponding to first place or second place, etc.
5) Have the students attach their sentence to the board with magnets, next to the corresponding picture.
6) When all the sentences are on the board, the ALT will read the paragraph. Then the ALT and JTE will explainthe meaning of any difficult parts.
7) After going through the game three times (doing all three paragraphs), add up the points collected by each team. The team with the most points is the winner (of course).
8) I then had joke prizes -- six of them, one for each team. The winner got to choose first, the second place team chose second, and so on
This is an excellent review game, perhaps at its most
effective at the end of the year. Have every student write an interesting
question on one scrap of paper. They are permitted to use their text books as a
reference or for ideas. Allow 3-4 minutes for this. Next, demonstrate the
activity with the JTE. Ask your JTE a question such as, "What is your
telephone number?" (this is especially interesting to students if the JTE
is of the opposite gender to yourself). The JTE answers, then asks you a
different question. You answer, then both of you exchange your question slips
and sign each others' 2nd scrap of paper. After this, the students must
move on to a new partner and the cycle continues. Make sure the students
understand that they must exchange questions, as this enables them to practice
many different forms. When the time frame for this activity is filled, ask the
students how many people they spoke to. Award a prize to the person who spoke to
the most people (used stamp, sticker, etc.).
Hints and cautions:
* Tell the S/s that they shouldn't look
at each others' question scraps they should listen to what they are being
asked.
+ Make sure the S/s make eye contact with each other. If they must refer to their question scrap permit this, but have them try to 'Read, Look up and Speak'