One that doesn’t belong Write sets of four words on the board: three from the same
category and one that is different. Students say which is
the one that doesn’t belong and give a reason
. Pass the actions Use any word cards for actions, adverbs, or action
phrases. Distribute these to students in the class. Play
some music and ask students to pass the word cards
around the class. Then stop the music. Students with
word cards take turns reading their action silently and
acting it out for the rest of the class to guess.
Pass the word cards Use any set of word cards. Distribute these to students in
the class. Ask students to pass the word cards around the
class. Then say
Stop! Students with word cards take turns
making a sentence with the word on their card.
Reading race Use any set of word cards. Write sentences on pieces of
paper, each using one of the words from the cards you’ve
chosen. Attach the word cards to the board. Divide the
class into two teams and give each team half of the
sentences (face down in a pile). Say
Play! One student
from each team stands up, picks up a sentence, reads it
aloud, and sticks it below the correct word card on the
board. They then walk quickly back to their team and sit
down, naming the next student to read a sentence. The
first team to stick up all its sentences is the winner.
Sentence chain game This is a chain activity. Start with an initial sentence, as
suggested in the teaching notes. Ask a student to continue,
repeating your sentence and adding one of their own
. The
game continues until someone forgets the chain or can’t
think of a sentence to add.
Sentences in a bag Students write a sentence on a slip of paper and put the
slips of paper into a bag/box. This can be a true/false
sentence, a definition, or a sentence with a missing word.
Students then take turns drawing out a sentence and
guessing if it’s true or false, guessing the definition, or
finding the missing word.
Simon says This is an instructions game. Students listen and follow
your instructions, but only if you say
Simon says , e.g.,
if you say
You’re good at juggling , students should do
nothing, but if you say
Simon says, “You’re good at juggling,” students mime juggling proficiently. Students
can also give the instructions.
So did I Students write a list of three things they did in the past,
as suggested in the teaching notes
. They then read their
sentences and see how many students in the class did the
same things. Students raise their hands and say
So did I .
They make a note of which of their sentences gets the
most
So did I responses.
Spelling game Divide the class into two teams. Call out words for students
to spell. One student from each team writes the spelling
on a piece of paper (or on the board) and then shows the
rest of the class. If the spelling is correct, they score a point
for their team. The team with the most points at the end
of the game is the winner.