Class Acts © Jon Meier

Class Acts

Name (suggestions in French / English. Germanists could suggest their own)	Description An effective way to stop non-participants shouting out, whispering or subverting the activity, is to divide the class into two teams and penalise the offending team every time there is an infringement of the rules. Take time to establish and explain the rules and your expectations. This may take longer the first time but should not require much explanation on subsequent occasions. Get used to writing points quickly on the board, normally in 2 columns, one for each team.
duel / jeu de tennis	Use lists such as days, months, numbers, verb paradigms. 2 pupils alternately say each word, in order through the list. The first one to stumble or make a mistake loses the duel. As with most of these activities, only use willing volunteers. Can be done with silly voices, icy stares. The first one to giggle or crack up loses.
board duel	2 pupils with pens stand by the board. Teacher (or pupil from class) calls out a letter or number. The pupils race to write it correctly on the board. The first one to do it correctly each time gets a point.
Morpion / naughts & crosses	Draw the 9 square grid and identify each square with coordinates: a1, a2 a3 , b1, b2,b3 c1,c2,c3. Put numbers, letters or icons (icons can be flashcard pictures, your own drawings, lexical items or even abbreviations of lexical items) into the 9 squares. Divide the class into 2 teams. A pupil from team A says his chosen square ("a2", for example) and then gives the answer. Teacher puts the naught or the cross in the box. The aim is to get 3 naughts or 3 crosses in a row.
Blockbusters	As above, but using the blockbusters grid. Each team has to get a row correct, either vertically or horizonally. n.b. The grid cells need not just contain initial letters. Anything could be tested - e.g. verb forms, vocab translations, (even vocab in context where pupils have to provide a sentence using the item)
Stepping stones	Put about 10 icons on the board in circles. These are the stepping stones. Make it clear where you want the start and the end point. Bottom to top is the most common. A pupil has to use the stepping stones to travel across the river without falling into the crocodile-infested waters.
Bowling	As above, but set out the circles like 10 bowling pins: - 1 at the front, then 2, then 3,then 4 at the back. Pupils work individually or as a team to 'knock down' the pins by getting each item right.
Ladder	Set out the target items as a ladder. Pupils have to climb from the bottom to the top without stumbling. Ideally, set out the items in order of increasing difficulty. Put a 'prize' at the top.
Staircase	As above. Set out the target items as a staircase. Pupils climb the staircase.
Boxes/ 'Darts'/ ludo/ Target-Practice	Any incentive for getting pupils to participate positively is valid. If a pupil answers correctly, they or their team is allowed a 'move'. This may take the form of moving a counter along a board, throwing an object at a target (e.g. a crumpled piece of paper into a waste-paper basket!) or drawing a line to join up 2 dots as in the game of boxes. Pupils, especially boys, often respond well to this. Points can be awarded for the valid language answer and then extra points can be given for the resulting kinaesthetic outcome.
Pictionary	Use the board/ OHP. Divide the class in 2 teams. A rep from team A draws a picture of a new vocab item. Team A has 30 secs to guess the word. (Warning: Sometimes teams have colluded in advance to agree on a word - to avoid this, you could quietly specify the word to be drawn, or the rep can pick the word out of a bag)
Envoyé Spécial	Lots of possibilities. Send a volunteer out of the room. The rest of the class hides something and the 'special agent' has to ask questions to find out about the mystery object - e.g. what is it, where is it? The pupils stand up. Each one freeze or mime an animal, sport, illness, character trait or hobby of their choice. The special agent has go round the class and to guess as many ones as possible in a minute. With each correct guess, the pupil guessed has to sit down. Only correct language constitutes a correct guess. It's also possible to get the whole class to mime or freeze the same thing. You all need to agree quickly and quietly while the envoyé spécial is out of the room.
Mime	Pupil A mimes illness, hobbies, animals, jobs etc. Another pupil guesses. If correct, he/she performs a mime.
Ball	Question/ answer round the class. Use a juggling ball as this type does not bounce and roll all over the floor. Train pupils to lob the ball gently. Teacher asks a question e.g. Quelle est la date de ton anniversaire? Pupil X volunteers. Teacher gently throws ball to pupil X. Pupil X answers. Then Pupil X asks the question and throws ball to another pupil who is volunteering to answer. Pupil X should also say the name of the pupil she/he is throwing to. If they find the question too hard to ask, or the pace is dragging, you could speed it up by just getting them to ask 'et toi ....?'
Cricket	Teacher 'bowls' questions to the pupils, stating how many runs each question is worth. The teacher can also ask a pupil how many runs they want to go for. Adjust the questions accordingly in terms of difficulty. This takes some thought and effort to set up, plus firm control.
Millionaire	Use the format of Who Wants to be a Milionnaire. Mobile phones/ walkie talkies could be used for 'phone a friend'. Another option could be 'Consultez le dictionnaire' (still no guarantee of a correct answer !). It takes some time to devise the questions as 4 answers are needed for each item. Music, lighting and mock earnestness all add to the atmosphere. To help motivation, divide the class into 2 teams and use a alternate pupils from each team for each round of the game. Don't forget the 'Rags to Riches' option on the Quia site
1st team to sit down	Divide the class into 2 teams. All stand up. Ask questions to each side alternately. The pupil who answers correctly sits down. Aim: to be the first team to sit down. Penalise anyone talking, messing around or shouting out by asking the offender (or any member of the offending team) to stand up again. This way, even the pupils who have already answered have to sit and be attentive.
Beat the clock	Vocab items, simple question-answer routines or drilled responses can all be answered against the clock. Inviduals, pairs, rows, teams or even a whole class effort can be timed and a record set which has to be beaten in subseuqent attempts. You can also use many of the activities outlined on this page in a timed context. (Staircase and ladder type activities can be very successful if timed).
Beat the teach	Any question/ answer routine from teacher to pupil can be turned into a points game. Play pupils v. teacher. For every correct answer from the class, the pupils gain a point. Any mistake or unacceptable behaviour, the teacher gets a point. This is an excellent way to train pupils into developing good classroom habits - (hands up ready to answer, no shouting out). The aim is for the pupils to gain as many points as possible at the expense of the poor teacher. The aim is also to ensure that the pupils really hammer the teacher in terms of points scored. It gives them a real sense of achievement.
Aide-mémoire	Prompt sheets using icons can really help to raise pupil achievement, encouraging them to answer more fully, using extended sentences. Pupils can make their own, or you can use the OHP. Train pupils to learn using iconised mind-maps - see visual dictionary below.
Visual dictionary	Pupils draw 2 columns. Put a picture/ symbol or icon in one column and foreign language word/sentence in the other. No English needs to be written. Years 7 & 8 like to draw the picture in a TV-monitor frame, as though caught on a CCTV camera.
2-1-0	For each pupil answer, award 2 , 1 or 0 points. 2 is for a perfect answer; 0 is for a wrong or invalid answer, 1 is somewhere in between. This really helps to focus pupils on accuracy and detail.
Question-answer chain	This activity takes some preparation and care. Say you have 20 pupils. You will need a checklist with 20 questions and answers - GCSE topic questions are v good for this. Get 20 pieces of card. On card 1 write question A and leave the back blank. On card 2 write the answer to question A (=answer A) and write question B on the back. On card 3 write answer B and put question C on the back. Continue until you have covered all the questions and answers. The answer to the last question goes on the back on card 1. Keep a check of which questions and answers you have used as you write out the cards. Give out the cards randomly to the pupils. Pupil A reads the first question. The rest have to listen, look at their answers and read the answer if theirs is the correct one.
Card-tasks against the clock	On pieces of card put key words/ verb-forms / topic titles/ questions. In pairs or individually, pupils have to see how many card-tasks they can complete in one minute. The task may be giving the verb form, changing a tense, using the key word in a context, answering a question, asking a question, translating. This can also be done as a team game, with one pupil from each team reading the card to his team.
Guessing Games	Guessing games work really well. e.g. if you've taught common classroom objects, a pupil hides (or sits on !) an item and the other pupils have to guess the item. Give them a maximum of 5 guesses. With objects that are not physically available, pupils can simply jot down a word and keep it hidden. This is an excellent way to make pupils practise recent vocabulary without realising it. They will also generate questions spontaneously:" C'est un feutre? C'est un crayon? Ist es ein Hund? Ist es eine Katze?"
'Feely Bag'	Put common objects into a feely bag and see who can identify the most objects. Works well with common classroom objects, contents of pockets, purses and bags.
Lotto	An old favourite. Once you have taught and drilled a certain vocab area, pupils write down any 5 in English. You then read out at random your list in the target language, keeping a record of the items you have read out. The pupils tick the word if they have it. Once they have ticked all 5, they shout 'lotto'. You can vary the activity - e.g. pupils write the word in the target language, you read the English. They can write words in a grid and aim to be the first to get a complete row. Keep an eye open to make sure they don't change the word on their sheet as you say it.
Spot the mistake	Good for texts. Once the pupils are fairly familiar with a text, you read out the text, but with mistakes. Pupils put up their hand when they spot a mistake. Your mistakes may be: mispronunciation, words replaced, a negative inserted or deleted, an opposite adjective, substitution of a wrong time, day etc. This also works if you read a translation of the text into English, substituting some elements.
Chain memory	'I went to town and bought .......' Go round the class, adding to the list of items. Each person has to repeat the items from before and add a new one. It is best if you use volunteers as the list gets longer. This is a really good memory test.
Chain substitution	Pupil A says a sentence. Pupil B repeats it but changes one item. e.g. A) Je me suis levé à sept heures B) Je me suis levé à six heures