The role of games in learning English plan

MEMORY GAMES
Essentially, these games challenge the players' ability to remember. Surprisingly, perhaps, this simple basic challenge can lead to many different games and variations. The inevitable differences between what players remember lead to discussion, in which opinions and information are exchanged.
What's behind you?
Language: Listing and describing objects and places, and, in Variations 1 and 2, describing people's appearance, e.g. There's a . . ., There are some . . ., There aren't any . . ., He/She's wearing. . .
Skills: Listening and speaking, and, in Variation 1, reading.
Control: Free.
Level: Beginners/intermediate.
Time: 2—3 minutes.
Materials: Chalkboard (optional).
Preparation: None.
Procedure: Class work.
Tell the class not to turn round. Ask them what they think is behind them. They might list other people in the class, furniture, pictures on the Walls, windows, etc. Ask for descriptions of the things they mention. You might also ask what the learners can remember of the street outside of the school, e.g.
Teacher: Think about the street outside the school. What can you remember?
Learner 1: There are some trees. . .
Teacher: Yes. Arc there trees on both sides of the street?
Learner 1: No there aren't any on the other side.
Learner 2: No! There's one by the grocer's.
Variation 1: Class work.
Before you explain the game to the class, ask two of them to go outside the classroom. Explain the game and ask the learners to describe what the two are wearing. You could write on the board a summary of what they say. Ask the two outside to come back in and compare.
Variation 2: Pair work.
A learner is asked to close his/her eyes and describe his/her neighbor’s appearance. Alternatively, the learners could stand back to back.
Kim’s game
Language Listing and naming objects, or pictures of objects.
Variation 1: Numbers and plurals (e.g. three suitcases).
Variation2: Adjectives (e.g. A red suitcase . . . The green case is bigger . . .},
Variation 3: Containers (e.g. a bottle of milk).
Variation 4: Present perfect (e.g. You've put. . .), past simple (e.g. It was . . .), and prepositions (e.g. next to. . .).
Variation 5: Present perfect and comparatives (e.g. you’ve made the tree taller). Variation 6: Describing and comparing.
Variation 7: Discussing and describing.
Skills: Listening, speaking and writing.
Control: Guided.
Level: Beginners/intermediate.
Time: 5 minutes.
Materials: A collection of objects or pictures; OHP (optional); paper and pencils.
Preparation: None
Essentially you need a collection of small objects or pictures of objects which you know the learners can name. Here are some of the alternative ways of getting a collection together: -a number (six to eight) of small objects on a table -a number of small magazine pictures of objects on a table -a number of small, quick sketches of objects on the board — a number of small sketches of objects on pieces of transparency on the OHP.
Have a cloth or piece of paper to hide the objects or pictures. If you are using the OHP you do not need to switch the machine off, since you can simply cover the lens with your hand or a book
Pass the picture
Language: Too {short, fat, etc.} and not {long, thin, etc.) enough occur in this Activity: Also the vocabulary of the picture which is being passed on.
Skills: Listening and speaking.
Control: Free.
Level: Intermediate/advanced.
Time: 10-15 minutes for the discussion at the end of the game. (The game itself can be played while other work is going on.
Materials: Each learner should have a black felt-tip pen and a piece of paper.
Preparation: None
Draw a simple picture on a piece of paper before the lesson.
N
ote: The drawings must be big enough to be seen by the whole class when displayed for discussion.
Procedure: Class work.
Show the picture you have prepared to someone sitting at the front and to one side. Let them sec the picture for ten seconds, then take it back and keep it. The first player must then draw the picture as he/she remembers it. Then he/she must show it to his/her neighbor for ten seconds and so on until everyone has passed on their version of the picture their neighbor showed them. Throughout this part of the game you should carry on with your normal lesson.
Display the last picture and the first one together and discuss the differences. Then ask people to stand up in threes or fours showing the way the picture was modified as it passed through the class. Discuss the changes. Finally, if possible, display all the pictures, in order, on the wall.