Author Topic: Last minute ideas (Read 16533 times)

grandfromage · « **on:** March 24, 2011, 10:27:27 AM »

I'm getting a little better at planning classes, but even with good plans sometimes the students already know the material or are just on that day, and I have five or ten minutes to kill at the end of class.

So far I've just been playing hangman when that happens, but I'd like some other ideas of things that require no prep and don't take a lot of time to fill up that gap. I have students of all levels and no co-teacher, so if I have to explain it to them it's not going to work. I'm trying to have some extra worksheets ready all the time but that's not ideal either--preferably I'd like to do worksheets if they've been bad and a game if they've been good. Ideas please!

SBracken · « **Reply #1 on:** March 24, 2011, 10:38:11 AM »

I play 20 questions or Teacher, Yes/No?? with my kids- it took awhile to explain the first time (lots of examples of yes/no questions and made them identify 'good yes/no questions' and 'bad yes/no questions'). It was tricky at first but it's a great 5-10 minute filler.

I found the teacher yes/no game on waygook- hadn't heard of it before- basically you do two teams, and yes=2 points, no=1 point. the kids come up with some great questions sometimes, so it can get pretty funny. I teach lower level middle and high school, all grades, and I use this for all my classes.

S.Lee · « **Reply #2 on:** March 24, 2011, 10:41:09 AM »

i have a bank of backup games for times like that
I'm sure if you do a quick search you can find ppts for Hot Seat, jeopardy, etc.

Theres a compound words game somewhere on waygook too, my kids love it

minamteacher · « **Reply #3 on:** March 24, 2011, 10:43:05 AM »

Try the zombie survival lesson. It has ALWAYS worked well for me and it can last one or two lessons easy!
http://waygook.org/index.php/topic,2447.0.html

Edit: I used this for middle school boys, so you might need to use your own judgement for Elementary.

Darkeru · « **Reply #4 on:** March 24, 2011, 10:45:00 AM »

I've been playing Criss-cross this week. If you students sit in rows and columns, it's suitable.

Basically have them all stand up. Ask random ones questions. They can choose their row or column to sit down. Funny near the end when you get the kids (usually boys) who make it so only they sit down and the rest of their row or column stands.

dmokaya · « **Reply #5 on:** March 24, 2011, 10:55:10 AM »

Charades! Pictionary! Also, Group Charades! You have one group stand up in front and face the class. You say a vocabulary word, let's say "swimming". Then you count down 3, 2, 1..and they have to act out the word without looking at each other. If they all are doing the same action, they get a point. They never usually all do the same thing, but it's fun for everyone to watch.

Someone also posted a video lesson for a Disney/Pixar short film "Lifted".. Here is the link, it comes with a worksheet and a ppt. But I just showed the video and asked the kids questions. There's no dialogue in the video and it is pretty interesting. The kids loved it.
http://waygook.org/index.php/topic,2740.msg12640.html#msg12640

DMZ · « **Reply #6 on:** March 24, 2011, 11:06:47 AM »

I had a brainwave at the end of the class that involved learning the words "diagonal", "horizontal" and "vertical".

The kids have to figure out how to draw a little house with a cross in the middle without lifting their pens. They then have to try and remember it and TELL me how to do it, using the above words, instead of showing me. It was a hit.

nicojohnson · « **Reply #7 on:** March 30, 2011, 12:15:51 PM »

Here is a simple ppt for this activity, including hint and solution slides. Nothing flashy. Feel free to change it to suit your needs. Thanks for the great idea!

Quote from: DMZ on March 24, 2011, 12:06:47 pm

I had a brainwave at the end of the class that involved learning the words "diagonal", "horizontal" and "vertical".

The kids have to figure out how to draw a little house with a cross in the middle without lifting their pens. They then have to try and remember it and TELL me how to do it, using the above words, instead of showing me. It was a hit.

bern · « **Reply #8 on:** March 30, 2011, 12:27:55 PM »

Hangman is way better with a giant dice!

It's kind of like wheel of fortune.

1.write the blanks on the board.
2. split them into 2 teams
3. Show them the dice and say

1=1 point
2=2 points
3= 3 points
4 = 4 points
5 = 5 points
6 = your team loses ALL their points.

First they roll the dice, then they pick a letter if it appears in the word they get the number of points on the dice, if it appears twice double up the points etc. If they roll a 6 they go bust and don't get to guess a letter.

That's it, sometimes I let them guess if they know the answer for bonus points or insist on them playing it to the bitter end.

Great twist on a classic game.

glb0b · « **Reply #9 on:** March 30, 2011, 01:29:33 PM »

Another good dice game is to split the class into teams and write the numbers 1-6 on the board for each team.

Ask one team a question. If they answer correctly (or get them to say a dialogue or whatever) they get to roll the dice. Erase the number that they roll. Move on to the next team and erase their number. The winning team is the first one to erase all numbers or the team with the fewest numbers left. Easy and takes no preparation except the presence of a dice.

I got this idea from here (sorry I can't remember who from, but thank you!) and I have used it several times with my elementary school kids and a friend has used it successfully with middle school kids.

taeyang · « **Reply #10 on:** April 05, 2011, 02:13:20 PM »

not sure if this has been posted or shared here before, but i thought i'd pass it on anyway. a friend of mine who's studying design forwarded it to me:

each letter clicks to an animal name - and then the animal is formed with the letters... it's just better if you check it out.

http://www.bemboszoo.com/Bembo.swf

i had a few minutes at the end of a class and my fourth graders went CRAZY for it. they wanted to see every letter, but i had to keep some a secret for the next time i have time to kill~

Aleksuh · « **Reply #11 on:** April 21, 2011, 02:34:03 PM »

If I ever need a game as a reward, or as a last minute time filler, I carry this around with me. It's a variation of the lucky wheel template (thanks to whoever made it) where the students provide questions for each other.

This is helpful for 3 reasons:
1. All the questions are around the right level.
2. At least twice as much English goes on than answering questions from the teacher.
3 (and most important). The teacher doesn't have to spend ages thinking up questions.

I've run it a few times, and the best way to do it seems to be to ask students to write 3 animals, 3 actions ending with -ing, 3 words they know how to spell, 3 questions and 3 sentences first. If you ask them to do this during the game, a lot of time seems to get wasted waiting for them to think. Don't help too much as it will put the questions above level.

During the game, each team chooses anotehr team to receive a question from. The asking team can choose which of their questions to ask.

That's about it. Hope someone gets some use out of it.

qazz93 · « **Reply #12 on:** April 30, 2011, 07:19:20 PM »

Wow~ this is really fantastic!!! Thease days, I taught about animals in the after class.
I am sure my students will be crazy when they watch it!!!! ^^

suejin17 · « **Reply #13 on:** May 01, 2011, 11:10:43 AM »

colorful,artistic and informative i know my students will be amaze

leaderuk · « **Reply #14 on:** May 01, 2011, 07:43:30 PM »

Everyday, I give 2 or 3 stemps to my students.
But that time, I have to show some amazing power points.
Unless students talk a lot or move around the classroom and the atmosphere of class become really crazy...
Thank you!! What a nice material!

coff33bean · « **Reply #15 on:** May 01, 2011, 09:13:03 PM »

thank you so much for sharing. I am going to show this to my younger grades (1-2). Even though the animals are way to difficult for them..it will be a nice review for alphabets and great entertainment.

I might show this to my other grades..once I start teaching about animals.

letsgoteacher · « **Reply #16 on:** June 27, 2011, 03:36:52 PM »

Hi,

We're doing individual speaking and reading tests this week, so I made this 'write the words in the correct box' activity to go with the Boggles World 'Say Four Things' board game to keep the students busy.

First they'll do the vocab sheet in pairs,
Then check the vocab sheet in groups of 4 (we have them in groups of 4 all the time)
Finally they play the game in groups of 4 (I'm a bit worried about using dice=noisy...but we'll find out tmrw!)

http://bogglesworldesl.com/files/gamebo02.jpg

Hope it's useful to others :-)

a49wong · « **Reply #17 on:** July 15, 2011, 09:47:35 PM »

2 words- Bomb Game!!!!!

Pororo, Mario, Angry Birds. They frikkin love that shit

LindseyN · « **Reply #18 on:** December 02, 2011, 02:02:30 PM »

This is a short video that can be used at the end of any class. It is really funny and the kids seem to love it!

The T-Shirt War- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKWdSCt4jGE&feature=youtu.be

lita · « **Reply #19 on:** December 02, 2011, 03:34:17 PM »

"Simon says" works great for the younger classes.

If they are older, you can change the "simon says" part to something from the grammar. Once I replaced it with "Let's play".

To make it more difficult, say only Simon or Says and then the word. Helps them practice listening to whole sentences, instead of just single words.