Re: How do you teach TIME ? I've taught this lesson to grade 2, 3, 4, and 5 students (EFL) in Japan.

Warm-up Draw a circle on the board, ask the class, "What picture is it?" <they won't get clock, but that's not the point really. Notice the structure you're introducing: What ____ is it?> Draw a dot in the center of the circle, ask the class, "What picture is it?" <they won't get clock> Draw both clock hands in the circle, ask the class, "What picture is it? <they should get clock, either in their first langauge (L1) or in English> Draw two straps on each side of the clock, ask the class, "What picture is it?" <they might get watch> Say to the class, watch this (put emphasis on the word "watch". Now, erase the straps, and ask the class, "What picture is it?" <they should get that it's a clock> Now, draw the straps back in again and ask, "What picture is this?" <they should get watch> If not, do it again. *Note, leave the pciture of the clock on the board. Review Numbers 1-12 write the numbers on the board in any order--it's important to make sure the numbers are not in order. Tell the students to put their heads down--no looking--then the teacher erases one of the numbers; have the students look up. The first student to call out the missing/erased number is the winner. *Note, when the students have their heads down, now and then write in numbers you had erased. *Note, pay special attention to 7, 9, 11, and 12. Discovery: Activity #1 Beside the picture of the clock that you drew on the board, write in the number 1, and say "One", then write in this symbol : and say nothing, then write in O and say "Oh". You should have this on the board 1:OO, with the last O being the clock that you had drawn earlier. Say it aloud again: "One o'clock". Now, erase the number 1 and add in the number 3 or 7 or whatever, until the students get the structure X o'clock. Remember to ask the students, "What time is it?" as you change the numbers. Erase the clock and fill in the missing slots with 5 or 10 or 15 or 20 and so on, if that is the students know numbers greater than 20. Say the structures aloud;e.g., 1:05 (one oh-five), 1:10 (one ten), and so on. Remember to ask the students, "What time is it?" as you change the numbers. Practice: Activity #2 Play, What time is it, Mr Wolf?

Move the desks to the side of the room, have the students stand at the back, the teacher stands at the front of the room. Explain the game: The students call out "What time is it, Mr Wolf? to which the Wolf calls out a time; e.g., It's 1 o'clock. The students take one step towards the wolf. Then the students call out again, "What time is it, Mr Wolf?", and the Wolf gives a time, and the students advance forward. When the students are close enough--within catching distance, the Wolf instead of calling out a time says, "It's lunch time!" and tags the nearest student. Game over, and the student who was caught now becomes the wolf and calls out the times. Opportunity: Activity #3 On the board the teacher writes these times (just the numbers): the time you get up, the time you eat breakfast, the time you get to school, the time you eat lunch, the time you go home, the time you eat dinner, and the time you go to bed. The students are placed in groups and given a simple grid card that looks like your daily schedule. In their groups they have to decide which times written on the board go where on the schedule in front of them. That is, they have to guess where the times fit in to your schedule. *Note, you can write "day" and "night" on the schedule with a sun and a moon, respectively, with lunch in the middle. **Note also, grade 2 students cannot do this activity. I had them draw a clock. Once all the teams have completed the schedule, they, one by one, have to ask you, "What time do you_______?" If the answer you give matches the answer they wrote down on their grid, they win a point for their team. Closure Ask the students when they eat breakfast, what time they go to bed, and so on. That last question, about bedtime, will gain a great deal of attention from their classmates. All the best, and I hope it goes well for you.

EFL/ESL games for elementary school students

Team Spelling Instructions

Put the class into teams.

The teacher shows a team a photograph or drawing and the team must each write down one letter of that word (without showing their teammates), depending on their position. The leftmost student writes down the first letter, the next student the second letter, etc. e.g. the teacher shows a group of five students a picture of an apple. The leftmost student writes down "a", the next student "p", the next student "p", the next "l" and the rightmost student "e". Give them a short timelimit (ten to twenty seconds depending on their English level) and then have them all reveal the letters they wrote. Award one point if the word is correctly spelled, then move on to the next group.

Variations
As preparing a lot of words all the same length (e.g. you have teams of 5 students each: it can be hard to think of lots of 5-letter words without going outside the students' knowledge of vocabulary) you can have words `wrap around`: If you give a six letter word to a team of five students then the first student has to write down both the first and last letters. Sitting the students in a ring can help them get the idea.

Notes
Making the vocabulary relevant to a current event is of course best (Halloween, Christmas, New Year, Valentines', etc).

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Telephone Instructions
1. Divide class into groups of 6 or more, and arrange each group in a straight line or row. 2. Ask for a volunteer listener from each group. Take them outside of the classroom and give them a message (one sentence or more, depending on student level). 3. Open the door, and let the students run to the first member of their group to whisper the message. 4. Each member passes the message, by whispering, to their neighbor. 5. When the message reaches the end, the last person should run to the board and write the message that they heard.

The winner could be determined in various ways: first team to pass a legible, complete message (even if it's wrong), first team to finish, first team with a message closest to the original.

Variations
- Ask the last student to repeat the message to YOU, and write it on the board yourself. This is a good way to practice pronunciation, and to determine which sounds students have trouble with.

Notes
This game could take up 5 minutes or 30, depending on how much time you have and how interested the kids are. I've used it with high schoolers in Korea and they loved it. We spent over half the class on this activity.

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Word Challenge Instructions

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Have students get into teams of 4-10 people One person from each team does rocks, paper, scissors Winner says a word and opponent tries to write the word correctly If they get it right, their team gets a point If they get it wrong, the person who said the word can write it out for a point for their team 6. Have another person from each team play 'Word Challenge'

Variations

Make an 'arena' in the middle of the class for two students to face off

Notes
Students will start to look up difficult words to stump the other team. Remember to to a followup assignment for words used, such as teaching the class the meanings and having students make sentences with the new words.

A big thanks to Nick for this EFL/ESL game!

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Stand and Spell Instructions

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Make list of words for students to spell Write students' names on the board Give each student one letter to be and write it next to their names Call out a word to be spelled Students stand next to each other to spell the word

Variations

Give each student a large alphabet card to hold above their head Have one student be the leader who places students in the right position Make teams for bigger classes Give groups a time limit to spell the word

Notes
If one student's letter comes up more than once in a word, they can move and this makes the game more fun. Use the variation and make the 'quiet' student the leader to help include them in class.

A big thanks to Troy for this EFL/ESL game!

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Spin the Coin Instructions

1. Lay out an arbitrary number of flashcards in a circle formation, making sure the edges of the flashcards are touching (i.e. no holes in the circle: taping the cards down helps) 2. Give each player some marker pieces (colored chips work well) 3. Prepare a 'coin' from cardboard, etc. with a line on each side, from the center of the coin to the edge 4. Spin the coin in the middle of the circle and have the first student slam their hand down on the coin

5. The line on the coin serves as a pointer and the student says the vocabulary word or grammar structure on the card the line points to 6. If they are right, they place one of their markers on the card 7. The first student to get rid of all of their markers wins

Variations

Use pictures for less advanced students Have special flashcards such as 'place your marker on any available card' or 'remove 1 marker from a card' Only allow one marker on each card

Notes
If you are using only a few flashcards, make the number of markers be equal to the number of flashcards. A big thanks to David for this EFL/ESL game!

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Spell from a Bag Instructions

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Divide the class into groups of 2-4 students Assign everyone a vocabulary word Have each student write their word out with each letter on a separate small sheet of paper Place all the letters in a bag Students take turns taking one letter out of the bag at a time If the letter is one found in their word, they keep it and give the bag to the next student If the letter they select is not one of the letters in their word, they put it back in the bag and give it to the next student 8. For example, say S1 has CAT as their word, S2 has DOG, and S3 has COW. If S1 draws C from the bag (even if it is not the C that they wrote), they keep it and give the bag to S2. S2 draws a W, puts it back in the bag, and gives it to S3, etc. 9. The first student to spell their word wins

Variations

Use letter blocks instead of having students write their letters on paper

Use sentences with some similar words for more advanced students

Notes
This is a good way to review vocabulary as each students will most likely learn the words they have to spell.

A big thanks to David for this EFL/ESL game!

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Shiritori Instructions
1. Divide the class in half 2. Divide the blackboard/whiteboard in half with a line 3. Students all stand up and form lines on opposite sides of the room and can only write on their side of the board 4. Provide a first word in the middle of the board 5. The first student in each team writes a word to follow the first word 1. The word must start with a letter that is the same letter as the last letter of the previous word 2. For example, if the first word is "dog," then the next word is "good" 3. The list goes one: dog->good->deer->read... 6. Each student takes a turn and opposing teams attempt to make the longest list 7. Set a 5 to 10-minute time limit 8. Words cannot appear twice on the list

Variations

Have several 4 to 5-minute game "rounds" o In the first round, all team members participate o In the second round, both teams choose their best member and those two students square off in a one-on-one match with teams providing support by shouting out words o In the third round, two of the from each team square off

Notes
This game is derived from a Japanese game of the same name. "Shiri" means "end" and "tori" means "take." The basic idea is to take the end of a word and use it as the start of another word. A Japanese example would be sake -> kendo -> dorobo -> boku -> kusuri, etc.

A big thanks to Ogedei for this ESL/EFL game!

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Sentence Jumble Instructions

Preparation: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Make a series of sentences, three more than the number of teams in your class Print the sentences in large text Cut each sentence into separate words Put each sentence into its separate envelopes Number each envelope with a marker

Instructions: 1. Diving the class into pairs or small groups 2. Give each team one envelope 3. Students arrange the words into a correct sentence, copy it into their notebooks, and put words back into envelope 4. When finished, students say the sentence, show their notebooks, and bring their envelope to the teacher 5. If sentence is not correct, they go back and fix the error 6. If sentence is correct, they can swap their envelope for a new one with a different sentence 7. The first team to unscramble all of the sentences is the winner

Variations

Use easy sentences for less advanced students Use more complex sentences for more advanced students

Notes

This game is a sure success with any level or age group

A big thanks to Brian for this ESL/EFL game!

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Running Dictation Instructions

1. 2. 3. 4. Break students up into groups of 3-4, or pairs for small classes Put one sentence on a piece of paper for each team One leader from each team goes to the board and tries to remember their sentence The leader returns to their group and dictates the sentence while team members write it down 5. First team to finish correctly gets a point 6. Change words/sentences and switch leaders

Variations

Use pictures for children who can't spell and have them draw the picture instead of writing the words Use multiple sentences for more advanced students Place sentences around the room and have each group member do one each. Groups have to put the sentences into the right order before turning in the paper

Notes
Make each team's paper different so students don't simply listen to other teams. Leaders are not allowed to take their paper, write down anything, or yell across the room. They are allowed to return to board to look at their paper as many times as they like. Use words from class to reinforce learned vocabulary and grammar structures. What are your variations? Leave comments on other variations below...

A big thanks to I for this EFL/ESL game!

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Run and Write Instructions

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Give each team a list of words Have each team select a leader Teacher says one word from list several times Teams search for word, then have leader go to board and write word Leaders must give teach a Hi-five after writing the word correctly First leader to give the teacher hi-five gets five points Next leader to finished gets 4 points, next one 3, etc

Variations

Use sentences for higher levels See Running Dictation

Notes
You can make a word list or just use the word index in the back of your textbook. Students cannot shout letters out to leader but they can show it to her/him as many times as they need. Encourage them to say the letters out loud when the leader come over for help. Subtracting a point from noisy teams helps keep things under control. Make sure to switch leaders after every word and do a follow up exercise with the words used.

A big thanks to Nick for this EFL/ESL game

Hot Seat
Level Beginner to advanced. Skills Practised Speaking and listening. Time

Flexible. Preparation 1. Prepare a list of five to nine words your class has recently learned. 2. Draw a scoring table on the board, like this: Team A Team B

How it Works 1. Ask your students to form two teams and have them move their chairs forward to form two groups facing the board. After explaining the game and modelling the roles if necessary, ask for one player from each team to move his or her chair forward again and turn it to face his or her group. These players then sit in their chairs (now 'hot seats') with their backs to the board. 2. Write the first word on the board, making sure the players in the 'hot seats' can't see it. After you say 'Go!', the members of each team try to elicit this word from their team-member in the 'hot seat' without saying the word or giving any clues as to its spelling (such as the first letter). For example, if the word is 'vitamins', players could make statements such as 'We need lots of these in our food' or ask leading questions such as 'What does fruit have a lot of?'. The team whose 'hot seat' player first says the target word wins a point. 3. The two players in the 'hot seats' then swap seats with another member of their respective teams. After writing the second word on the board, say 'Go!' again, and so on. The game continues until all the words have been used, with the team having the most points at the end of the game winning. Notes: - If neither of the players in the 'hot seats' has stated the word within a reasonable length of time, move on to the next word without having the players swap seats. - It's a good idea to tell the players the total number of words you intend to write on the board before play begins. This allows players to gauge their team's chances of winning as the game progresses. Variations: There are many possible variations on this game. You could write the names of famous people instead of recently-learned words, or movie titles, song titles, countries, famous places, etc. For a small class (3 - 6 students): Set up just one 'hot seat' and have a player write any word on the board. The other players try to elicit this word from the player in the 'hot seat'. After this

player has had a chance to guess 2 or 3 different words, players alternate roles as they wish. This variation need not involve scoring.

Heads or Tails
Level Lower intermediate to upper intermediate. Preparation 1. For a lower intermediate class, make photocopies (front and back) of two 'Word Up' question sets from level 1 and two sets from level 3. For an intermediate class, take two sets from level 2 and two sets from level 4. For an upper intermediate class, take two sets from level 3 and two sets from level 5. You will need one copy of each of the four sets for every two students. 2. Collect a number of coins. You will need one coin for every two students. 3. Ask each student to draw a scoring table on a sheet of paper, like this: (Student's name) Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Missing Word Crossword Clues Multiple Choice Spelling How it Works 1. Divide the class into pairs and give each pair a coin. Then give each student one question and answer set from the lower level and another from the higher level (the students in a particular pair must have different sets). 2. Players toss the coin to decide who plays first. 3. The first player then tosses the coin again. If he or she throws 'heads', the other player asks the first question from the first category ('Missing Word') in his or her higher-level set. If it is 'tails', the player asks the first 'Missing Word' question in his or her lower-level set. If the first player answers correctly, he or she ticks the 'Missing Word' box under 'Game 1' on his or her scoring table. If the answer is not correct, the other player reads out the correct answer(s). The second player then throws the coin and answers either a higher-level or a lower-level 'Missing Word' question. Then each player answers a 'Crossword Clues' question in the same way. They

continue through the various question categories, returning to 'Missing Word' again after 'Spelling'. 4. Play continues with each player answering questions only from those categories they have yet to correctly answer a question from. For example, if a player has already correctly answered a 'Missing Word' question, he or she skips this category when it next comes around and answers a question from the next category instead. Play continues until one of the players has correctly answered a question from each of the four categories and has four ticks under 'Game 1'. 5. Each pair may then play another game, continuing with the same question sheets from where they left off in the first game. There should be enough questions for at least three games. Note: - If your class has an uneven number of students, form one group of three with the rest in pairs. In the group of three, one member watches the first game and then plays the winner in the second. The player watching the second game plays the winner in the third.