GAMES

-part 2-

ABRIL 2022 - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - CONTENT: MICAELA E. BERTOYA

Comercializado por EDIBA S.R.L.
Dear colleagues,

Welcome to this new issue of our magazine! In this issue you will find lots of ideas,
photocopiable activities and ready-to-use material related to the topic Games. Learning a second
language is hard work. That is why using games in the EFL classroom plays an important role in
our students’ language development. They are highly motivating and they provide a meaningful
context for students to use the language. Games should be treated as central to a teacher’s repertoire
because it is believed that in a relaxed atmosphere, real learning takes place. Any student (child,
adolescent or adult) at any level (beginner, elementary, pre-intermediate, intermediate
or advanced) profits from a well-chosen game. Besides, games are
powerful tools to be used at all stages of the lesson. Games may be
used for presenting or revising vocabulary and grammatical
structures… or just to have fun!
We hope you find it useful and include these
ideas in your classes!!!

The Total English team
totalenglishmag@gmail.com

Contents
7. Draw it! (upper-intermediate+)
8. Draw it! (beginner or elementary)
9. Memotest: Irregular Simple Past Tense
10. School scavenger hunt
11. Five things
The Total English Magazine ▶ Games ▶ Part 2 ▶

12. Running dictation

13. Making noises: Present Continuous
14. The alphabet game
Article: The Internet – 10 online games
for learning and teaching ESL students
Poster “Whenever we play games…”

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7. DRAW IT! (Upper Intermediate+)

How to play:
Students take turns to come to the front of the class and pick a card. They must
draw on the board the assigned idiom. Only drawing is permitted, not words,
numbers, symbols, or anything that might give away the interpretation of the
answer. You may then invite students to revise the meaning of each idiom.

The Total English Magazine ▶ Games ▶ Part 2 ▶

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Curiosity killed Hit the road
the cat

Don’t put all

It takes two
your eggs
to tango
in one basket

Kill two birds

with one stone Miss the boat

Pushing up
Piece of cake daisies

Picture paints a
Off the hook
thousand words
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Once in a Be a big fish
blue moon

Rain cats
Spill the beans
and dogs

Smell a rat Laugh one’s

head off

Pull up one’s
A long face socks

The cherry Not for all the

on the cake tea in China
The Total English Magazine ▶ Games ▶ Part 2
8. DRAW IT! (Elementary or beginner)

How to play:
Students take turns to come to the front of the class and pick a card. They must
draw on the board the assigned word. Only drawing is permitted, not words,
numbers, symbols, or anything that might give away the interpretation of the
answer.

The Total English Magazine ▶ Games ▶ Part 2 ▶

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GRANDFATHER HOMEWORK

SUMMER FUTURE

LUNCH BREAKFAST

HEADACHE HOLIDAYS

PARTY FRIEND

The Total English Magazine ▶ Games ▶ Part 2

TEACHER SHOPPING

FOOD COUNTRY

SISTER PROGRAMME

GAME HUNGRY

BEAUTIFUL INTELLIGENT

The Total English Magazine ▶ Games ▶ Part 2

9. MEMOTEST: IRREGULAR SIMPLE PAST TENSES!

BE WAS/WERE

BEGIN BEGAN

BUY BOUGHT

COME CAME
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CUT CUT
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 DO DID

DRAW DREW

DRINK DRANK

DRIVE DROVE

EAT ATE

FALL FELL
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FIND FOUND

GET GOT

GIVE GAVE

GO WENT

HAVE HAD

HEAR HEARD
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LOSE LOST

MAKE MADE

PUT PUT

READ READ

RUN RAN

SAY SAID
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SELL SOLD

SING SANG

SIT SAT

SLEEP SLEPT

STAND STOOD

SWIM SWAM
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TAKE TOOK

TELL TOLD

THINK THOUGHT

WAKE WOKE

WIN WON

WRITE WROTE
The Total English Magazine ▶ Games ▶ Part 2
10. FIVE THINGS

How to play:
Divide your students in two groups. Students from each group take turns to pick
a card and say 5 things related to a vocabulary content. It can be more challenging if
you time their answers. They win one point for each correct item they mention.

Name
Name
5 things
5 things
that are
that are big.
blue.

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Name Name 5
5 things school
that fly. objects.

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 Name Name
5 sports 5 countries
you play in America.
with a ball.

Name
Name 5 5 things
musical people
instruments. collect.

Name
Name 5 activities
5 tame you do at
animals. the beach.

The Total English Magazine ▶ Games ▶ Part 2

 Name Name
5 5 things
vegetables. that are red.

Name 5 Name
professions 5 drinks.
or jobs.

Name 5 Name
cities in 5 rooms
Europe. in the house.

The Total English Magazine ▶ Games ▶ Part 2

 Name 5 Name
things you 5
hear/listen colours.
to.

Name Name
5 things 5 items
that are of clothing.
yellow.

Name Name
5 means 5
of transport. wild animals.

The Total English Magazine ▶ Games ▶ Part 2

11. SCHOOL SCAVENGER HUNT
Play in groups. Each member takes turns to find the following items on the list.
You can take a selfie with your cell phone to prove you have found them. The faster
you find it, the more points you will get!!! Are you ready? Set? Go!!!

◆ A DUST BIN

◆ A RED BOOK

◆ A TEACHER

◆ A COAT HOOK

◆ THE PLAYGROUND

◆ A PAPER CLIP

◆ A SCHOOLBAG

◆ SOME WATER

◆ THE LIBRARY

◆ A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT

◆ A CLOCK

◆ A HIGHLIGHTER
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◆ A GLOBE

◆ A WHITE BOARD

◆ A CHALK BOARD

◆ FOUR MARKERS

◆ THE CAFETERIA

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12. RUNNING DICTATION

How to play:
Divide your students into pairs or small groups. Display copies of the stanzas
below on the classroom walls. Assign each group a part of the text (you can use
numbers or colours to identify them). One learner in the group should run to the
corresponding text and read it, try to memorize any bit of it and run back to his/her
partner to dictate it to them. Each group should have a written version of the text
and the running students may rotate as they wish. The group that finishes first and
with the fewer mistakes is the winner. Students can then discuss to put the parts of
the story in order and you can even explore the content of the texts with follow-up
comprehension activities.

Variation: Choose any text you wish to explore and divide it in different parts to
display and play.

Text A: Forbidden Poem (by Tony Mitton)

This poem is not for children.

Keep out!
There is a big oak door
The Total English Magazine ▶ Games ▶ Part 2 ▶

In front of this poem.

It’s locked.
And on the door is a notice
In big red letters.
It says:

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 ANY CHILD WHO
ENTERS HERE WILL NEVER
BE THE SAME AGAIN.
WARNING. KEEP OUT!

But what’s this?

A key in the keyhole
And, what’s more,
Nobody’s about.

“Go on, look,”

Says a little voice
Inside your head,
“Surely a poem
Cannot strike you dead!”

The Total English Magazine ▶ Games ▶ Part 2

 You turn the key.
The door swings wide,
And then you witness what’s inside.
And from that day
You’ll try in vain –
You’ll never be the same again.

Text B: The Four Brothers (anon.)

Fito is a vet and he lives in Aguadilla.

Chito is a teacher and he lives in Guayanilla.
Tito is a poet and he lives in a tree.
But Lalito is a baby and he lives with me.

The Total English Magazine ▶ Games ▶ Part 2

 Fito married Fita and they had a son Fitito.
Chito married Chita and they had a son Chitito.
Tito still writes poetry and lives in a tree.
But Lalito is a little boy and he lives with me.

When Fitito grew up, he got married to Fitita.

When Chitito grew up, he got married to Chitita.
When Tito got old, he came down from the tree.
And Lalito, my Lalito, no longer lives with me.

Now Lalito is a dentist and he lives in Aibonito,

With Lalita who is a doctor and works in Naranjito,
And they have a little son, very little, muy chiquito,
And they named him… did you guess it? …
Willy.

The Total English Magazine ▶ Games ▶ Part 2

13. MAKING NOISES (Present Continuous)

How to play:
Students take turns to come to the front of the class and pick a card. They must
make noises related to the assigned action. Only noises are permitted, students
cannot mime the actions.

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The Total English Magazine ▶ Games ▶ Part 2
The Total English Magazine ▶ Games ▶ Part 2
English task

The Total English Magazine ▶ Games ▶ Part 2

14. THE ALPHABET GAME

How to play:
Students are divided in groups and they take out a piece of paper. Make copies
of the worksheet below and give one copy to each group. The teacher calls out a
category, and the students have three minutes to write a list of words starting with
the letters of the alphabet. The group that writes the biggest number of words is the
winner.
Example: Animals

Ant
Bat
Cat
Dolphin
Elephant
Fish
Giraffe
Horse

Koala
Lion
Mouse

Octopus
Parrot

Rat
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Snake
Tortoise

Whale

Zebra

Some suggested categories:

ANIMALS – FOOD AND DRINK – ACTIONS – ADJECTIVES – CLOTHES –
JOBS –SPORTS – SCHOOL – HOME and THE HOUSE – any other vocabulary
group you want to revise…
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 THE ALPHABET GAME
A___________________________________________________
B___________________________________________________
C___________________________________________________
D___________________________________________________
E___________________________________________________
F___________________________________________________
G___________________________________________________
F___________________________________________________
I____________________________________________________
J___________________________________________________
K___________________________________________________
L___________________________________________________
M___________________________________________________
N___________________________________________________
O___________________________________________________
P___________________________________________________
Q___________________________________________________
R___________________________________________________
S___________________________________________________
T___________________________________________________
U___________________________________________________
V___________________________________________________
W__________________________________________________
X___________________________________________________
Y___________________________________________________
Z___________________________________________________
The Total English Magazine ▶ Games ▶ Part 2
THE INTERNET: 10 ONLINE GAMES FOR LEARNING AND
TEACHING ESL STUDENTS
The Internet offers a wide variety of possibilities to exploit games in the English
classroom. In order to make games really work for your classes always try to
identify the language skills or language content you want to teach, present, practise
or revise.
Next, you will find a selection of some pages that provide a variety of ideas to use
games in your classes.

(1) A to Z Teacher Stuff

http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/

Among the variety of resources this site offers, you will find a section called
Tools. Under Tools, you can find a Word Search Maker and a Crossword Puzzle
Generator:
1) Word Search Maker: You can create your own printable word search worksheets.
You can custom the title of the puzzle, the list of words you wish to include, the
size and shape of the grid, font style, lowercase or uppercase letters, and word
placement, among others.
2) Crossword Puzzle Generator: You can make your own printable crossword
puzzle. You can give your crossword puzzle a name and make a list of the answers
and clues you wish to include (e.g. banana: yellow and curved fruit).

(2) ELT Games

http://eltgames.com/
The Total English Magazine ▶ Games ▶ Part 2 ▶

This site offers a hundred printable grammar games classified into different
levels:
• Elementary
• Pre-intermediate
• Intermediate
• Upper-intermediate

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(3) DLTK’s Sites
http://www.dltk-kids.com/

In the Printables section, this site offers the possibility to custom Bingo Cards.
You may select the type of card (3x3, 4x4, 5x5), the theme (seasons, holidays, num-
bers, body parts, animals, etc.), the colour (black and white or colour), the vocabu-
lary (words or pictures) and the title. You may print different cards and the call out
sheet.
You may wish to print the bingo cards and the call out sheet on some cardboard
and to laminate them so that they last for many games.

(4) Many Things

http://www.manythings.org/

This site offers a collection of on-line games to revise vocabulary. You may find
the following options:
• Vocabulary Lists with Games and Puzzles: In this section, students may study
a set of words to be studied is presented and then choose a game or students may
choose the type of game you want to play and then select the set of words. In any
case, they will find the following options: (in page 33).
• Crossword Puzzles: More than two hundred options divided into categories:
puzzles with images as hints, special English words, commonly heard proverbs,
special English verbs and antonyms/opposites).
• Matching Quizzes: In this case words are to be paired by dragging them one
next to the other. There are several vocabulary items such as opposites, prefixes,
verbs, nouns, the time, among others.
The Total English Magazine ▶ Games ▶ Part 2 ▶

• Games with pictures: In this section words and pictures should be matched.
There are seven games for each theme. The proposed games are: Find 1, Find 2,
Matching, Eyes, Arrows, Pairs and Memory. The set of words are related to Ani-
mals, Wild Animals, Animals in Water, Insects and Bugs, Food and Drink, Vegeta-
bles, Sports, the House, Things People Wear, Transportation and Communication,
Verbs, Tools, Adjectives, Buildings, Shapes.
• Word Based Games: This section presents three types of games: JigWords
(matching words), MatchWords (concentration game of word pairs or memory test)
and SpeedWords (spelling game). The sets of words include Irregular Plurals, Pre-
fixes, Homonyms, Opposites, Past Tenses, Male and Female, Nationalities, Cardinal
and Ordinal Numbers, Animals and their Babies, American and British English,
Verbs and Nouns.
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 VOCABULARY LISTS TYPES OF GAMES
Adjectives for People Click the letters in the correct order
Adverbs of Time Hangman
Animals Spelling and typing
Bank Word drop
Baseball Every other letter
Body First and last
Building and Places Guess the word
Car Parts (US) Catch the spelling
City Word web
Classroom Speed word spelling
Clothes Match words
Colours Word search puzzle
Cooking No vowels
Days of the Week No consonants
Desserts Bones hangman
Dinner Table Scrambled word
Family Members
Fruit
Geography
House
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Months
Numbers
Restaurant
Tools
Transportation
Vegetables
Weather

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(5) ESL Games World
http://www.eslgamesworld.com/

This site offers a wide variety of interactive games, printable games, Powerpoint
games and templates (to build customized games) such as:
• Snakes and Ladders
• Hangman
• Spelling
• Wheel of Fortune
• Memory games
• Sequencing
• Matching
• Picture Quizzes

(6) English 4 Kids

http://www.english-4kids.com/games.html

In the Fun Games section, you will find a long list of games and ideas to put into
practice in your classroom. The first section offers several links connected to ESL
Games World webpage. The second section called ESL Communicative Games
for Classroom Learning presents a list of seventeen communicative games and the
rules or instructions on how to play them:
• Hot-seat
• What’s this?
• Mallet Mallet
• Chinese Whispers
• Miming Games
• Fly Swatting
The Total English Magazine ▶ Games ▶ Part 2 ▶

• Steal, Swap, Bust and Number Card Game

• Get Rich or Die Trying
• Freeze or Stop Ball Game
• Hop and Say + Rocks, Paper and Scissors
• Talking Volleyball
• Dice Game
• Word Association Game
• Number Game
• Guessing Game
• Swap Seats
• Musical Chairs

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 Furthermore, you will find a shorter section called Reading Writing/Spelling
Games which offers a list of nine communicative games to practice reading and
writing skills. These also include the instructions on how to play:
• Running Dictation
• Running Dictation for Large Classes and Young Learners’ Classes
• I spy something…
• Memory or Concentration Game
• Spelling Relay
• Word searching games
• Mallet Mallet
• Chopstick Relay
• Spelling Bee

(7) ESL Galaxy

http://www.esl-galaxy.com/wordsearch.htm

This website presents different resources for ELT. In the section Wordsearch,
there is a list of 64 printable word search puzzles divided according to two levels:
• Beginner
• Medium/Higher
By clicking on the desired puzzle, a PDF file opens and it is ready to be printed
and used!

(8) English Club

http://www.englishclub.com/esl-games/index.htm

Inside EnglishClub.com you will find a section called ESL Games. In this section
there are lots of on-line games grouped under three different categories:
The Total English Magazine ▶ Games ▶ Part 2 ▶

• Vocabulary games: on-line crossword games and cloze games to test under-
standing of English words. All the games presented in this section include answers.
• Grammar games: on-line games for practicing past, present and future tenses.
All the games presented in this section include answers.
• Pronunciation games: on-line rhyming pairs matching and –ed pronunciation
matching games to practise pronunciation. All the games presented in this section
include answers.

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(9) TEFL Games
http://www.teflgames.com/games.html

In this site you will find interactive games, ESL games for the classroom, online
quizzes and lots of printable quiz questions in graded sets.
The menu on the left presents a list of possibilities for students and teachers to
use:
• Interactive games: Matching opposites, Matching synonyms, Phrasal verbs,
General knowledge, Mystery matches.
• Card Games: Matching Cards (opposites; phrasal verbs).
• Classic Games: 20 questions, Hot Seat.
• Miming Games: beginner, intermediate, advanced.
• Quiz Games: Mastermind, Team Quiz, Quiz Show, Heads or Tails, Quick Quiz.
• General Questions: General Knowledge, Word Up Questions.

(10) Bingo Baker

https://bingobaker.com/

In this site you will be able to customize one of the thousands of ready-made
bingo cards, or use the simple bingo card generator to create your own. Then print
as many cards as you need. You can even play virtual bingo using a computer,
smartphone or tablet. You can use words or images. It's fast and easy.

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The Total English Magazine ▶ Games ▶ Part 2