[Stittsvillegirl]

Hi, I teach very large classes as well, often with a massive range of levels, both in interest and ability.

I find that most of the whispering or relay games work really well with large groups because the more teams you have the stronger the competition.

1) For low level students line them up in teams of 5 or 6. Give the last student in each row the same word, and have them whisper it up to the front. The first class to either write the word on the board or tell it to the teacher wins. It forces kids to both speak clearly and listen carefully, as well as pay attention to that day's key phrases.

For higher levels you can do a relay with a sentence. Gradually feed them the words and have the kid at the front take the place at the back after they have written their word, that way each student plays each role.

You can vary this game again by giving them a word to spell. Each student has to write one letter from the word in question, and they keep rotating until the word is spelled correctly. This can take quite a while if they are poor spellers.

2) My favorite game of all though is the "Snap" game. You probably know it, but its perfect for overstuffed classrooms where active games are not possible.

Put the students in pairs and lay out a set of flashcards between them that represent the key concepts of that unit. As the teacher calls out the cards the students try to be the first to hit it. In the end the student with the most cards is the winner. Its a fantastic game for drilling new ideas into their heads at the end of the first period of a new unit.

Hope these help, and if you have any more ideas I would love to hear them.