Does anybody know a game or some funny activity I could do with my 10-year old private student? It's just we've done too much grammar and reading lately, I think she should have some fun too. Any ideas? Thanks.

Cesar, Poland.

[musica]

I really recommend using music, songs and even some of the singing games where you clap hands with your partner as you chant the song.
Also skipping games could be an idea for her, singing as she skips.
There are lots of clapping and skipping songs and chants at this site.
http://www.beachnet.com/~jeanettem/chants.html

You will some of them more useful with an ESL student than others, but some would be great. The instructions are there too on how to play.
Here are a few clapping songs that seem ok

1.
(Sit in a circle. Place one hand over the palm of another's hand and your other hand under -- repeating over and under throughout the whole circle-- someone starts and slaps the child's hand which lays in her palm sitting next to her--)

Potato chips go crunch crunch crunch
Into my tummy- yummy yummy yummy
Some more, some more, some more, some more, some more
1-2-3-4--
(Then the child tries to slap the palm of the child sitting next to her before the girl pulls her hand away.
If she manages to slap it, the girl is out.
If she doesn't-- she's still in. (Thanks to Claire G.)

2
Have you ever, ever, ever,
in your long legged life
met a long legged sailor
with a long legged wife?
No, I never, never, never,
in my long legged life
met a long legged sailor
with a long legged wife
Have you ever, ever, ever,
in your short legged life....
....pigeon toed life...
....bow legged life...
....spoon headed life... [Thanks to Sam I Am]

3
A sailor went to sea sea sea
To see what he could see see see
And all that he could see see see
Was the bottom of the deep blue sea sea sea. [Thanks to Matilda]

And then there are the skipping songs,, could be fun
Here are a few but there are lots more if you check out the link
Cinderella, dressed in yella
Went upstairs to see her fellow,
How many kisses did she get?..one...two... [Thanks to Arachne]

Another version:
Cinderella, dressed in yella,
Went upstairs to kiss a fella,
Made a mistake, kissed a snake,
How many doctors will it take?
2-4-6-8 etc [Thanks to Janine]

Another version:
Cinderella dressed in green,
Went upstairs to get ice cream,
By mistake,
She spilled her shake,
How many napkins did it take? [Thanks to Jannie C.]

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Turn around (turn around)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Touch the ground (touch the ground)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Tie your shoe (hit your shoe)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
How old are you?
1-2-3-4........... (etc)...[Thanks to Emily]

To do the last one you would need to tie one end of a longer rope to the door handle and turn the rope while she skipped and did the actions.
That would sure break up the grammar!!!

[valencia]

You can play memory game with picture cards on your target vocabulary.
You can play making pairs with the same cards, do you have a cat? etc. to make pairs...
Instead of reading the book look at the picture and describe the scenes. There is/are, prepositions, characters, animals, any topic shown to review your vocabulary and grammar.
Ask him to bring magazines, get ready with yours to share, you can investige about places, people or things that are fun to your student.
Instead of you only asking questions do a 1 to 1 to stimulate conversation.
Play scrabble
Make art works, hands on activities.

THANKS A LOT GUYS!!!

Musica,
I'm very, very grateful for the idea, only I think it could be best realized in a group. I sort of can't imagine getting Kate to skip and sing in her room with me sitting behind the desk and clapping =) But yeah, I'll certainly do some of that stuff when I have a larger group.

Valencia,
Thank you so much. Yeah, I should try making memory cards. Kate's English isn't good enough yet to like fully describe what she sees in a picture but I think I'll try that also - obviously using simpler terms.
But what's scrabble? I haven't found any examples of it here.

[mesmark]

I have a scrabble-ish game you can printout. There's also an explanation on how to play my version www.mes-english.com/games/unscrambleit.php

There are a few more games in the menu that you might want to check out. Baseball and Get 4 are great games for one-on-one with kids.

Basically, I like to play games that rely on strategy or luck. Then you can just cover the English together and then you can take the role or counseelor or guide, instead of teacher. You're just there to help out and show the way.

I think there's a thread on one-on-one classes here and there's a podcast Eric and I did here http://www.eslteachertalk.com/2006/1...n-one-classes/
You can listen on-line.

I hope that helps,
Mark

[Eric]

Hi,

I tried to search for one-on-one but those words are too short for the search function to recognize, so.....

here are a couple of threads about teaching one on one classes:
One-to ones - HELP
one-on-one class help me

I hope that helps,
eric

[livinginkorea]

Great post musica. I am definitely going to print out that page because the songs are very handy to have.

[natalia22]

hi there guys

I teach a nine-year-old-boy who is quite nervous and gets distracted easily. I convinced him that we have to study grammar, do some reading and some writing activities but at the end of the class he's often bored and I play with him pictionary, naughts and crosses, bingo, etc

These are easy games which you can adapt to your needs and the topic you're teaching. there are many ways to do this, mine are as follows (i sort of change a little the games to make it more difficult, enjoyable, useful,)

Pictionary:
I cut out 20 card rectangles and write different things on them such as: a boy riding a bike, a girl playing tennis, a bear jumping..(or any other topic or grammar point you want to revise) then i put them in an envelope and play the game. the student has to pick one from the envelope (without me looking at the card) and tries to draw what is written on it. The other had to guess what it's being drawn. You can also give extra points for first guessing, second guessing, etc and use the points in the same game or elsewhere.

Students of all ages find this game super funny and it's cero cost for you.

Naughts and Crosses:

well this game is quiet useless if you don't put a little imagination into it. First i cut out some cards and write incomplete sentences, questions or ask them to say something on them such as:

I ...... Tv at three o'clock (they have to complete with "watch")
Has a cat got a long neck?
Where does a dolphin live?
Name five parts of your body
etc

when they pick one card they have to answer the question or complete the sentence or whatever it is asked on the card.
If their answer is complete and correct they get to write a naught or a cross (whichever they choose) on the grid. The winner is the one who gets three naughts or three crosses in a line.

Bingo:

of course i don't have to explain this game but one thing i always do is use flashcards (you can use some you already printed for another topic area) to revise vocabulary

They make a grid on a blank sheet of paper, leaving nine squares to write words in.

you show the students the flashcards and tell them to choose nine of them and write the names of those objects or actions or whatever the flashcards are about in the squares they have just drawn.

you put the flashcards in an envelope and one by one the start picking up one until one gets all the words they have written. They love it!

hope this helps!

[arachne]

Hello everybody. I've noticed a lot of one to one activities here and they're really useful for a lot of people I know, people who struggle to make their classes more interesting and cannot find that kind of resources very easily.
If there's one thing I've learned while working with children, that's the role of competition during the class...Being better is what makes the world go round these days.
My biggest enemy is reduced attention span but that can be gradually defeated by using these games. Bingo and guess the word are my favourite and I think theirs as well. Also, what I recomend is using cartoons for ESL. And from what I've seen so far there is no cartoon that cannot be adapted to a certain level. However, in the end, it all depends on what kind of child you have in front of you and, frankly...I haven't met one that likes grammar and serious reading (the job of a teacher would become even more difficult and boring if all would be like that).