[irishlaura]

Hi everyone,

Long time lurker, first time poster! I'm hoping someone out there might be able to help me.

Summer camp has started here in China and I have a beginner class with 2 teenage boys (14 and 16) and while they are great students and are happy enough to work through the book, I would like to reward them and back up the target language with something fun. This is my first teen class - I normally get the small kids anywhere I've taught, so none of my proven games will work with them. I've tried hangman with them, but they didn't seem too keen on that so I'm sorta stumped!

Any help welcome!!

Thanks

[Fleone]

Hi there Laura,
Chinese teenagers love their computer games, do you have multimedia equipment and an internet connection in the classroom? There are some interactive games here, but also there are some activities you can print.


Kids ESL Games - Free Online ESL Games, Worksheets and ESL Printables for ESL Young Learners - this one has some cool interactive games

FREE TEMPLATES - Games, Ready Made, Abstract - for Presentations in PowerPoint format - this one has some cool games

Stu's Quiz Boxes! - here you'll find a jeopardy game you can download for free. The teachers I have trained have loved this one.


You can find some more free resources on these sites

Free Printables for Teachers | flashcards, printable games, worksheets templates, phonics materials, ESL printables, conversational activities
Teachitworld - Teachitworld English language teaching resources - ELT resources online

Hope this helps.

Cheers

[bread_baker]

Many of the adult ESL games will also work with teens, if the games are flexible. Card games are definitely possible.

[mesmark]

Games for teens need to be more engaging as games by themselves. What I mean is the game needs to be interesting and then you can add some language task in as a part. As bread baker says card games are good.

Have you tried any other games?

[irishlaura]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the links Fleone, I'll have a look at them now and see if there's anything there that'll inspire me No multimedia in the classrooms, so will be a print job for me, but I'm sure I'll find something in there.

Mark, I totally agree with you, the games need to be interesting as games themselves, hence why I've found it difficult to find a game for teens - they're so moody and just seem disinterested in EVERYTHING (Wonder if I was like that when I was young!?)

I think what has me most stumped is A) they're COMPLETE beginners, so starting with "to be", the alphabet and numbers and B) there's only 2 of them and they don't like to be pitted against each other from what I can sense so many games that can usually be played with 2 are out.

We did play Bingo on Wednesday as we were learning 20-100 and it went really well, so I'll probably try bingo with target language for them. I also tried some memory games where I had X amount of pictures of objects on the table and they'd close their eyes, I'd remove one & they'd have to guess what I'd taken... still occasionally bringing out hangman to help with their spelling.

There's only 2 more weeks of summer camp left, so I'll have a look at what Fleone sent me and I'm sure I'll find something to inspire me and help me out!

Thanks again guys,

Laura

[chokosaki]

In my classes with older students I typically try to play some games that are similar to video games the students like to play.

Here are two quick games you can play with some flashcards, a die, and a whiteboard.

Fighting game: Divide the students into two teams. Each team gets an LP (life points) total (generally around 30 points). The teams play paper, rock, scissors to see which team goes first. You then ask that team a question or show a flashcard (or any other language based problem). If they answer correctly, they can roll the die. Subtract the number rolled from the other team's LP. Then the second team goes. The first team to reach 0 points is the losing team (I generally have them perform some sort of task/dance after losing).

City Defense: This game is quite similar but instead of there being teams, the students are united as one. This works well with smaller groups or 1v1. The teacher takes the role of a monster attacking a city (you can draw it on the board or let students use their imagination). The monster is given LP like in the other game but the students are only given 3-5 boxes. As the monster you should ask them questions or have them perform a task. If the task is performed effectively the students should roll the die and subtract that number from the monster's LP. If the students answer incorrectly they get an X in a box. If all the boxes with Xs are filled the students lose. If the monster's LP reaches 0 then they win (I usually give them a small candy or something). This is very similar to the other game above but it's not competitive...it's cooperative.

When I make a game I want the game itself to be interesting and fun. I often look at popular video games to try and come up with a game like that. If you've played video games think about how you could turn it into some sort of tasked based classroom activity. Above examples were taken from Street Fighter and Final Fantasy.

I hope these can be of help to you.