[little sage]

AGE GROUP: This game works very well for upper elementary students and upwards. The lower level high-school classes I played this with enjoyed very much. It woke them up!

METHOD:
1) Review the difference between WH- questions and Yes or No questions.
2) Brainstorm different sentence stems for beginning Yes or No questions.
3) Have students write 10 Yes or No questions on a sheet of paper.
4) Check their sentences to assure comprehensibility.
5) Explain the rules of the game:

Answer every question posed to you without saying YES of NO. If you say Yes or No, your turn is finished.

Example:
Question: "Do you go to school every day?"
Correct Answers: "I go to school every day." or "I don't go to school every day".
Incorrect Answer: Yes, I do. / No, I don't./ Yes, I go to school every day./ No, I don't go to school every day.

6) Call one student to the "Hot Seat".
7) Set the timer to 1 minute.
8) One student poses a question to the person in the hot seat, who must answer fully.
9) The next student quickly fires off another question.
10) Questions continue until the timer goes off.
11) Count the number of full answers the hot seat player gets.
12) Each student in the class gets a turn in the hot seat.
13) The player with the most points wins.

Hint: Make sure the students know who will be asking the first question and who will be next. It's much more fun when they can fire questions off very quickly.

YES OR NO QUESTION STEMS:
Do you...?
Do you have...?
Do you like...?
Did you...today?
Are you...?
Were you...yesterday?
Was (Mikey) ... yesterday?
Have you ever...?
Can you/Mikey/your mother...?
Will you...?
Does (Mikey)...?
Has (Mikey) ever...?
Is this a ...?
Is today ...?

Enjoy!

[fishead soup]

Would this activity work for middle school students.

[little sage]

Yes. This game works for anyone who understands the concept of a yes-or-no question. I haven't tried it with elementary students because I don't think they would get it. Middle school and high school students have the most fun with it, and soon learn to ask questions like: "Are you a girl?" to the boys, and etc. Depending on your group, it can get pretty funny!