Alibi
This is a parlour game. The teacher starts by informing the students that a crime –  a hideous murder - is said to have been committed the previous evening. He/she continues to build the tension by suggesting that three students in the class are suspected. Then he/she names the suspects and asks them to leave the classroom (or move out of earshot) to devise their “alibis” for the previous evening. The teacher stresses to them that they must know the exact details of what they did and where they went and must claim to have been together the whole time.
While the three students are deciding on their story, the teacher splits the rest of the class in three groups, each of which will interview each student in turn.
After 5-10 minutes, the three suspects are brought into the classroom and the three groups of “detectives” have the chance to question all three suspects separately. Any difference between the suspects’ stories will be seen as a proof of guilt. At the end of the questioning sessions, the interrogating groups share the evidence they found with the class and a class vote will decide which (if any) of the students is guilty. The class may even choose a suitable punishment.

Commentary
This is a game on narrative tenses.
The teacher chooses a group of two or three “storytellers”. The rest of the class act as “performers”. The teacher gives the storytellers the beginning of a story.
Example: “John had been waiting for Rachel for an hour.”
As the teacher says this, he/she chooses a “John” from the assembled performers. He mimes waiting and impatience.
The storytellers now continue the story, one sentence at a time, and see it performed in front of them by the rest of the class.

Bus Stop – Improv
This is an improvisation scene based on a conflict of interests or beliefs.
The teacher assigns Student A the role of waiting for the bus, then whispers to Student B that the person waiting for a bus is actually mad, and that he or she is really standing in the middle of Student B’s kitchen. Without using physical contact, Student B must get Student A to leave the kitchen.
The teacher then gradually introduces more characters: somebody waiting for a train; a psychiatrist who believes all the others are patients in a hospital; a cleaner trying to mop the kitchen floor; a film director and camera crew trying to record the events for a television documentary: anything to get the students involved in the situation developing around them. The result is a dynamic collection of simultaneous and unique interactions in the target language.

Puzzle story
The students are expected to solve mysterious situations or to explain unusual contexts.
Example 1:
Clue : A dead man is found lying in the desert, completely naked, and holding a broken match. There are no footprints anywhere nearby.
Solution : The man had been travelling with friends in a hot air balloon, which had started dropping towards the desert. They tried to reduce the weight in the balloon by taking their clothes off. When this didn’t work, they drew dots to select someone to jump from the balloon. The one who drew the broken match had to jump.

Example 2:
Clue: Simon lives on the ninth floor of a block of flats. Every morning he takes the lift to the ground floor as he goes to work. Every evening, however, he takes the lift as far as the fifth floor and then walks the rest of the way. Why?
Solution: Simon is very short and cannot reach the button to take him up to the ninth floor in the lift.

As shown by the selection of games presented above, there are many opportunities for English teachers to build a learning environment on the already existing foundation of materials and methods available as well as their own experience with learning and teaching this language. Developing language skills may become an easier task for those who know how to handle diversity and personal development challenges and create opportunities out of the most difficult situations.
 

Message in a bottle
In small groups, students are asked to imagine they have been shipwrecked on a desert island just like Robinson Crusoe.
They have to choose ten objects to save from the ship and explain why they chose them.
Students may talk about the following: duties, food, dangers, punishments, equipment, weapons etc. After that, a spokesperson for each group reads out their message and, as a whole class, students decide which of the castaways deserve to be rescued.

Throw and catch
Standing in a circle, the participants throw a ball from one person to another. As you throw it, you have to shout out an adverb. When you catch it, you have got five seconds to use the adverb in a sentence. The class decides if your sentence is correct. If it is not, you are out of the game.

Example: A (throwing) – Fluently!
                 B (after catching) - He speaks English fluently.
The last student left standing is the winner.

Nice people, nasty people

The teacher gives the students a model conversation to look at :
A I like my cousin Roger.
B Why?
A Because he always sends cards and gives me a lot of presents.
B So you like him because he’s generous.
A That‘s right.

Then, working in pairs, the students have to devise similar conversations about the people they know. They may be given adjectives like: honest, modest, careless, moody, positive, selfish, insecure, easy-going, cheerful, creative, hard-working, kind, boring, aggressive, polite or they may choose their own adjectives.

Someone who…
Students listen to a list of ten or twenty descriptions of people. For each description, the students have to shout out an adjective that describes the person, then write down the number and name of somebody they know who is like that. They must not write the adjective.

1.  Keeps losing things (careless, forgetful, absent-minded)
2.  Always drops/breaks things (clumsy)
3.  Thinks bad things will happen (pessimistic, negative)
4.  Goes to a lot of parties (outgoing, sociable, gregarious)
5.  Keeps to himself (introverted, unsociable, withdrawn, closed)
6. Never smiles (moody, grumpy, bad-tempered, miserable)
7. Makes you yawn (boring, uninteresting, dull)
8. Likes making things (creative, artistic)
9. Keeps things tidy (neat, organized, efficient)
10 . Always arrives late for meetings (unpunctual, unreliable)

For each person on the list, the students have to write the adjective from memory, then compare their ideas with the others. After that, in pairs, the students have to think about a famous person for each adjective.

Rules of polite behavior
The class is divided into small groups. Each group is given a different institution or context.
Example: the church – a wedding party;  the school - an English class;
Each group writes down patterns of behaviour typical for a certain institution or context. The sentences should begin with the indefinite/ personal pronoun –one /you.
Example: One doesn’t use their mobile phone in the church.
The group who writes the most rules wins the competition.

Are you rich enough?
Materials needed: a list of questions with or without suggested adjectives.
The teacher asks the class questions to elicit answers including too…to do something or not… enough to do something.
Example: Can you buy a Rolls Royce, David?
                  No, I’m too poor to buy a Rolls Royce or No, I’m not rich enough to buy a Rolls Royce.
Possible questions: Can you touch the sky? (tall/ short)
                                      Can you get a driving license? (young/ old)
                                      Can you lift 100 kg? (weak/strong)
                                      Could you be a teacher? (impatient/ patient)
                                      Can you swim in the river in January? (cold/ warm)
                                      Could you become a film star? (shy/ self-confident)

Pillutia and Pallutia
The class is divided into two groups. The students are asked to imagine that the groups represent two competing countries: Pallutia and Pillutia and they have to think for a while and put down things, places, achievements their countries can be proud of. When one group starts to boast, trying to prove that their country is better than the other in every respect, the other group should provide an immediate response.
Example: Pallutia: Our cities are very modern.
                  Pillutia: Maybe, but our cities are larger.
Notes: This game works well with inventive classes, passive students may find it too challenging.
 

Revision tennis - or football (depending on which game the children are more familiar with)
The teacher divides the class into two teams named after real tennis players or football teams. Each team is then divided into pairs and the children are asked to look through the unit(s) of work they have just completed and to prepare 6-8 revision questions to ask the other team.
Example: How do you spell….?
                  What’s the English for…?
                  What’s the opposite of…?
                  Where does Sporty live?
                  What is a chrysalis? etc
The students must know the answers to the questions they prepare.
After 5-10 minutes, the first team “serves” the first question to the other team who try to answer it. Questions and answers are allowed to go backwards and forwards between the teams and the score is kept as in real tennis or football.
The team who has won the most points is the winner.
The same author provides examples of games which can be used outside the classroom, in the playground or gym. Below is an adapted version I have tried many times with surprising results.

Can I cross your river, Mr. Crocodile?
Materials needed: chalk or tape to mark the “river banks”.
The teacher marks the boundaries of the river 5-10 meters apart then either chooses a child to be the crocodile or takes this role himself or herself.
The other children are asked to stand on one of the banks of the river and to ask the crocodile in chorus “Can I cross your river, Mr. Crocodile?”
The crocodile – who mimes looking crafty and thoughtful – answers in a way which allows only some of the children to cross the river.
Example: Yes, if you’re wearing something red.
                Yes, if you’ve got curly hair.
                Yes, if your mother is a doctor.
The children who fit the description should say “Thank you, Mr. Crocodile!” and try to cross the river without the crocodile trying to catch them.
The children who are caught crossing the river without permission become crocodiles in the following turns.
The last child to be caught is the winner.

There are many other fun ways of using and revising English vocabulary and structure while developing physical coordination which can be used inside or outside.

Fox and rabbits
The teacher gets the children to sit in a circle making sure there is plenty of room to walk round behind them. The teacher walks around the circle tapping each child gently on the head and saying “Rabbit!” as he or she passes. After about six children, the next child is tapped on the head and called “Fox!” This child should then stand up and run as fast as possible after the teacher round the circle until the teacher gets back to their place and sits down. As the teacher walks fast round the circle away from the fox, he or she says “Hurry! Hurry! The fox is coming!” and repeats this in a rhythmic way, encouraging all the children to join in.
The child who is the fox then has the next turn walking around the circle and naming the rabbits and fox with everyone participating the same way.

“Time to Talk –Activities to Stimulate Conversation (Grades 2-8)” is a resource book of ideas whose main purpose is to accompany the Romanian English curriculum in order to facilitate a more verbal atmosphere in the English classroom.
The book is a valuable supplement material containing hundreds of games - for beginners and intermediate learners of English - organized on topics (about people, animals, clothes, food, emotions, places etc), communicative functions (agreeing and disagreeing, comparing, giving advice, making suggestions, solving problems etc.) and grammar (verb tenses, conditional clauses, imperatives, questions etc).

What’s missing?  can be used for revising vocabulary and practicing yes/no questions.
Materials needed:  Object names which have already been taught: a pen, a pencil, a pencil box, a rubber, a ruler, a book, a notebook, a sharpener, a ball, a doll, a key etc.
Time: 10-15 minutes
The teacher divides the class into 2 teams and puts all the objects (realia) on the teacher’s desk. Then the teacher asks a student from team A to come to the front of the classroom and name all the objects on the desk. The student turns his/her back to the desk and the teacher removes one object from the desk. The student has three guesses to find out which object was removed. If he/she guesses correctly, Team A wins a point.
Example: Is it a pencil? No.
                  Is it a rubber? No.
                  Is it a ball? Yes.
Then the teacher alternates between Team A and B guessing a few times until the vocabulary has been practised and a winner has been decided.

Simon says can be used for practising different commands and actions.
The teacher asks the students to stand up and tells them that they should do what they are asked to do by the teacher only if the teacher says “Simon says” or “Please”. If the teacher doesn’t say either of these two expressions, they should not change what they are doing.
Example: Simon says sit down. (Everyone should sit down)
                  Please stand up. (Everyone should stand up)
                  Point to the window! (Anyone who points to the window must sit down because neither “Simon says” nor “Please” was said.)
Other commands could include: clap your hands, touch your nose, say hello, open/close your eyes, raise your hands, close your book, take a pen from your pencil box, show me your schoolbag etc.
Students can be asked to take the teacher’s place and call out the different commands and actions. The game continues until only a few students are left.

Let’s act – can be used for practising instructions or imperative forms.
Materials needed: slips of paper with an imperative written on them.
The class is divided into two teams. One student from team A comes to the front of the classroom and picks a slip of paper.
Example: “open the window”
The student must mime the activity. Team A has 1 minute to guess what the imperative is. If they guess correctly, they win 1 point. If they cannot, Team B gets one guess. If Team B is correct then they get 2 points. The game can continue until all of the students have mimed something or until the time for the activity is up.
The team with most points wins.

Adjective Race  can be used for both vocabulary and spelling practice.
The teacher divides the class into 4 teams and divides the blackboard into 5 sections, each section containing 5 different nouns.
Each team is given 5 minutes to think about as many adjectives as possible for each of their nouns. Each team sends one person to the blackboard to write the adjectives on the board, preferably in front of the words they describe. The team with the most correctly spelled adjectives wins.

Which one? can be used to practise vocabulary, ‘s genitive, possessive adjectives etc.
The teacher makes statements about objects in the classroom and students try to identify which object the teacher is talking about.
Example: They are near the window. (Those flowers are near the window.)
                   It is under Razvan’s desk. (That schoolbag is under Razvan’s /my desk.)
After a few minutes of the teacher making statements, the teacher divides the class into groups of 4 and has them do the same, rotating who gives clues.

Martians can be used to practise asking and answering Yes/No questions, the plural of nouns, affirmative and negative verb forms etc.
The teacher tells the students that they are Martians from another planet and do not know about anything or anyone on Earth.
Students write down six questions that they want to ask people from Earth. Three questions must be about animals/plants and three about people.
Example: Are dogs pink?
                 Is grass black?
                 Are lemons sweet?
                 Is Ana young?
                 Do people eat vegetables?
Students must ask their questions to the other students and write down the yes/no answers they get. Then they report what they found out.
Example:  Dogs are not pink.
                   Grass is not black.
                   Lemons are not sweet.
                   Ana is young.
                   People eat vegetables.

My famous friend – can be used for describing characters. The teacher brainstorms names of famous film, television, music, sports  stars or cartoon characters  the students can think of and writes these real ( or fictional) names on the board. Each student should pick one and think of a few sentences to describe him or her.

Example: My famous friend is big. He is young. He is famous for his good deeds. He wears a special costume.
Then the students walk around the room and tell each other about the character they picked. Students try to guess the character’s name:
Example: Is it Spiderman?
If they cannot guess, the student should say who it is.

Generalizations
In pairs, students make a list of 5 generalizations. They should begin with: All….
Examples: All chairs are good.
                    All boys are tall.
                    All teachers are nice.
                    All girls like pink.
                    All dogs are playful.
Pairs read their sentences one at a time and the class decides if it is true or not. Students must think of an example when they think a sentence is not true.
Example: Look! This chair is bad.
                  No, Mike is short.
                  Mmm, Mrs. James is not always nice.
                  That’s not true! Jane hates pink.
                  False! My cousin’s dog never plays.

Toss –a –week – can be used for practising the time, the days of the week, daily activities  and Present Tense Simple (the third person singular).
Materials needed: a small ball
Students stand up and the teacher tells them they are going to invent a week of activities for their colleague, Mark. It should be a very interesting week with lots of different activities. They will plan the week hour by hour and day by day beginning at 7 o’clock Monday morning. The teacher tells them that mornings will probably be similar, but the days should be different. The teacher begins with a sentence.
Example: At seven o’clock on Monday morning Mark wakes up.
Then the teacher tosses the ball to a student who continues with another activity for Mark.
Example: At half past seven on Monday morning, Mark washes his face.
The student tosses the ball to someone else who continues.
Example: At 8 o’clock in the morning Mark gets dressed.
The activity continues until the entire week is finished. Students can toss the ball to whoever they want, but each student must talk at least once.
Notes: Ss may be reminded that Mark can travel, meet friends or family, work and be in different places.
Examples: At 2 o’clock on Monday morning Mark goes to France by plane.
                    At 8 o’clock on Saturday evening Mark eats dinner with his girlfriend in London.
                   At 9 o’clock on Wednesday morning Mark goes to work at the post-office.

Arguing friends can be used and adapted for various vocabulary and grammar practice as well as for practicing disagreeing.
The class is divided into groups of 4. A student in group 1 makes a statement about a classmate that can be about anything: likes, dislikes, activities, family, schedule, clothes, possessions etc.
Example: John has a dog.
                  Ann goes to bed at 6 o’clock in the evening.
                 Judy never eats cheese.
                 Sean wears blue jeans every day.
                 Mary’s sister is a tennis player.
The members of the other groups disagree with the student but also with each other, making new statements.
Example: John doesn’t have a dog. He has a cat.
                John hates cats! He has a cow.
                That’s impossible! John doesn’t have a cow. John doesn’t live on a farm. He has a parrot.
                Not true! He doesn’t like talking birds. He has a fish.
After each student has said at least one sentence, the game can finish.

Responsibilities can be practiced for expressing obligation.
The class is divided into groups of 5. One person from each group comes to the front of the class and extracts a job: a teacher, a student, a mother, a pilot, a film star, a farmer etc. Then each student is told one responsibility by the members of the other groups.
Example: A teacher must get up at six o’clock in the morning.
                  A teacher must correct the tests.
                  A teacher must go to school every day.
After listening and remembering what everyone said, the student returns to his or her group and reports what the others said about his or her responsibilities.
If the student cannot remember all his responsibilities, the team loses a point.

Holiday talk – can be used to describe international or national holidays as well as special events or customs the students are familiar with.
The class is divided into groups of 4-5 students. Each group chooses or is given a holiday to talk about. Each group must discuss what their holiday celebrates and what people do to celebrate it.
Example: Christmas, Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving, Easter, Halloween.
Each person in the group must have one thing to say about the holiday. Groups present their holidays to the class.
Example:
A: Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate love and friendship.
B: People give flowers and candy to their friends and family.
C: People make Valentine’s Day cards.
D: Red, pink and white are the colours of Valentine’s Day.
E: It is an American holiday.
F: It’s celebrated on February 14th.
The class decide what group gave the most interesting holiday description and why.

Telling tall tales can be used for practising oral narratives, for expressing disbelief and giving reasons.
The teacher tells the class a story about a real experience or plan and introduces some untrue elements in it.
Example: Oh! I’m looking forward to this evening. You won’t believe me! I don’t think I’ve told you before, but I play tennis. I’m so famous that tennis players from all over the world come to play against me. I know it’s difficult for you to believe me. But this evening Ilie Năstase is coming to play with me. Of course, it will be a difficult game…
By this time (if not before) the students will be expressing their disbelief. The teacher admits the exaggerations a little and asks the students which parts of the story they think are true.
Then the class is divided into groups and students take turns telling each other stories that are a mixture of true and false. After each story, the group talks about which parts were true.
Notes: Being a difficult activity as it requires sustained speech, the students may prepare their stories inside the groups first and only after that be asked to tell them in from of the whole class.

Solving problems
Materials needed: Situations written on slips of paper
The teacher reads the class a situation that involves a problem that needs to be solved.
Example: Your hobby is playing computer games but your computer has broken down. What will you do?
The students make suggestions to solve the problem. They should be creative, but still realistic.
Example: I will have my computer repaired.
                 I will borrow my father’s laptop.
                 I will sell my bike and buy a new computer.
The other students are encouraged to say if they agree with their classmates’ ideas or not or to ask questions.
Example: You need money to have your computer repaired.
                Your father won’t lend you his laptop for games.
                How much will you ask for the bike?
Once the class understands what they have to do, the teacher divides them into groups and then assigns them problems to solve.
Examples: You are on a trip. You are fond of taking photos but your camera isn’t working. What will you do?
                 You like painting and you are doing one now. You make a mistake and use the colour red instead of green to paint a tree. What will you do?
                 You love watching television and your favourite programme is now on. But you have lots of homework to do. What will you do?

They elicit the solutions inside their groups and then introduce them to the class. The teacher identifies the best ones but the students from other groups are free to comment or ask questions.

Back-up plans
The teacher brainstorms a list of activities that people do outside and a list of activities that people do inside.
Example: Outside: go on a picnic, go fishing, do some gardening, walk in the woods, go sailing, play football
Inside: read in bed, clean my room, watch television, work on the computer, go to a movie, go to a museum
Then the teacher tells the students that each time they plan to do something outside, they should have a back-up plan for something to do inside, in case the weather is bad. The teacher asks a student what he or she will do this weekend if it is nice outside and then if the weather is bad.
Example: Maria, what will you do this weekend if it’s nice outside?
                If it’s nice outside, I’ll go shopping.
                But what if it rains/ snows/ is very cold and windy?
                Then I’ll stay home and watch television.
After a few repetitions, the students walk around the class and ask as many people as they can about their (back-up) plans for this weekend.
The teacher asks students to report the most interesting things they heard.
Example: David, have you asked Ben what he will do this weekend?
                  Yes. If the weather is nice Ben will play football, but if the weather is bad, he will listen to music in his room.