Fly Swat!

I was surprised to realise that I hadn't added this before - it's something I use pretty regularly, and it works well all the way through to Year 12... 

The commonest version of this to pre-prepare the whiteboard with lots of vocabulary that you want the students to revise / consolidate (target language, or English equivalents, or a mix of both).

Three to five students at a time (depending on the size of your whiteboard and of your students) come & stand at the board. Give each student a fly swat (different colours are best if possible).

Call out a clue such as a translation of one of the words on the board, but it could be something more completed too, depending on your students’ level & range of vocabulary eg for soccer – “there are 11 people in the team”. The first person to “swat” the word wins a point.

I suggest 3 questions per group, then rotate to the next set of people at the board to keep the class engaged – works especially well if they are in teams (eg the red fly swat team, the blue fly swat team etc).

Another version I’ve used is to start with a blank whiteboard. The first set of students have whiteboard markers. You call out a vocab item, and the students draw it or write it up for you, then once all the vocabulary you want is represented, continue as above.

You can also use flashcards or images / word cards on the floor or a large table, or project the words instead of writing them up.

You can also get a student to take the role of teacher as well.