Target Grade:2-6
Target English: Vocab review!
Preparation: Pieces of string of various lengths
This is a very popular game!
First of all you need to review lots of vocab. I fill the
blackboard with picture cards
1. Split the class into groups of 4 or 5 people.
2. Tell them tojanken within
the group to select who will be the first person, the
second, third etc.
3. The "first person" from each group stands up
and takes a piece of string from your hand.
4. The person with the longest piece gets to play the
game.
5. That kid then comes to the front.
6. The student then winds the string around their finger.
But they can only wind the string when they are saying
outloud any English words they know (e.g. words from the
board, or anything they might know such as the numbers,
good morning etc.)
7. When they are not talking they can't wind the string.
They only wind when they are speaking English.
8. When they get to the end their team gets a point. The
kids return the string to the teacher.
9. The second in line kid from each group stands up and
each takes a piece of string.
10. Continue from step 5.
For the string I use brightly coloured shoe laces (most
schools have them). I have four that are just one lace
long, 3 that are 2 strings tied together, one that is 3
laces long and one that is four laces long. That way its
easy to compare who has the longest string!
For elementary school kids it's fine for them to just say any words they
know. But for higher levels you should assign a topic they have to talk
about, e.g. self introduction, your favourite animals or the current economic
situation in South America.
The kids learn to cheat by watching what colour is the
longest. But if you have each end of the long ones a
different colour you can change which end is at the top
and hence confuse them!
Another good idea is to play the Criss Cross game and have the last three kids come to the front to play the String Game! This time all 3 of them have to speak, but some people will have short strings which is quite fun!
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