New Game for Classroom Objects & Prepositions!

I got this great game from Lesley Ito’s great new kindle book: Fifty Ways to Teach Young Learners: Tips for ESL/EFL Teachers

(The book is only $1 and is a total bargain, I’d totallyย recommendย it. Even I got two great new ideas from it!)

Anyway….

1. Teach today’sย stationery words (paint, pencil, ruler etc.) and put the flashcards on the left side of the board. ย Write numbers 1 to 6 next to each one.

2. Review prepositions (under, on, in etc,ย spider version here or Indy dragon version here) and put these cards down the middle of the board. ย Again write numbers 1 to 6 next to each one.

prepgames

3. Finally review some classroom furniture (desk, chair etc. ย there are a few part way down this page.) put them on the right side of the board, again numbered from 1 to 6.

4. ย Ask the kids a quick review question e.g. even a quick “What’s this?” by pointing to one of the cards.

5. The fastest kid to answer comes to the front and they throw 3 dice.

6. They make a sentence according to the dice thrown e.g. if they threw a 3, a 4 and another 4, and say the number 3 card on the left was “brush”, the number 4 preposition was “on” and the 4th classroom furniture was “door” they have to say the sentence “The brush is on the door.”

7. ย But then they only get the point if they actually put the item in this place – fun with a brush on a door! ๐Ÿ™‚

brushdoor

8. ย Repeat from step 4.

Pretty cool, eh? ย It’s a great way to not only get some fantastic grammar learnt in a fun way, but you also review several different themes.

Lesley’s new book is chock full of other ideasย (including a few you might have seen before on Genki English! ๐Ÿ˜‰ )ย ย and for a $1 I think you are going to like it.

And the only other question is …. if I was going to do a “classroom furniture” theme for you, what 8 items would you like to see included? ย Do let me know in the comments – remember anyone can write a long list, the skill is in keeping it short to just 8 items! ๐Ÿ™‚

Be genki,

Richard

P.S. ย Whilst you’re on kindle you might also want to check out my “Success Secrets of Learning English” book, also only $1 on Kindle Japan or Kindle Internationalย and we got up to number 16 on the Japan Self Help charts over the holidays!

Richard Graham

Hello, I'm Richard Graham. When I was a kid I found school to be sooooo boring... So I transformed my way of teaching. I listened to what the kids were really wanting to say and taught it in ways they really wanted to learn. The results were magical. Now I help teachers just like you teach amazing lessons and double your incomes!

22 Responses to “New Game for Classroom Objects & Prepositions!”

  1. Roger

    Thanks for sharing that, its a cool idea, might try it

  2. Gumby

    OK I’ll start of with these:
    chair, desk, teacher’s desk, clock, wall, blackboard, bookshelf, (fishtank?)

  3. Nathalie

    Whiteboard
    Chair
    Table
    Door
    Window
    Cupboard
    Bookcase
    Fan

  4. Margit

    how do you call the space the kids put their bags and stuff in in the back of a Japanese classroom (shelf? closet?)

    chair, desk, clock, wall, (black)board, computer, map

  5. Nena

    Great game and perfect timing! I’ve done the classroom objects and was planning to do prepositions next lesson.
    about the classroom objects:

    blackboard/ whiteboard
    chalk
    blackboard eraser
    pupil’s desk/teacher’s desk
    chair
    map
    clock
    poster
    bookcase
    coathanger
    Keep up the great work!
    nena

  6. Deena

    Super simple and I just know the kids are going to like this game – any game that helps kids go from vocab to sentence production is worth its weight in gold!

  7. Deena

    BTW Richard, any chance of a new song for additional verbs?

  8. Carolyn

    blackboard
    desk
    chair
    coat rack
    bookshelf
    cupboard
    sofa
    projector screen

    Any chance on getting a country western song with a caller?

  9. Carolyn

    Well, a caller is the person calling out the moves… simple moves could be: step to the right, step to the left. You find this in line dancing and square dancing.

  10. richard

    Hi Deena, I’m up for doing another verbs song. What sort of things are you looking for? (Keeping in mind that, as always, the skill is in keeping the list short to just 8 items + one phrase! ๐Ÿ™‚ )

  11. Margit

    Richard, I think this is a great game. And it reminds me of something I’ve been wanting to ask for before:

    Is it somehow possible to get the “part way down this page.” items in regular GE card format? It is so hard to use them the way they are.

  12. richard

    It looks like we’re pretty close for a list of 8 so I’ll get them up when we get the list done!

  13. Carolyn

    If you are thinking about a new verb song, would you please consider creating a new song about modal verbs?

  14. Janet Gray

    I like this sentence structure. It’s so hard grasping the idea of using “the” for things specific: the door, the glue, etc. I”ll be using this idea today, thanks!

  15. nicola

    thanks a lot! sounds a great game to combine various words and get the children to practise entire sentences.

  16. Kate

    chair
    table
    bookshelf
    floor mat
    board
    blackboard
    monitor
    desk

  17. Kate

    Thanks for all your help Richard. Genki really made a big difference in my teaching.

  18. Ania

    I wish I was as resourceful as you are. Where do you get all these ideas from?

  19. Fiona

    Love this game! Thanks a bunch for sharing it!!!!

  20. Alma Usui

    Hello Richard! I like this idea. A good warm up for my “Gentle Class’ fourth Grade students (all boys), who are active and smart.
    Thanks for sharing.

  21. Julie

    Hi Richard! I love all the songs you compose. If you’re still thinking about creating this song…. I don’t think you’ve included these universal classroom items. Chair, desk, mat, clock, board, screen, map, shelf. That would be another awesome addition to the set.

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