Chain game

This is the no-preparation, no-frills "shopping game" that you can use to practise or review vocabulary: for example, from the Vocabulary pages each month.

Who it's for:
All levels

What it's for:
Intensive listening, speaking, vocabulary practice

What you need:
A source of vocabulary (especially nouns) that you want your students to practise.

What you do:
Establish the set of vocabulary that you want to use. This month's Vocabulary pages (pp. 46-47) features the motorbike, for example, with lots of lexis that is transferable to "the car" or "the bicycle".

Give the students the words to learn for homework, or give them a couple of minutes in the lesson before you start the game.

Start off the game by setting the scene: You can use the classic "I went to the market and I bought..." or make the situation as silly or complex as you like, for example: "I left my motorbike outside the pub, and when I came out, the xxx was missing."

Each student in turn has to repeat this first phrase, and add another item. Continue round the group, adding one more item per person, ideally for a couple of rounds.

As soon as you stop the game, for some extra practice, get the students to write down the complete list from memory. This also checks for any spelling difficulties.

*The next Try It Out will appear on Monday, 27 September.