Junior High School English Speaking Activities

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Activity	Explanation	1st year	2nd year	3rd year
Pass the eraser	Put students into pairs Write a topic on the blackboard like "colors" Each pair has one eraser The teacher has a timer and sets the timer for 15-20 seconds In the pair, student A says the name of a color and passes the eraser to student B, then student B says the name of a different color and passes the eraser back to student A. The students A & B pass the eraser back and forth saying color names until time is called. When the teacher calls time, the student holding the eraser loses.	Use the alphabet, numbers, animals, names of things in the classroom, names of things outside the classroom. When using the alphabet, it is recommeded to write the alphabet on the board, so the students can say it backwards or say every other letter.	Use colors, numbers, even & odd numbers, animals, fruits, countries, cities, food , drinks... Phrases can also be used so that the student can practice a target sentence, for example: "I like hamburgers...I like hot dogs...etc"	Use any theme mentioned in first year and second year. In addition, a more advanced category could be like words that start with certain letters, for example, if the category were "A, B, or C", then the students would say words starting with A. B, or C like Apple, or Baseball or Cat...
Tate / Yoko	Put the student into rows not groups First, all the students stand up The teacher asks the students questions If a student knows the answer to the question, he/she raises their hand and answers the question After the student answer the question, he/she chooses "Tate" or "Yoko" If the student says "Tate," every student sitting vertically in that row may sit down If the student says "Yoko," every student sitting horizontally in that row may sit down	If the students do not know many questions in English, then the teacher can ask translation questions in Japanese and the students have to answer in English, or vice-versa.	Use a couple simple questions to get the game going. Once the students understand, harder questions can be used...however towards the end of the activity, simple questions should be used so as to not put to much pressure on the remaining students...	Same as second year, use questions appropriate for the level of the students.
Clapping Game	For a class of 10-20 students The teacher writes down a number for each student on the blackboard (if there are 12 students, the teacher writes 1-12 on the blackboard) Each student gets a number To start the game, everyone claps twice together Then if student "3" started the game, he would say his own number and another number like: "three...five," then everyone claps twice and student "5" would say his own number and another number like "five...eight", then everyone claps twice and student "8" would say his own number and another number and so on... The purpose of the clapping is to keep the beat When the students shout out numbers, they should say them randomly, not in order After practicing for a few minutes, you can being playing the game. If a student makes a mistake or pauses too long, or accidently says a number in Japanese, he/she must sit down. If a student makes a mistake and sits down, the teacher crosses his number out on the blackboard For a big class (20 or more students), put the students in pairs	Numbers and letters can be used for this clapping game.	Numbers, letters, or verbs can be used for this game. If verbs are used, write the verbs on the blackboard. Then each student says their own verb first and then another verb second...Usually in this game a student must say his number and another number, for example, "three...eight" (clap, clap) "eight...six" (clap, clap) and so on. If verbs are used... the student says "run, play" (clap, clap) "play, read" (clap, clap) "read, see"	Number, letters, verbs, can be used for this game. For very advanced 3rd year students, multiple tenses can be used. Usually in this game a student must say his number and another number, for example, "three...eight" (clap, clap) "eight...six" (clap, clap) and so on. If verbs are used in multiple tenses... the student says "run, played" (clap, clap) "play, watch" (clap, clap) "watched, see"(clap, clap) and so on. So, the student says the first verb in the present tense and second verb in the past tense...
Criss Cross	Put the students in rows Make one row stand up The teacher asks questions to the students standing up If the student raises his hand and answers the question, he may sit down. The teacher continues to ask questions until there is only one student left standing Then, the teacher makes the students stand up who are sitting in the same horizontal row as the last student standing from before. Then, the teacher asks questions to the row of students standing Each student sits down once he/she answers a question Then, like before, the students sitting in the same pependicular row, as the last student standing, must stand up Hence, there should always be a row of students standing, either horizontal or vertical...	Ask translation questions like "How do you say 「じゅうさん」 in English? Once they learn "do" or "can" you can ask simple questions	Use any questions pertaining to the students' level. Pattern questions work best	Use any style questions pertaining to the students' level.Pattern questions work best
Stand up if...	All students are sitting down To start the teacher may say "Stand up if you play soccer" Then, all the students who play soccer must stand up. Then, the teacher chooses a category like "sports" So, all the students who are standing must say the name of a sport, and then they may sit down... Put in a different ending to the phrase "Stand up if___________" Then, of course, choose a different category for the students standing	Possible categories: fruits, food, colors, sports, animals, days of the week, textbook vocabulary, objects in the classroom, non-textbook vocabulary, etc.	Possible categories: same as ist year plus...countries, weather terms, body parts, non-Japanese food, foreign cities...	Possible categories: same as ist year and 2nd year plus...school subjects, clothing, verbs, months, famous foreigners
Scategories	All students are in groups Each group has one sheet to record the group's answers. To start, the teacher names a category like "days of the week" Then, each group has to think of one word that fits that category, for example, "Tuesday" The groups write down their answer on the sheet The teacher ask each group for their answer. If the group has the same word as another group, then they dont receive a point; if they have a different answer from the other groups then the group receives a point. Do as many categories as you like... You can use the following worksheets: group sheet possible categories			You can check the spelling of the words and only award half a point if the group writes down the wrong spelling.
Who am I?	Divide the students into two/three teams The teacher describes a person, place or thing The students guess the answer The tecaher awards the team a point of they get the right answer. famous pictures	*This activity works best in two teams or as a class for 1st year	*For an advanced class...The student makes pairs, and takes turns thnking of a person place or thing.	*For an advanced class...The student makes pairs, and takes turns thnking of a person place or thing.
Right question?	Divide the students into groups of 4 students The teacher gives the students an interrogative pronoun (who, how, when, where, what...) Then, the students must think of a question using an interrogative pronoun (who, how....) The students ask the teacher in chorus (all together) the question. If the question is grammatically correct, then the tecaher must answer the question.	Give some exmaples on the board, for example... "Who is your favorite singer?" "How many sisters do you have?"	"What are you going to do next Sunday?" "Where do you want to go?"	"How long have you been in Fukuyama?" "How many times have you been to Kyoto?"