BROKEN TELEPHONE. Games and Activities to Energise the Language Classroom for Junior High School
BROKEN TELEPHONE
Energising Language Classroom Activities for Junior High School: A Teacher’s Guide
Junior high school students often find language classes challenging, but as a language teacher, you have the power to transform these challenges into engaging learning experiences. Classroom activities are the key to achieving this transformation. These activities not only make learning enjoyable but also foster a deeper understanding of the language, leading to improved fluency and proficiency. In this blog post, we will explore a diverse range of innovative and interactive language classroom activities designed specifically for junior high school students. Whether you’re looking to enhance vocabulary retention, boost conversational skills, or make grammar lessons more enjoyable, this guide will provide you with a rich array of strategies to create a dynamic and effective learning environment for your students. Let’s embark on this journey to energize your language classroom and inspire your students to become passionate language learners.
BROKEN TELEPHONE
Target Group: All grades
Difficulty Level: Basic Conversation to Academic
Activity Objective: To practice listening and speaking skills for any particular grammar point
BROKEN TELEPHONE – Procedure
- Each row of students is a group, resulting in approximately 6 groups in your class.
- One of the teachers takes the last student in each row into the hallway and instructs them to memorize a word, phrase, or sentence (WPS). This content should be based on the current grammar point under study or could serve as a review WPS.
- When the teacher shouts “Go!”, students race to whisper the WPS to the next student in line, repeating it as many times as needed, keeping their voices low to prevent other teams from overhearing.
- Once the WPS reaches the last student, that student can either write it down on a scratch piece of paper or come and whisper it into a teacher’s ear. If they are correct, their team receives points. Points are awarded for speed: 5pts, 4pts, 3pts, 2pts, with the last two groups receiving 1pt each. If a WSP is incorrect, the person must return to their group and figure out where they went wrong.
- Each telephone line rotates, ensuring there is a new ‘last person,’ and the game is repeated.
Materials and Preparation
The only material needed will be a list of sentences that will be used to practice/review the grammar point.
Suggestions and Advice
When a team incorrectly says a WSP, watch to make sure they don’t try and get the answer directly from the ‘last person.’ Instead, direct them to work down the telephone line backwards until they find the mistake.
There will be students who will use Japanese instead of English during the whispering. There will also be students who do not know what they are saying. The only remedy is practice, practice, practice.
Energising Language Classroom Activities for Junior High School
In the world of language teaching, fostering a love for learning and effective communication is our ultimate goal. By implementing these engaging classroom activities for junior high school students, you are not only enhancing their language skills but also creating an environment where curiosity, creativity, and enthusiasm thrive. As we wrap up our exploration of these energizing language activities, remember that your role as a teacher is invaluable, and your dedication to making language learning exciting and impactful is what sets the stage for your students’ future success.
So, continue to innovate, adapt, and personalize these activities to suit the unique needs and interests of your students. Watch as their confidence soars, their vocabulary expands, and their ability to communicate fluently grows. With your guidance and these engaging activities in your teaching toolbox, you are well on your way to inspiring a new generation of confident and capable language learners. The journey to language proficiency may be challenging, but with your passion and these activities, it is always an exciting one.
Happy teaching!
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