Memory This game combines memory, vocabulary, and reading skills. * Show students an image, such as a table covered with objects, or a cluttered room in a house. Ask students to stare at the picture for one minute and try to remember as many objects as they can. * Once you’ve hidden the picture, hand each student a sheet filled with words. Ask them to circle only the words that appeared in the picture; whoever does this with the most accurately “wins” the game. Q&A Race This game offers an energetic, interactive way to review vocabulary while reading aloud. * Create a set of cards with questions (ex. Where can you go to buy groceries? / What do you call a person who cooks in a restaurant?). Create two sets of cards with the answers to your questions. * You can tailor the complexity of the cards to suit your students’ level of experience with English; the answers could even be full sentences. * Divide the class into two teams. Give each team a set of the answer cards. * Now you’re ready to begin the game. Each round, ask one student to read aloud from a question card. Rotate through all the students, so that each person has a chance to read aloud and ask a question. * As soon as the question is asked, the race is on! Who can identify the answer card and bring it to you the fastest? A team must select the answer card and bring it to you (before the other team does so) to win the point. Story Improv This is a great way to get your class laughing, thinking on their feet, and working together as they read and speak. * Distribute a passage that you’d like students to read. After everyone has read the text, ask the class to generate a list of words they didn’t recognize from the text. Aim to have each student provide a vocab word to write on the whiteboard. * Work together with the class to define the words in your new vocabulary list. * Once everyone is familiar with the new words, you’re ready to start the game. Tell the class that they’re going to create a story together, on the spot. * Pick a person to start (and work your way around the room) so that everyone has a turn. The first student spontaneously creates a sentence (the beginning of a story) using the first vocab word on the list. The sentence can be as creative and silly as the student likes, as long as it shows that they understand the vocabulary word. * The next student then picks up the story, using the next vocabulary word on the list to create a sentence. Make your way around the room. Eventually you’ll have a (potentially goofy) story that puts all your vocabulary words into use, and consolidates them in your students’ memory.