ideas for english lessons
Customs
Subject: Spelling
Skills: Speaking, Listening
Level: Elementary
Recommended Age: 12+
Number of Participants: 4-12 players
Time: 20-25 minutes
Place: Any
Equipment: Not required
Materials: Not required
Preliminary Preparation: Not required
Immediate Preparation (3-5 minutes).
1. If possible, arrange the game participants so that they are sitting or standing in a circle or a semi-cirle.
2. In the first round, it is you, who play a customer officer. To that end, think of a criterion, under which you are going to 'pass items across the border', e.g. the name should contains the letter 'K'.
How to Play. A typical role-play might start something like this:
You (addressing to Player А): What do you have in your luggage?
Player А: A camera.
You: Sorry, I'm afraid you can't cross the border.
You (addressing to Player В): What do you have in your luggage?
Player В: A skirt.
You: Well, you can pass. Enjoy your trip!
Player В: Thank you.
and so on around rhe circle.
After all the 'passengers' have answered, you ask the same question to Player A again and so on. The demo round continues as long as all the 'passangers', except the last one, have 'gone through the customs'. This only remaining player takes the role of a customs officer in the next round and so on. The game lasts as long as each player, at least once, acts as a customs officer.
Variation. Here are some ideas for other possible criterion:
- a word should contain two letters 'А' ('L', 'О', etc.)
- a word should end with the letter 'Е' ('R', 'T', etc.)
- the second (third, etc.) letter of a word is 'H' ('I', 'U', etc.)
and so on.
Advice. Do not allow the players to write down 'passed' words. Otherwise, they easily spot the criterion!