Famous Namesakes
Subject: Jobs
This intellectual game is designed specially for helping you and your new students to learn and memorize their names on the first day of class.
Skills: Speaking, Listening
Level: Elementary
Recommended Age: 16+
Number of Participants: 4-12 players
Time: 15-20 minutes
Place: Any
Equipment: Not required
Materials: Not required
Preliminary Preparation: Not required
Immediate Preparation: If possible, arrange the game participants so that they are sitting or standing in a circle or a semi-circle.
How to Play. To begin the competition, Player A comes to the front of the class. A typical game might start something like this:
You: What's your name?
Player A: My name is Fyodor.
You: Do you know any of your famous namesakes?
Player A: Yes, I do. Fyodor Shalyapin.
You: What was his job?
Player A: He was a singer.
As a result of a correct answer, Player A gets one point.
You (addressing to the other players, but giving a word to each in turns):
Who knows other famous men named Fyodor?
Player B: I know nobody.
Player C: I know Fyodor Bondarchouk, an actor, and Fyodor Dostoevsky, a writer.
As a result of two correct answers, Player C gets two points,
and so on around the circle.
Names without indicating jobs are not accepted! After all the students have commented the name Fyodor, Player A is replaced by Player B and so on. The game continues around the circle as long as all the players have introduced themselves. At the end of the activity, the number of points, accumulated by each participant during the whole competition, is counted up. The player, who gets the most points in total, becomes the winner of the game.