Fun with Grammar- "Blaming and Gossiping in the Past" ;)

Learning grammar can be boring... right? NOOO!!! :D
It can be really fun! For example...

To learn positive and negative past forms play some "blaming"-games
(words in bold could be stressed out, underlined words are negative and positive expressions)

• Say it with an angry judge expression: John, YOU took my pen!
  John replies: No! I didn't take your pen. Mary took your pen!
  Mary continues: No! I didn't take teacher's pen. James took teacher's pen!
  etc
• Say it as a secret or a gossip (something funny or nasty to make it more fun):
  Start: You know, John ate a spider yesterday...
  The student says: No, John didn't eat a spider, he ate a grasshopper!
  the next student says: No, John didn't eat a grasshopper, he ate a ladybird!
  etc
• 
  

See autori Ülle Säälik teos on antud Creative Commonsi litsentsi "Autorile viitamine + Mitteäriline eesmärk + Jagamine samadel tingimustel 4.0 Rahvusvaheline" alla.

Attention game with numbers

Played in a circle
Numbers are counted one by one so that three numbers increasingly and then the same numbers down again, then starting with the next one:
1 2 3  3 2 1   2 3 4  4 3 2    3 4 5  5 4 3    4 5 6  6 5 4   5 6 7  7 6 5   6 7 8  8 7 6   7 8 9  9 8 7   ...

Might be very confusing but needs a lot of attention and sense of rhythm :)
Presented to us by Ülle from Tallinn, Estonia at the IPC drama course. Many thanks!

An ambitious city architect

A group activity with setting posing each other as sculptures, some speaking can be added according to the level of participants.

It would be good to start this game with the line-up:
Who's the strongest starts the line, who thinks he or she is not that strong to the end of the line.
Participants can either just decide how strong they are or compete with minor activities like arm-wrestling or pulling forefingers, but mostly just by looking at each other, miming and just deciding.
(It is necessary, because the first participants have to be able to stand in different positions for longer time and they shouldn't be complaining...)

Introduction:
Once upon a time there was a nice city, and in this city there as a nice park with a statue (the first player comes and stands like a statue / sculpture)
In this city there was a very ambitious city architect (the next player comes in) who didn't like this statue, and decided to change it. (the next player sets the "statue" into a new position)
And as this architect was very ambitious, he/she also wanted to have his/her own statue to be in this park (the "architect" poses next to the statue as a new statue)
A new architect was hired in this city, and he/she was also very ambitious. He/She didn't like those statues and decided to change them...

Activities repeated- new architect changes the poses, then stands near them as a new statue, a new architect comes and changes...

Speaking added: depends on the level of learners- gives a name to the set of statues, explains what is the set of statues about, or explains while setting the statues into new poses who they were and why are they standing here like this etc

Examples of statue sets performed at the IPC drama course in Exeter are as follows...

Who am I?

Mingle speaking activity in a group.
A label with the name of a profession is attached to your back.
You will walk around and ask questions about your profession to guess who you are, 

i.e. Do I work outside? Do I work with other people? Do you have to be strong?
If necessary, some smaller comments can be added to Yes/No-answers, but not telling the word itself. 

Here I am- a drug dealer...
who would have guessed that could be my job ? haahaaa!

A multi-tasked person :)

Attention, reaction and coordination game with some oral language included.
Work in groups of 4.
- one person asks simple questions (Are you a girl? Do you like ice-cream? What colour is your hair? ...)
- the other one does movements, gestures
- the third asks simple maths (2+2 is...? )
- the fourth one tries to copy the movements and answer both questions as quickly as possible
Then the players change and it is done again.
NOT EASY, BUT FUN!!!

A SHIP- Warm-up game, focusing and attention

"A SHIP" 

* different parts of the room are named as sides of a ship:
- "bows"- the front 

- "stern"- the back

- "ports" - left side

- "starboard"- right side 

* when the leader of the game says a word, certain activities must me mimed

- "Captain is coming!"- raise your hand to your head as if saluting 

- "Rub the deck!"- make it as if cleaning the floor intensively 

- "Man over the board!"- right arm under the left leg and hold your nose as if diving for a somebody

* the last one acting out what is told should leave the game

Improvisation and showing your "position"

Improvised situation: at the dress-shop, shop owner, bride, bride's mom and dad.
 By playing card numbers everyone got a "position" (10- very important and arrogant person, 1- a very modest and humble one).
Watchers guess which level everyone has. 

"Put somebody in his place"

This game is played with small playing cards ( numbers 2-10 and aces).
The cards show your position, your importance so that 10 is the most important and honoured person and ace as number 1 is the less important person. Could be many 2s or other numbers according to the number of learners). 

Players don't see their card. We attached it to our foreheads just by making them wet with water and then sticking them to our foreheads.

Walking around you show to the people around just by your attitude, body language, phrases (requests, comments etc) what is his/her place. One should not say directly the other person's number, but just show it, express it some other way. Numbers 8, 9 and 10 got nothing but compliments, flattering and bowing to the grounds, while aces, 2s and 3s were asked to bring another beer, clean up the floor or just got sniffing faces and turning away from them... :D  Some expressions or phrases could be promted to weaker learners. 

Finally everyone is asked to form a line from 10 to ace where you think your place should be.
No need to be necessarily in the right place. No faults here. Just explaining why did you think so.

A follow-up could be: 

discussion/writing about peoples' attitudes towards people with different positions, how it felt to be flattered in not a very natural way, or how it felt to be humiliated or not noticed at all. 

Me and Magda were treated worse than our cards showed, actually, but it was still fun!!! 

Magda, Erdim and Sofia- happy with their places in ranking still :) 

Miming, copying it and guessing - changing baby's napkins

4 or 5 people one by one mime the situation of "changing baby's napkins"  in a row to the next person.
The watcher doesn't know the situation, trying to guess what it is and later copy it all to the next one.
The last one explained what was it.
 

Attention and concentration games- Wizz-Hey-Ping

The game could be played for warm-up and getting people focused and concentrated.
Not much of a language used in the activity itself, but also the comments and helping phrases could be in the foreign language.
Attention- very emotional!

Instructions: 

• standing in the circle, 
• acting like passing a ball over to your neighbour with hands movement, saying Wizz! as fast as possible
• then someone can so to say pass it back saying Hey! and raising both of your arms to this neighbour's direction, and the ball-passing goes the other way back
• then it is also possible to pass it over to the person standing opposite you in the circle by pointing with a finger, having a clear eye-contact and saying Ping! 

What is happening in the picture?

This activity includes miming, improvisation and speaking for guessing and explaining.

A group of learners is given a situation (a car accident, a police chasing robbers, a birthday party etc )

The learners will pose as this situation would look like in the picture, imitating facial impressions and so on.

Watchers try to guess, what is happening and who is who. 

Development of this activity could be: a reporter goes to each character and asks, what he/she is feeling or thinking in this situation.