> 20 Minutes

Sengoku Jidai - Risk Powerpoint template


This is a modified version of Erik Chen's Japan Risk map. I modified it so that each prefecture has a question attached to it. The student's form groups and can compete to answer questions and gain control over Japan's prefectures. By pressing the circles next to the names of the prefectures, you can change the color of the prefecture to the controlling team.

Jeopardy Quiz Power Point


A fun, stylish, and easy to use Jeopardy game that I made in Power Point.

The Power Point works exactly how you would want it to.

Step 1) Click on a box to see the corresponding question.
Step 2) Click on "ANSWER" to go to the answer page.
Step 3) Click on the home
button to return to the game board. The question you answered will now be grayed out.


"Where is the ~ ?" Memory Game


This is a variation of memory that I made, which adds a fun but simple twist to the game and uses the key phrase, "Where is ~?"
It's played in pairs, though it could be easily altered to accomodate a group of 3 or 4, and it uses picture cards with the place names taught in Hi Friends 2 Lesson
4. In order to bring the total number of cards up to 15, I added a "cafe" and "arcade" card, though these can be omitted.


Mystery Phrase

Mystery Phrase


  • Teams of 3-5
  • Each team takes turns guessing a letter, word, or the entire phrase
  • Correct guess - one more turn
    • Up to a possible total of 3 turns before moving to the next team
  • Incorrect guess - next team's turn
  • Team members take turns guessing



  • No points for letters, but they allow the team to take another turn


  • 1 point per word


What language is that?

More languages
Sloth learning

Group the students of 3-5, giving each group a small white board, pen and eraser.

Hand out the worksheets and explain the students are to guess if the word is originally from English, German, French or Dutch.

Go through the list of words, allowing ten-fifteen seconds for the groups to write down which they think the word is from, then give points to the groups that are correct.

You can give bonus points to any group that can correctly explain in English or Japanese the meaning of the original word.

How can I get to...?

completed map

This is a variation of a worksheet I found on Englipedia.


Students are divided into groups of 3, and each group has a variation of a map they must complete. They are given three landmarks on their map, but the rest are blank. The goal is to fill in each blank space with a landmark and to draw a path leading to the closest train station.

Here's the catch: every group's map has different landmarks given, so they need to find out the locations from other groups.

Present Progressive (~ing) Describing Pictures


Simple. Fun. Low prep.

1. Students make groups of 4.

2. Give each group a copy of the same picture.  A3 coloured. 

3. Have students write as many sentences as they can based on what they see in the picture. (5-10 minutes per picture) E.g. The bear is drinking coffee. The boy is running. He is sitting. She is reading.

4. ALT /OTE - walk around to help groups. 

Will you ～～ please?


At the beginning of activity, walk around class with large cards and ask crazy questions to students.

Next hand out worksheets and have students interview each other with dialogue in pairs, stressing that they must complete actions.



A:                       Hello?

B:                       Hello?


A:                       Will you ______________ please?

Super Mario World – What time is it now?

  • First ensure students are confident with grammar point ‘What time is it now?’
  • Hand out half of the students with A worksheet and half with B worksheet, practice repeating dialogue.
  • Ensure students can pronounce cities names and understand the meaning of morning, afternoon and evening.

Q:  What time is it in Los Angeles now?

A:  It’s four o’clock in the afternoon.

My Super Friend


Organize students in pairs then handout ‘My Super Friend work sheet A + B’ to each pair.

Read both paragraphs to entire class once, then have each pair read their respective paragraphs to themselves.

Have students highlight or underline any points they think are important for answering the questions on the worksheet.

Next have pairs read their paragraphs to each-other and exchange information about their characters by asking the questions provided on the worksheet.

Puzzle Scramble

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1.  Each group takes one envelope and assmbles the puzzle.

Treasure Hunt (There is / there are)

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  • On the grid page of the worksheet, have the students draw a treasure map. It’s best to show an example beforehand so they get the style. Make sure they add plenty of landmarks, such as villages, rivers, volcanos and the like. This vocabulary may need to be practiced beforehand.
  • Next, the students secretly choose one square on their grid to bury treasure. Don’t mark it down, just remember it.
  • Then the students write clues on the second page using “There is” or “There are” to point the way to the chosen square.

The Sengoku Game

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Customs and etiquette from around the world!

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This is the lesson plan discussed at the April Kobe JET seminar. Basically it is a fun powerpoint that you can use and change to suit your purpose.

In my example lesson I used it in the following way (please note I used the audio room for this lesson):

1. First I got the students into 9 groups and drew a square divided into 9 parts on the board to record the points.

Will You Make a Sentence?


There is a deck of cards with words split into three colours (you need a card for each student).

Pink = “Will you ~ ?” / “May I ~ ?” / “May Ms. Kabata ~ ?”

Orange = Verbs: “go to” / “close” / “clean” / “make” etc. (I also like to add interesting verbs to make it fun such as attack, destroy, stare at…)

Red = Object: “the cake” / “the door” / “your room” etc.

This is… what?

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The ALT will bring in a mystery item, hidden in a box or a bag (so that the students can’t see). Using “this is” and simple adjectives (preferably described with actions if possible) explain what the object is. When a student finally guesses, that student can receive praise or a reward.

HOW did you do it?

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Create a handout for each student with a ‘you’ section and a ‘your friends’ section. Each section will have the same 5 question topics (the ‘you’ section using ‘How did you~?’ and the other using ‘How did he/she~?’
Example questions:
How did you come to school?
How did you spend last weekend?
How did you eat your breakfast?
How did you wake up?
How did you spend last night?

Show me! Give Me! Tell Me!

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  1. Print copies of the large sheet for student teams.
  2. Cut the Japanese items out and place them in envelops labeled with the corresponding letter and number.
  3. If you dont have any dictionaries, change G12 to something the students will have in class.


  1. Introduce the sentence structure to the students.
  2. Introduce the game.
  • Students will be put in teams of 4.

Guess Where the ALT is?

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To introduce the activity, the ALT goes to the front of the class and describes how to get somewhere using the phrases that will be reviewed that day. For example, the ALT can describe how to get to somewhere inside the school like the library or the gym. Then the students have to guess the place that the ALT described. After this, the students can review the common phrases used when giving directions such as “turn left”, “walk along this street,” etc.

I have

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1. Review the pictures of new words: teeth, tongue, hat, shoes (attached below!)

2. On the worksheet (also attached below), students must first fill out their 4 guesses. They pick a character from number one (Peach, Rosalina, or Daisy) and write it in number 1 in the box at the bottom. Same for numbers 2, 3, and 4. It`s best if they write in pen because they can cheat and erase their guesses otherwise!

Search & Find

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  1. Have students get into groups.
  2. Read hints/clues one at a time (about 3 hints per question).
  3. Read more clues to simplify, or until students find the correct person.
  4. Students raise their hand and teachers check if it’s the correct person that they found.

If not, continue with more clues and until all groups have found the person.

Example of hints: He is a man who is wearing a yellow jacket.

Afterwards, students can write their own clues for others to find.



Ahh, the age old game of scrabble. Here is a full set for your printing, cutting and playing pleasure.

I made them at A4 size but I recommend printing them at B4 size. Print them, cut them out and stick magnets to them. Throw ’em in a bag.


  1. Each team/player gets 7 tiles.
  2. Teams take turns making words on the board using their tiles.
    Words must be:


Past Participle Hyakunin Isshu

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I played it in 2 lessons.

Rock Star Schedule

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Hand out a blank schedule for each student and tell them to think of an artist name for themselves. My OTE  and I told them to get creative with real artiste names. Some great examples – ‘Karashi’, ‘Funky Gorilla Babys’, ‘SMALL BANG’, ‘Two Direction’

Students have to plan the tour schedule for the artist and fill in the 5 boxes. They can use the list below the schedule for inspiration. I told my students to choose 3 activities from the list and come up with 2 activities themselves.

The Price Is Right!


This game is based on the bidding game from The Price Is Right TV show. It is quite fun as students are quite shocked at the difference in prices between counties.

Before class you will need to edit the printout to suit your countries products and prices. Print it out and cut up the price tags. Hide the price tags in a box or an envelope.

What makes you happy? worksheet


Just a simple worksheet I made my own.

–  Introduce then practice dialogue with students.

– Practice feeling words, ensure students know the meaning of all.

– Hand out worksheets, explain interview game rules

– Students stand up find a partner and janken , winner interviews first.

– Students ask 2 friends , “What makes you _______?” selecting one of the listed feelings or thinking of one of their own.

Split Infinitives

  1. Students work in groups of 4 or 5.
  2. Give students an envelope with around 8 “to” sentences cut in half. and two worksheets.
  3. Students must join the correct halves of the sentences and write them on two worksheets (so that more than one student writes).
  4. When they have finished, they raise their hands.

The fastest 3 groups to successfully write all the sentences are the winners, and receive stickers.

Where do you (play tennis)?


Based on Elizabeth Taylor‘s lesson found here. Just slightly different grammar point, and new handouts.

Remind students of “Where” questions. (New Crown p.41) Tell them that that is fine for asking where objects are, but actions need a different structure. “Where do you______?”

1. Hand out one worksheet to each student. Review vocab and grammar point as necessary.

I want to be ~

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This a simple lesson aimed at teaching students the “I want to be a ~.” grammar/sentence structure.  Students are encouraged to think about reasons why they want to be a certain animal and to communicate those reasons through structured writing practice.

Shopping at the Rilakkuma Store

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This is a supplement to New Crown’s “We’re Talking” 4 (shopping)


1.  Introduce/review the meaning of/replies to “Do you have any_______?” and “How much is it?”


2.  Students make groups of 4-5. Teachers give each group a stamp and card with an item and its price.  [Examples:  Rilakkuma, Arashi CD, soup..]  Teachers also give each student a stamp sheet.


What did Sensei do?

  • Students/ groups take turns asking the ALT : “did you (activity in the box) on (day of the week)?”
  • ALT answers: “yes I did” or “no I didn’t”
  • Student/ group that completes the ALTs schedule wins
  • Students/ groups can also be assigned points based on guessing what the ALT did

"I can" Pictionary

  1. Separate the class into six groups.
  2. Distribute a sheet of A4 to each group and ask them to choose one person in each group to draw.
  3. Explain that the artist will change each round.
  4. Each round, the artist comes to the front and is shown a verb that they will have to draw. Only they will see the word.
  5. They then return to their groups and draw while the others guess what it is.
  6. When someone has guessed correctly the group then works on constructing questions and answers for the verb.

Valentine's Monopoly


First, divide the class into 5 or 6 groups.  The ALT and OTE  introduce various vocabulary and themes related to the Valentine’s Day holiday.

Students receive a complete word search that implements the aforementioned vocabulary. After completing it, the class checks the meaning of each word.

Was / Were -Ing Worksheet


This worksheet can be used to solidify student understanding of the was/were -ing grammar point.

The first two parts are a simple circle the correct word and fill in the blanks activity.

Part three requires students to ask “Were you ~?” and find “Yes, I was.” answers to the eight questions on the worksheet by asking their classmates.

Part four asks the students to construct their own questions using “Were you ~?” and once again find “Yes, I was.” answers.

What Is This?


Start the lesson by drawing only the top half of a picture on the board and giving two options for what it is. It is good to start with something that the students are familiar with, like Anpanman or Doraemon. Draw on of the characters on the board and then use the following dialogue:

               A: What is this?

               B: This is Anpanman!

               A: Yes, it is!/No, it isn’t.

Once the students have answered, draw the bottom half of the picture.

Grade 2 Wordsearches

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A wordsearch for each lesson of the previous edition of the New Crown Grade 2 textbook using the new words learned in that chapter. The wordsearches are designed to be completed as a group with points received for both finding the word and writing the Japanese translation. 

The wordsearches are best printed 4 to an A4 page and then made into a poster using the poster printer.

Halloween (JHS 1)



  • Read and repeat the vocabulary from the vocabulary list attached.
  • Explain what to do and that there is a hidden message to be found.
  • Once completed explain the hidden message


  • Do a demonstration with the OTE , they choose a piece of paper from the pumpkin which says either trick or treat. With a treat they get a sticker and with a trick they must do something such as 10 star jumps.

School Rules: You have to


San-Biki no Kobuta (The Three Little Pigs)



1.Read the students the story San-Biki no Kobuta in Japanese

-Even if Hirigana is difficult for you, show your own enjoyment through using voices for the characters, gestures and hand motions, or actions related to the story.

2. Review the main words of the story with the students in English

Three 　Sanbiki さんびき                     Straw  　　　Wara わら

Wolf 　 Ookami おおかみ                   Brick  　　　Renga れんが

Pig(lets)  Kobuta こぶた                      Wood (stick)  　Ki 

Counting 1-10

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Write the numbers 1–10 on the board. Often western 2s and 7s (and sometimes 4s) are written differently from the standard Japanese style. Have a brief discussion with the kids about it. Have volunteers come to the board and write the offending number the Japanese way.

Practice counting aloud both forward and backward and at random.

Next, circulate the room and have students take turns standing and telling you the number. Be sure to ask them numbers out of order.

What's this? (Animals)



Introduce the new animals.

Introduce the phrase “What’s this?” and “It’s a/an ~ .”


Demonstrate. Cover one animal card, ask ‘what’s this?’, and then make the appropriate animal noise. Allow for an answer. Do this for all the animal cards.

Shape Making Game



  • Introduce the lesson by teaching shapes and shape names.


Before class, prepare construction paper shapes with or without lamination. Prepare one big circle, triangle, square, oval and rectangle with increasing numbers of smaller shapes (i.e. 2 medium circles and 6 small circles, etc..).

Let's Pokemon GO!

Professor Oak - wait!

Game Explanation:

This game is based off the 6th grade lesson 4. Students work in pairs to make their way around the school to collect Pokémon. Each group will get one ping pong ball (poke ball) and one paper (Pokedex). The Pokedex should contain a simple map of the school (I asked my Vice principle for a floor plan and then traced it and made a simple copy) and a list of Pokémon (see Pokedex file ).



This lesson is a result of discussion at Job Training 2012. Special thanks to Andrew Foley, Suen Rowe, May Wu, Antonio Vega, Charles Prete Jr.

After reviewing body parts, divide the class into 2 teams.

Draw 2 large cartoon people on the board. Try to make them around the same size. As you draw them try to review the names of all the appropriate body parts.

To Understand

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  • Introduce “to understand” grammar point with your OTE .
  • Divide students into pairs and hand out the worksheet
  • Set a timer.  Pairs that finish the worksheet before the designated time should bring it up to the front and they get a bonus stamp on their worksheet.
  • Once the timer goes off, randomly select students to read their answers to the group and self-correct their worksheets.

What time is it in America?


Introduce the grammar by having students guess what time it is in your home country.

With map #1, have the students complete the map as a listening exercise.  Read off the states and the respective times.

With map #2, have the students use their imagination and fill in whatever times they want for the different states.  Give them about 1 or 2 minutes to do this.

Sentence Race


Student’s rows will be their teams for this game.  Students have five minutes to write as many sentences as they can in simple past tense using subjects and verbs on the board.

Characters/People: Elmo, Doraemon, Mickey Mouse, Michael Jackson, Anpanman, Kitty Chan.

Verbs: cook, walk, watch, visit, play, talk, listen.

Example: Yesterday, Elmo cooked pizza.

Daily Routine


First, use whatever method you prefer to teach new vocabulary/verbs to students. Picture cards of the various parts of the day would be particularly useful.

Next, use this 2 part worksheet to check students’ understanding of daily routine vocabulary and verbs.

Can = To be able to...

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  • Separate the class into two teams according to gender (males / females) and have each team form a circle.
  • Put a desk in the centre of each group, with a beautifully decorated box on top. In this box, there should be many folded up small strips of paper with a question on almost all of them, those left empty are called freedom sheets, these will give the students an opportunity to be creative and make their own questions or statements.

Examples of questions are:

Can you sing?

Can you stand on one leg?

Birthday Bingo

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  1. Go through the dates in a month and months of a year. Have students repeat after ALT .
  2. Ask the question ‘When is your birthday?’ Model the response, ‘My birthday is October 1st’.
  3. Hand out the bingo sheets to the students. Make sure there is enough space on the worksheet to write in the dates.
  4. Also pass out the smaller cards.

Are there any ~ in your room?

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  • Explain to students that they will see a picture of a room for one minute.
  • The students then have 10 minutes to write out as many “Are there ~ ?” questions based on what they remember from the picture.
  • When the questions have been written give them each a copy of the picture.
  • The students then ask their neighbour their questions. A correct sentence is worth one point.

How is the weather?




ALT and OTE  demonstrate.

A: How is the weather in ~ on ~day?

B: It’s rainy/snowy etc.

What (N) do you (V)? Interview

  • After each student has a worksheet, get them to fill in the blanks in the questions.
  • Check the answers with random students and rehearse the questions and possible answers.
  • Next, the students fill in their own answers.
  • The students work in pairs and change to another next to them when he/she is free.
  • When all 3 partners have been questioned the student then works out who is the most similar to them.
  • Get them to write down 6 answers that follow the explained pattern of being exactly the same or very similar.

What is this? Resources


These are some resources and short activities that can be used when practicing “What's this?” and “It’s a ~ .”


This is a quick quiz showing the silhouettes of various characters. If the students are already comfortable with “What's this?” it would be a good time to use “Who is this?” with these characters.

Are you -ing?

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  • Give out the worksheet in order to have students paired front/back or side/side.
  • Clearly explain the points system* and demonstrate each possibly answer with the OT.
  • Have the pair janken  for first go to make the gesture. Rotate after every gesture.
  • The  student should write the confirmed answer into the blank space and the points into the box.
  • Tally the points and reward accordingly.

"What are you doing?" Verb Charades


Warm Up Activity

Hot Potato

  • When the music starts, students with the large flashcards must ask the student sitting in front of them “What are you doing?”. The other student will answer according to what the flashcard displays i.e. “I’m eating natto.”
  • This continues until the music pauses.
  • When the music stops, the student with the flashcard must complete a punishment activity. e.g.

I want to...


1. Divide the class into six groups.

2. Have the students choose the order for their group (who is student #1~6).

3. Explain that there are 12 sentences in Japanese and the groups are racing to translate them and do the action.

4. Give each group sentence #1. The group works together to translate the sentence to English and then sends up their first representative (groups 1-3 report to you and 4-6 to your OTE ).

Whose clothes?







6. The team with the most points wins!


Where is the _____?


1. Review the grammar point, country names, animal names as necessary.

2. Divide the class into six groups. Give one worksheet to each group.

3. Have the students choose the order of students in the group (who is student #1~6).

4. The goal is to find all the animals first. You and your OTE have the answers.

Puzzle Piece Clothing


Choose eight famous pieces of clothing from festivals around the world, for example a yukata from Japan, or a tuxedo from England. Print them out as an A4 sized sheet, glue them onto the back of coloured construction paper,laminate, then cut them into puzzle pieces. Place each puzzle into a large envelope and label the outside so you know which puzzle is which.

"Haave you ~?" Battleships

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Create a battleship style worksheet (two grids on a page, approx 6×6 each). Type the example sentence, “Have you seen ~ ?” or “Have you heard ~ ?” at the top of the page. Indicate that a O means, “Yes, I have” and an X means “No, I haven’t”. In each square type some things students may have seen or heard, for example, Tokyo tower or SMAP.

My Invention

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After explaining the grammar point, pass out the worksheet and go over the example on it with the students, then have them break in to groups of 5/6 per group. Go to each group and have them pick an invention picture at random that they must apply the “it will” grammar point to. Students then work together to create 5-6 sentences using “It will” to describe what their invention will do. When each group has enough sentences written, they then must present the invention, with each student reading one sentence aloud.

A Memorable Visit

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Choose eight countries’ flags and print out forty pairs of each. The flags should be no bigger than 4cm by 4cm or 2inches by 2inches (Microsoft powerpoint can be used to change the sizes). Glue half the pairs on one colour of construction paper, and the other half on a second colour.  Laminate and then cut them down to previously mentioned sizes.

I am/You are...

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This is designed as two follow up lessons to the grammar points:

“I am _____.”

“You are ______, right?”

The difference – aside from the grammar points – is the mechanics of the games, otherwise the format is the same for both lessons.

How the activity works:

What makes you happy?

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This is an activity to practice the phrase “What makes you ~?”

Choose the words you want to use (I used happy, sad, nervous, excited, angry, and embarrassed).  Make index-sized cards with a smiley face and the word, enough for each student to have one (so, roughly 7 cards of each different expression). Using an accompanying worksheet, students go around asking their friends “What makes you ~?” After each pair asks each other their question, they exchange cards, so it goes something like this:


We can go by bike

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This is a game to play using the “We’re Talking 8″ lesson .

Split the room into teams (I usually make each column a team).  Put pictures of transport on the board (i.e. bike, bus, car, plane, etc).  The first student from each team stands up but stays back behind the podium. 

Shape Uno


Here it is, Shape Uno. This is functionally normal Uno, but with numbers replaced by shapes.

The shapes are: line , triangle, square, diamond, pentagon, arrow, circle, heart, hexagon and star.

Here are Uno details you may not know right off the top of your head:

Emoticon Emotions Flash cards with cool Janken worksheet!


I made a dope worksheet with custom flashcards featuring various emotions in emoticon form for everyone's entertainment. (I didn't make the emoticons just edited them.)

Use the flashcards to go over or introduce emotions.

Then move on to the activity.

Use this worksheet to play a (time depends on your students level) emotions janken game.


Every kid gets a worksheet.

Passive Nonsense


First The ALT and OTE  will demonstrate writing out passive voice sentences on blue, red, and yellow colored cards.  (“Sushi is eaten by Japanese people,” or “AKB48 is known all over the world.” etc.)

Blue is the subject + be verb.

Red is the past perfect verb.

Yellow is the remainder of the predicate.

Show the cards as a sentence to the students.

Passive Voice Sentence Unscramble


I made this as the warm up activity for teaching passive voice.

First, make as many sentences as you’d like to test the class on.  I chose six.

Print out the sentences on three different colored papers so that:

Blue is the Subject + be -verb

Red is the past perfect verb

Yellow is the remainder of the predicate.


Put the cut-outs into an envelope and make enough that each team has one envelope. 

I explained the rules as I passed the envelopes out and gave the class two minutes to assemble the sentences. 

Body Parts Twister

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This game is a take on the regular twister game where you touch the colored dots with your hands or your feet. Instead of the colorful mat, the students will move their hands or feet to other body parts while trying not to fall down. The teachers joined in too and it was hilarious!

Was Doraemon Happy?


A simple worksheet helping the students learn the past interrogative form.

The worksheet is divided into ten questions. Each question has a statement and three possible options for a question relating to the statement. Students go through the sheet and tick the correct question.

The whole activity shouldn’t take more than ten minutes to complete and a further ten to go through.

Directions Around Town


This pair of worksheets is intended to be used for 1st Grade, Junior High School in the study of asking and giving directions around a town. Though it builds upon what students will have learned in the 6th Grade of Elementary school,  several new phrases and concepts are introduced.


Students are given one of either worksheet A or B, and ask their partners the directions to a place they don’t know the location of.

Zombie Janken Game 2.0: Chaos Edition?


Credit goes to Luke Orme for the the original conceptualization!

Attached are Word and PDF versions of the rules. Loosely bilingual (Japanese/English) for your convenience. (If there’s weird Japanese, I apologize.)

Zombie Janken  2.0 rules

Disclaimer: Kids + zombies + janken   = potential chaos. However, it usually doesn’t get too crazy even in a classroom.

Fashion Designer

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  1. Students get into pairs.
  2. Student 1 is a designer and asks Student 2 “Do you like (color) (clothes)?”
  3. Student 2 answers “Yes, I do” or “No, I don’t.” and then use gestures and English words to explain.
    Encourage students to ask the teacher for new vocabulary or use books to show style/colors/ etc.
  4. Student designs an outfit for Student 2.
  5. Change places and allow Student 2 to do the same for Student 1

Dice Game



  1. Learn 12 words using flash cards (i.e. country names)
  2. Put the 12 cards on the board and number them 1 to 12. This numbering can be done in many ways. For example, if the cards are food cards, you can ask students which they think it the most delicious and order them in that way. If you are running out of time, you can order them yourself.
  3.  Introduce the new grammar point (i.e. I want to go to...)
  4. Split the class into 4 teams.

Circle Karuta


This game is played with a target question such as, "What animal do you like?" and a target answer such as, "I like dogs."  Vocabulary flashcards (around eight) should be placed on the board for all to see.


"Tooty Ta"



1. Inform students that today will be about teaching parts of the body.

2. Draw pictures on the board that correspond with body parts as outlined in the song “Tooty-Ta”.  Teach the actions to go with the pictures and have students repeat the words. They can do the actions in their seats.

Jeopardy Quiz Powerpoint

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Attached is a blank powerpoint which can be used for self introduction quizzes or any jeopardy quiz.

It is arranged so that when you click on the points in the grid it goes directly to that quiz question. To click back to the points grid you should click the arrow in the bottom right of each question slide.  If you don’t click on the arrow and just move onto the next slide you will miss the points grid and go straight to a new question. To finish the quiz and go on to the last page you can click on the “quiz” box above the points grid.

Blockbusters Quiz

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This is a TV show quiz which can be adapted to any grammar point.  The original game works by splitting the class into two teams (white and red). The aim of the red team is to make a path vertically on the grid by answering questions correctly while the white team is trying to make a path horizontally the grid.

Castle Game


This lesson is a result of discussion at Job Training 2012. Special thanks to Matt Mullins, Chris Shirley, Malaya Viloria, David Howard, and Rory Harnden.

This is a whole-class game wherein students build a castle, whilst attempting to destroy that of the other team.

Fortune Teller

  • On each side of the CHAT square, the students write down four numbers, four names of the opposite gender (famous people, anime characters, or friends), and four careers.
  • Once the board is complete, have the students write the first kanji or character of their first name and have them count the strokes.  This is their magic number.
  • Starting at the C and moving in a clock-wise direction, each student counts their magic number.  Whatever choice they land on is then crossed off.  They continue this process (beginning with the next choice), until ea

Connect 4

  • Divide the class down the middle into two teams.  One team will be represented by colored in circles, others with empty circles
  • Draw a grid on the board
  • ALT asks a question to the class
  • Students raise their hands
  • HRT chooses the fastest student
  • If the student is correct, he/she colors a spot on the grid.  That student can’t answer again

Guess Who?


Before Class:

Create a handout with 10 characters on it.

There should be 5 girls and 5 boys. 5 of the characters are from Japan, 5 are from the ALT 's home country. 5 of them play tennis (for example), 5 play soccer. Some are happy, some are sad. Half are 13 years old, half are 14.

Each has a different name.

"What time is it now?" Binary Watches Edition


An info-gap activity with an evil, mathematical component.  Show students how to read time on a couple different kinds of binary watches. Then, give the worksheets from this file to alternating rows. Have them fill in dots and then ask the student next to them to read the time.

1. Warm up and practice saying tricky times < 10 min

2. Show pictures of the binary watches and explain how to read them < 10 min

3. Info gap activity < 10min

Tank Race



  • Teams roll dice for turn order. 
  • The robot can perform 3 basic commands:

Go!  (straight/back)
Turn!  (left/right)
Shoot!  (straight only)

Months of the Year! Doubt!


Let's play B.S., also known as Doubt (dauto ダウト） in Japanese.

For this game you'll need to make decks of cards. In each deck there should be four cards for each month. Four Januarys, four Februarys etc. (If your kids are up to it, you can just remove the Kings from ordinary packs of cards and have them remember 1–12 as January–December.)

Divide the kids up into groups of 5 or 7. The groups must have odd numbers or the students will keep getting the same months over and over. Each group needs one deck.

English Soccer


This game is a soccer game with two teams of 11, plus some reserves on the "bench". There can be any number of reserves on each. It takes the format of a real soccer game, with the teacher as the main referee. The ball is kicked up and down the field according to how the questions are answered by each team member. Each team member is given a number, each team member of the other team is also given a number. Everyone will have a member of the opposing team with the same number as theirs, an opponent (different colored numbers).

Easter Egg Hunt Game

Cuddly Bear

This is a great game that can supplement a full Easter lesson or stand alone at the end of a lesson for a quick Easter intro. Pass out the "Easter Egg Hunt" worksheet to each student  (no longer available - make your own!). Be sure to tell the students to NOT write their names on the sheet. Go over the sentences on the worksheet and then have the students fill in the blanks. For JHS, I use the following sentences:

1. I play __________________________(sport, music instrument)

Takes Two to Tango


It takes 2 to 単語!

  1. Divide whole class into teams, as many as you think are necessary. Ideally, 6 members or fewer per group.
  2. Have the teams choose a team name then divide the blackboard accordingly.
  3. Call out a word in Japanese or English. The students' job is to translate that word and send someone to the front to write down the translation. Different difficulty levels can be employed.

Easy mode (JHS 1): one dictionary per group