Josiah Nilsen’s Pedagogical Repertoire
| Envelope grouping game | high beginner to advanced | Students, in groups of four, are given an envelope with words or concepts in it. Each group categorizes the words or concepts into the categories given. An alternative way to do this would be to have the students come up with their own categories for classification. | A good way to review concepts, as well as to engage students in analyzing and evaluating. |
| Foursquare voting | any level | Four large squares are designated on the ground, and students are given a choice with four options, one for each square. Students vote for their favorite choice by standing in the appropriate square. Once in the square, students discuss with the other students who chose their option about why they chose it. Then, a person or two from each group explains to the other groups why they chose it. | This is good for getting the students to give reasons and defend opinions. No one is speaking in front of the whole class unless they want to, so no one feels singled out or too nervous to speak.
This game can be tailored for higher and lower levels. |
| Jigsaw reading (with expert groups) | any level | Each student is assigned one of three or four different readings as homework (or short readings, as an in-class activity). Then students meet with others who read the same reading to discuss it. After that, students form groups of three or four with people who did other readings and explain their reading to their group. | This activity integrates reading with speaking. It will help the students to pick out the main ideas of a text, since they will have to explain it to others. Discussing with the expert groups first will help students clarify what they got out of the text. |
| Think-Pair-Share | any level | Each student thinks on their own about the question before them, then, they share their thoughts with a partner in pairs. Finally, each person shares with the class, or with a small group of four, what their partner said. | This is a very versatile activity and could be used in many different ways. It promotes personal reflection, dialog, and sharing another’s opinions. |
| The animal shape game | beginner | Students get into groups of three and form an animal with their bodies. The rest of the class tries to guess which animal they are. | This is useful for practicing animal vocabulary with beginner students. |
| Moon/Island survival exercise | advanced | Students receive a list of items needed to survive on the moon / on a desert island. Each student reads through the list on their own and rates the items from most useful to least useful. Then, in groups of four, students discuss with one another and rate the items from most useful to least useful, trying to come to a consensus. Then each group shares their answers with the class. | This is a good way to have students engage some of the higher levels of Bloom’s taxonomy, such as analyzing and evaluating. Students will also present and defend opinions. |
| Tell a story where each person adds a sentence | any level | This is best done in groups of three or four. While one person says a sentence, the next person writes it down. After three or four rounds, stop, and read the stories aloud to the class. | This can be a fun way to have students create a story together. Students engage in listening, speaking, and writing. |
| Team debates | intermediate to advanced | Version 1: No Preparation | Divide students into pro and con teams. Each team meets for five or ten minutes to discuss their talking points. Then come back together and have debate. |
| Version 2: Structured Preparation | Same as before, except that students are given ten or twenty short texts or videos beforehand, and must construct their argument solely from these. | ||
| Version 3: Free preparation | Same as before, except that each team is given 20 minutes to research online before meeting with their team to discuss talking points. Only use this one with mature dependable students. And possibly avoid topics that are really controversial. | ||
| Geography Game | any level | For beginners: Countries | Good way to learn geography of the region you are learning about. Could be adapted to parts of your city or parts of your county. |
| For intermediate: Add Capitals, Seas, Rivers | |||
| For advanced: Add Major Cities, Provinces | |||
| Jeopardy Trivia | any level | Students get into teams of three and then play jeopardy. One person from each team is the speaker, and the others provide ideas to the speaker. | This is a fun way to review concepts from a unit or from a whole class. |
| Matching or Memory with a word and its definition | any level | Students are in groups of four. Each group is given an envelope with a series of small strips of paper containing vocabulary words or terms from the lesson, and another with the definitions. Students try to match the word with its definition. This can be cooperative or competitive. And the cards can be face down (memory) or faceup. | This is a good way to review concepts from a unit or class. It helps students to define L2 words and concepts in the L2, rather than mentally resorting to their L1. |
| Alligator River | advanced | Show the students the alligator river scenario. Each person rates the characters on their own, then students in groups of four try to come to a consensus on the ratings. | Good for analyzing and evaluating. Can get students debating passionately. Do not try with students whose language level is not fairly advanced, unless you have adapted it somehow to accommodate their level of ability. |
| Trade Fair | high beginner to advanced | Students in small groups choose some aspect of the L2 history, culture, language, sports, food, music, etc, and create a display and presentation on that thing. This will take a long time to prepare, two weeks at least. Make sure to invite | This is a very good way for students to engage in Bloom’s level 6, creating. It will also help develop their presentation skills and sense of self-confidence. |
| Headbands | any | Students have a word on a card held up to their head in such a way that the student cannot see their own, but everyone else can. Students circulate around the room and ask questions to try to figure out what their card says. | This is a good way to get students to ask questions for information in a communicative way.
This is a good way to review. |