HALLOWEEN PECHA KUCHA

What is PECHA KUCHA? It is a six minutes and forty second presentation consist of twenty slides discussed in twenty seconds each. So fast, yet very informative and effective way to show off or sell your work.  Here I borrowed the phrase and given it a new meaning with this game I created for Halloween.

Target Language

noun (Halloween characters)

adjectives

verbs

Players

ten or more

the whole class

Materials

picture cards of Halloween characters

How to play

Divide the players into five (or more) competing teams. Have each team stand at each corner of the room where each team can observe the others. Assign each team a Halloween character and the corresponding verb and action that best describes the character, like;

WICKED WITCH the verb FLY, with action of flying on a broom stick

JACK O' LANTERN the verb ROLL, with action of both hands doing a locomotion

BLACK CAT the verb CREEP, with action of cat like creeping

WHITE GHOST the verb FLOAT, with action of floating in the air

SCARY MONSTER the verb STOMP, with action of feet stomping alternately on the floor

Players say the name of the Halloween character two (2) times, say the verb three (3) times and do the action simultaneously before passing the task to another Halloween character. Example:

Black Cat Team:  Black cat... Black cat... creep, creep, creep to Wicked Witch FLY!

Wicked Witch Team:  Wicked witch... Wicked witch... fly, fly, fly to Jack o' lantern ROLL!

Jack o' Lantern Team:  Jack o' Lantern... Jack o' Lantern... roll, roll, roll to White Ghost FLOAT!

... and so on.

Disqualify any group which commits mistake such as lack of synchronization or wrong action of the verb. Do not allow the action to be passes back to where it directly came.

Have fun. HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 

The Auction

Have you ever been to a subasta before? In the Philippines, subasta means auction , and it is defined as a type of sale where price of the item is negotiated through the process of competitive and open bidding. It is normally, a public sale at which items are sold to the person offering to pay the highest price.

This reinvention of auction for EFL classrooms doesn't have items up for sale and it doesn't have currencies or toy money involved. What is negotiated in this reinvention is vocabulary (target language), and the means of exchange are number cards. The aim of the game is to put up the highest number (from 2-10) possible to win. This is a "winner takes all" game, meaning the player to put up the highest number takes all the other cards.

Target Language
(In this video)
Class            What do you have?
Player           I have (some paper).

Also best for practicing:
(Occupations)
Class            What does (he) do?
Player           He is (a doctor).

(Places)
Class            Where are you going?
Player           I am going to (the park).

Players
four (4) or more

Materials
picture cards
number cards (tramp cards)

How to play
1.  Determine the order of play.
2.  Shuffle one deck of tramp cards (minus the Kings, Queens, Jacks, Jokers, and  Aces), make two piles, and place them face down on the playing surface. Place a  picture card (target language) between the piles of number cards, for example;  picture card of ribbon. The class asks the question: "What do you have?"
3.  The first player answers: "I have (some ribbon)." He then takes a number card from the pile; place the card in-front of him, but keeping it facedown.
4.  The second player takes his turn. The class asks the question again: "What do you have?" The second player answers: "I have (some ribbon)." He then takes a number card from the pile; place the card in-front of him, but keeping it facedown.
5.  The third player takes his turn and does the same. When all the players have had their turns, the teacher calls out: "Turn over your card now!"
 6.  Players turn over their cards at the same time. The player with the highest number takes all the cards. If there's a draw (two or more players with the same number), they do rock-scissors-paper, and the winner takes all the cards. The game continues until there are no more cards to turn over. The winner is the player with the most number of cards.