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[Sappho]

I am in a TEFL certification class and must come up with my first lesson plan for beginners for tomorrow.  It's just an introductory 15-minute class where we will do a warm-up game.

The problem is, I have no idea how much English these students have.  All I know is that there's around 5-8 students, they are beginners, and they know extremely little.  The idea is to make the students talk as much as possible and to enjoy the class.  I'm having a lot of trouble coming up with a game I can play with them that doesn't either involve advanced vocabulary or explaining a lot (which we are not allowed to do).

Does anyone have any ideas?  Simple children's games that involve a lot of nouns but not a lot of verbs or concern over grammar?  I've been working on this for hours and am getting frustrated!

[Vester]

I'm an LTS (Literacy Training Service) volunteer and we have an icebreaker that might help.

Each person would have a piece of paper taped to their back. She'd then go around and the other participants would write what they thought of her or her personality on the piece of paper. It worked great to get people to say what they wanted to say.

Although it works best if the class already knows each other somewhat, so it might not be suitable for your class. 

[Sappho]

The class is new so they probably won't know each other.  Also, I'm not allowed to do an icebreaker - no personal information.

I can't believe how hard this is.  I'm starting to get really stressed out.

I was thinking a rock-paper-scissors type of game would work well, but I would have to come up with some kind of simple nouns that work.  I swear I remember there being an animal version, three animals that work in a rock-paper-scissors dynamic...  Can anyone think of one?

[Vester]

The class is new so they probably won't know each other.  Also, I'm not allowed to do an icebreaker - no personal information.

I can't believe how hard this is.  I'm starting to get really stressed out.

I was thinking a rock-paper-scissors type of game would work well, but I would have to come up with some kind of simple nouns that work.  I swear I remember there being an animal version, three animals that work in a rock-paper-scissors dynamic...  Can anyone think of one?

Well... what's the age range of the class? 20-30 or so?

[Jreengus]

I swear I remember there being an animal version, three animals that work in a rock-paper-scissors dynamic...  Can anyone think of one?

Mouse snake elephant? Mouse scares the elephant, elephant tramples the snake, snake eats the mouse.

[Sappho]

I have no idea how old they are.  Age range can be anywhere from 12 to 90.  We've been told to prepare for any possibility.

At least I know how many there are now.  4.  4 students.  Smaaaall class...  Not what I was planning on!

[ChairmanPoo]

I know this isnt what you were asking for, but back when I was a kid, videogames provided a stimuli to learn. In particular, adventure games and RPGs. The first ones I played (The Savage Empire, Ultima VII) are a bit outdated technically (but Ultima VII is still worth a go, methinks). You might consider Fallout 1 and 2, and like games.

[Sappho]

I'm in a tiny classroom in Prague furnished with a table, a few chairs, and a white board.  I *think* there may be a window as well.  Computers and the like are out of the question.

However, I've come up with what seems like a good idea: tongue twisters.  If I pick a few short ones with simple words in them, I can act out what the words mean and then just repeat them over and over again, picking up speed each time.  My teacher told me that reading short, simple poems and reciting them might work, but I think tongue twisters would be more fun.

So far I'm considering:
She sells sea shells by the seashore
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers
I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream
Many mice are mighty mice

Any other ideas?  Remember, I have to be able to explain what the words mean without a dictionary and without speaking their language, just acting them out or drawing pictures!

[Heron TSG]

How much wood could a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood?

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear.
Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair.
Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't very fuzzy, was he?

[Luckk]

You could try hangman with simple words but instead of drawing out someone being hanged, draw what the word is for every mistake so as to give hints.  I'm not sure if this is helpful or not but I am hoping it is.

[Idiom]

I recall a party game where points are accumulated by correctly guessing the meaning of an obscenely obscure word while the host keeps dropping hints. I suppose even something like "strawberry" might count as an obscure word for them. Might be too hard for them right now.

[Sappho]

Sadly, I can't even count on them knowing the alphabet.  Also, I can't use past tense or conditionals (would), so those two are, believe it or not, too hard.  I'm finding a few around, though, so I think I'll be okay.  Keep 'em coming though!  I really appreciate the help!  The more tongue twisters I can find, the better!

[Nirur Torir]

It's a bit hard, but it might work: "A noise annoys an oyster."

[Jack_Bread]

I have a notebook somewhere that had a bunch of made up tongue twisters in it, but I can't find it. D:

[Sappho]

Whew, it's over.  Only two of the students showed up, so it was hard to get their energy up, but I think I managed.  The guy observing me said I did good.  I went with "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream" and "Many mice are mighty mice" (for which I had to explain that the plural of "mouse" is "mice," which confused the hell out of them).  I also did a limerick with them that I made up.

Thanks to you all for the suggestions!  And wish me luck on next week, where I'll have to design 4 45-minute lesson plans with these people!