THE MEMORY–MIND GAME

The concept of a Memory-Mind Game was made famous by Rudyard Kipling’s novel ‘’Kim,’’ a story about a young, orphaned, Indian boy being trained to use his memory so he could be a spy.

This activity involves students being showed a number of objects (e.g. 10 – 20). The observers are told the names of each object on display. They are then allowed to view the objects for one more minute. The objects are then covered up and the students have to recall the name of each one.

Another version of the Memory-Mind Game is to show students a number of objects (again 10 – 20) for a very short period of time – covering them up but secretly removing one, two or three of them. The students then see the objects again and are asked to say which ones are now missing.

CHARADES

Reiterating the fact that learning should be enjoyable, challenging, and independent, charades are excellent for achieving those objectives.

Moreover, they lend themselves for fostering language-related skills such as imagination, interpretation, analysis, prediction, visualization and presentation, as well as giving the opportunity for freedom of expression.

Working individually, in pairs, in small groups or as a class, the students write their names on a small colored card and place it in a box or container. They then make up a list of everyday actions and recreational and sporting activities, printing them separately also on small colored cards that are then placed in a different box or container, e.g. (getting dressed, having a shower, setting a table, painting a wall, washing dishes, hanging out clothes, working in the garden, picking fruit, cleaning teeth, playing soccer, boxing, playing a musical instrument, driving a tractor, etc.)

Taking turns, each student draws an action/activity card from the box. The teacher or a class member then draws out a student’s name, who then has the task of acting out the action or activity on his or her card. By each student drawing out an action/activity card earlier, everyone has time to think about what they have to do. The other students have the task of guessing what action or activity is being portrayed by asking questions in sentences, e.g. Are you flying a kite?

A team approach can also be used to create a competitive atmosphere, scoring being based on the correct guesses. When English “music” words are being learned, charades also can be used with positive effect to reinforce the names of various instruments, e.g. playing a piano, a trumpet, a guitar, drums, a xylophone, etc.

THE MYSTERY QUIZ

The Mystery Quiz is a language-usage activity that involves students having to work out what a mystery object or activity is from the descriptions given by other students.

The Mystery Quiz is made competitive by having two or three student panels made up of three to five persons. Other students take turns at being the quiz master describing an object or activity using descriptive sentences as hints.

The contest is for the members of the panels to correctly say what the object or activity being described sentence by sentence, is. Individual panel members can offer an opinion and panel members can discuss among themselves as to what they think the object or activity might be.

Each panel has a bell and the first panel to ring its bell is given the chance to offer an answer. If the answer is incorrect that panel must either wait until the other panels have had a turn to offer an answer if they choose to or until after it is accepted no one knows the answer and a new descriptive hint is given.

The task of the quizmaster is to give hints in descriptive sentences that gradually become easier to work out. Example: The mystery object is a “trombone”.

Hint One: The mystery object is a musical instrument.
Hint Two: It is a musical instrument that is used in an orchestra.
Hint Three: This instrument is found in brass bands.
Hint Four: This musical instrument is a brass, wind instrument.
Hint Five: It is a large, deep-toned, brass wind instrument with a sliding tube.
Hint Six: The name of this musical instrument begins with the consonant blend “tr” that says “tr…”