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The Hot Seat

ESL/EFL Game Profile
Name of Game:
The Hot Seat
Target Students:
Middle School
Target Students:
High School
Target Students:
University
Target Students:
Adults
Duration:
45 minutes
Number of Students:
Any
English Skills:
Listening
English Skills:
Speaking
English Skills:
Vocabulary
Objective:
Communicate words without saying them
Instructions
  1. Break class into 4 or less teams
  2. Place a 'hot seat' in front of the class and facing away from the board
  3. Each team selects a leader
  4. One team is up at a time and their leader sits in the hot seat
  5. Write ten words on the board so the leader can't see them
  6. Number the words 1-10
  7. Each team member is assigned a word or words on the board
  8. Some team members may have more than one word
  9. Team
    members take turns communicating their word to the leader without
    saying the word with No spelling, writing, or drawing allowed
  10. Team members can say 'pass' if their word is too difficult
  11. Each team has 1 minute to get as many words as possible
  12. The team with the most points at the end wins
Variations
  • Use simple words like animals or days of the week for weaker students
  • Use the word 'pass' as one of the words on the board to challenge strong students
Notes

This game can be challenging to explain so preparing directions in the student's native language can be helpful.

 

A big thanks to Steve for this EFL/ESL game!

very nice indeed. I will try

very nice indeed. I will try this in my next section. Inform the results later :)

Hey this was a great

Hey this was a great idea...my MS1 and MS2 classes really seemed to enjoy it. It was difficult explaining the rules to them but once they got the hang of it they began to enjoy it. I found out that for next time, and yes there will definitely be a next time, that I will need top prepare harder words for the students.

Hot Seat Feedback

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Thanks loads

I used this game in my class, my students enjoyed this game very much!

I am going to use this for

I am going to use this for my class tomorrow. I teach University students and I played "pictionary" several weeks ago. I found out that 1/4 of the words I selected the students did not know. For this game, I am just going to spend 5 minutes at the beginning of the class and have the students write down 10 nouns. That way, the students will not only know the words, but it will also save me time in preparation! Just an idea

ESL Games Review

Thanks and please let us know how it goes!

I tried it just this afternoon

It's great, the kids have fun.
I used this game for Senior High School EFL Students, Grade 12. They enjoyed it. I did some modifications though. I use d categories for each group. I gave them time to choose their leader for the hot seat, and gave them time to discuss what would the words be for their part of the category. The rest, they were having fun and learning!

Hi. I've been using Hot Seat

Hi. I've been using Hot Seat in China for several years and it's always popular and useful. Instead of 10 words I use a phrase or short sentence on the board, e.g. "A big red house".
A lot of useful fun.