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 - Break class into 4 or less teams
- Place a 'hot seat' in front of the class and facing away from the board
- Each team selects a leader
- One team is up at a time and their leader sits in the hot seat
- Write ten words on the board so the leader can't see them
- Number the words 1-10
- Each team member is assigned a word or words on the board
- Some team members may have more than one word
- Team members take turns communicating their word to the leader without
saying the word with no spelling, writing, or drawing allowed - Team members can say 'pass' if their word is too difficult
- Each team has 1 minute to get as many words as possible
- The team with the most points at the end wins
- 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
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!
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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.
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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.
What i've noticed with most
What i've noticed with most esl games on the internet is that, the rules to play them are never well explained and this may really hinder the use of an otherwise very nice game. Let's take a case in point "The Hot Seat" as explained by the person who submitted the game, instructions 1-9 are well explained and can be effectively practised. But what is the meaning of instructions 10 and 11?
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
English Games on the Internet
Hi teacher,
Thank you for your comment.
10. When it is your turn to try and communicate a word on the board to your team leader, you are allowed to say "pass" and skip turns to the next person in line if your word is too difficult for you to express without saying it.
11. There is a time limit of 1 minute for each team. It is common that not all teams will be able to go at one time, so each team is allowed 1 minute to try and get as many words correct as possible.
Hope this helps!
I tried it today, backwards,
I tried it today, backwards, and it worked well. The "hot seat" student was the only one who could see the board (explaining the words), and all the other students were guessing. The class was divided into 2 groups, and the group that said the answer first got the point. We rotated who was in the hot seat until all the students had a chance. I have a small class-6 students. (The hot seat student had to stay seated in the chair, limiting the amount of acting and increasing the necessity to rely on spoken words.)