Games

Richard Osman’s House of (ELT) Games, part 4: General Knowledge Quizzes

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General Knowledge Quizzes

Introduction

It’s been a while! No excuses – but here’s my latest celebration of my love of TV Quiz show Richard Osman’s House of Games.

Who doesn’t love a good trivia quiz? Even better if we can give it a language twist (revision of lexical fields or past tenses). Here are two games adapted from the ROHoG format. For those of you who don’t know, this is a popular teatime quiz show broadcast five evenings a week on BBC2, in which four guests compete in four games per episode. The final game is always the same, but all the other games are different, and many of them are just calling out to be adapted to ELT classrooms.

The host himself has gone from strength to strength recently, meeting his new wife on the show, and seeing his series of detective novels top bestseller lists worldwide. He’s still fronting his eponymous show, now into its 6th season and past its 100th episode, although I don’t know how much longer we’ll have the pleasure of his company. The show maintains some of its classic game formats, but has also added some new ones – including my current favourite ‘There’s no ‘I’ in Osman’, included here.

I’ve prepared a couple of powerpoint presentations as examples, but the questions could just as easily be written on a whiteboard or read out loud. Feel free to use my examples (please credit me!), but obviously if you want to create your own, it requires a little internet research.


These games can be played by individuals. If you want to play as teams, groups of 3-4 work best, with one individual representing the team in each round. You decide if the ‘reps’ can consult their teams – depending on liveliness and noise levels!

Summary

These are both individual or team quizzes, based on general knowledge topics, and/or vocabulary knowledge.

There’s no ‘I’ in Osman – players try to name as many examples of a given category as possible, without using the ‘forbidden’ letter.

Blast from the past – tense – players answer a trivia question, but have to convert it into the past tense. Exercising both general and language knowledge at the same time – quite cognitively challenging.

Materials

A pdf with instructions for both games can be downloaded, as well as an example of each game, which I’ve left in an editable format, so you can adapt and add to them as you please. Hope you – and your students – enjoy them and let me know how it goes!

quizzes-teachers-instructionsDownload
theres-no-i-in-osmanDownload
blast-from-the-past-tenseDownload

Links

If you want to see how the games are played on the show, you’ll find There’s no ‘I’ in Osman at minute 16’51 here

and Blast from the Past – Tense at minute 2’47 in this episode

Richard Osman’s House of (ELT) Games, part 3: Classroom Whiteboards

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Games for classroom whiteboards

Introduction

This is the third in an occasional series sharing the potential (I hope) of the games in the BBC2 quiz show ‘Richard Osman’s House of Games‘ for EFL classes. In this instalment I share two games which make use of the main classroom whiteboard. In a physical classroom, you need access to a whiteboard or screen and a projector. I’ve only ever played these games with F2F groups, but it should be possible to adapt these to a videoconferencing format using the whiteboard and stickers functions available in platforms such as Zoom. 

As usual, I’ve uploaded an example of each game in an editable ppt format. This means the games can be used as they are, or can be downloaded and adapted to fit the vocabulary and themes that you are presenting or recycling.

Summary

Both activities are ‘pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey’ style games, which involve associating vocabulary and cultural knowledge with images. While the basic premise is very simple, this format allows different variations which can expand the language use beyond a simple test of what students know.

Put your finger on it is a game where students identify the correct option from an image projected on the screen.

Where is Kazakhstan? is a geography-based general knowledge game, played in teams.

I’ve provided instructions for both games on one downloadable document and a link to an example of each game in ppt format. I’ve chosen vocabulary and lexical sets that correspond to the context I was teaching, but you can use the ppt as a template to adapt to your own teaching situation and the needs of your learners.

Materials

Whiteboard games: Teacher’s instructionsDownload
Put your finger on it pptDownload
Where is Kazakhstan? pptDownload

Richard Osman’s House of (ELT) Games, part 2: Vocabulary Games

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Vocabulary Games

Introduction

Here’s the second instalment in a series of games based on Richard Osman’s House of Games. In the last post I shared my (slightly obsessive) fondness for this BBC2 quiz show. It turns out I’m not the only one. Here are three more games, all based around recycling previously-presented vocabulary. They can be played individually, or in pairs/teams, with mini-whiteboards, or in live online classes using the chat box or whiteboard to collect answers.

As before, I’ve uploaded the example games in ppt format, so they can be used as they are, or as a template to adapt to vocabulary for your own groups. Given the current situation, the format (I hope) is adaptable to both F2F and live online classes. Let me know what you think!

Summary

The three games in this post require a little preparation, basically identifying the vocabulary to be recycled in each case and adapting the ppt template accordingly. I do recommend you make a note of the answers beforehand, or even better, add slides to the game to show the answers while playing. Some of the games, e.g. Games House Of can catch you out (as I found to my cost) if you’re not prepared.

This Round is in Code is a very simple game, which can be played individually or in pairs or groups. The code is easy to understand, but the answers are not at all obvious!

Games House Of is a challenging game, which involves reproducing lexical chunks in alphabetical order, so only works with sequences of two or more words.

Size Matters is a fun game format, where learners aim to produce the longest (correct!) possible word from a given group . In the original programme, the questions were based on general knowledge, but this has been adapted to be used with lexical sets.

I’ve provided instructions for all three games on one downloadable document below and an example of each game in ppt format, which can be used as an editable template to customise for your own teaching situation and learners.

Materials

Word games – Teacher’s instructionsDownload
This Round is in CodeDownload
Games House OfDownload
Size MattersDownload

Richard Osman’s House of (ELT) Games, part 1: Tablets or mini-whiteboards

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RoHOG graphic

Games for tablets or mini-whiteboards

Introduction

Like many English teachers, I’m a big fan of word games. I’m also a big fan of the British TV producer and presenter Richard Osman. The Quiz show ‘Richard Osman’s House of Games’ (ROHoG) has been running on BBC 2 for a couple of years. The basic format is that four media personalities take part in a series of games based around language, logic and/or general knowledge. Most of the games are very simple and accessible and I’d been wondering for a long time if it was possible to translate them to the language classroom.

*Update: Fellow fan @eltplanning uses the ROHoG classic ‘Answer Smash’ in class and has blogged about it here.

Then the Coronavirus crisis occurred and my extra-curricular activities were put on hold. After making the move online with my year-long F2F courses, I was then faced with a new challenge: a summer intensive course from scratch taught via Zoom. To break up the routine of daily online classes,  I set out to do at least one different game every day to recycle and use vocabulary presented throughout the course. I’d already tried adapting some of the games in my F2F classes and this gave me the opportunity to see if any of the games worked well in an online context. Huge thanks to my group for being such willing and motivated guinea pigs. This is the first in (I hope) a series of posts to share teacher- and learner-friendly ROHoG game formats which worked in both contexts.

Summary

Games for tablets or mini whiteboards.

Here are three games adapted from the ROHoG format which can be used with tablets or mini whiteboards. A blank piece of white paper inside a clear plastic pocket is an easy way to make your own mini whiteboard. If you’re teaching an online class via videoconferencing, the students can hold their boards or pockets up to the camera to play. Give your students advance notice so they can bring or make the mini-whiteboard for the following class.

NB: If using mini-whiteboards, students will also need a tissue or cloth to clean it after each round. Students often have a packet of tissues on them, but if you’re playing in a F2F class, have some extra, just in case.

You Spell Terrible is a game played in pairs which tests both vocabulary knowledge and spelling of ‘problematic’ words.

The Rich List is an individual game, loosely based on the ‘Scattegories‘ board game, where the teacher gets to play too.

Size Matters is a game where learners compete to find the longest possible word within a given category.

I’ve provided instructions for all three games on one downloadable document and, for each game, a link to an example game in ppt format. I’ve chosen vocabulary and lexical sets that correspond to the context I was teaching, but you can use the ppt as a template to adapt to your own teaching situation and the needs of your learners.

Materials

Teacher’s notes

You Spell Terrible – example game

The Rich List – example game

Size Matters – example game