Bang! (A Vocabulary Game)

(TESOL Ideas--Any Vocabulary Set)

This game is also known as Bang! Bang! in some circles.

It's been popular at a couple of schools I've worked at.  A teacher explained it to me once, and I thought to myself, "Nah, I'm not going to do that.  I would take way too much work to explain all that to my English language learners."

But, then I was away for 2 months, and the cover teacher did this game a lot with my students and they absolutely loved it.  So when I came back, the students asked to keep doing the game, and I integrated it into my repertoire of vocabulary review games.  It's a bit difficult to explain to the students at first, but once the game takes off, the students have a lot of fun.

The rules:
The students make a circle.  The teacher puts his hands together to make a finger gun.

The teacher then describes a vocabulary word that the students have already studied.  (e.g. "This is a sport where you have to kick the ball.)
The teacher then whirls around and shoots and unsuspecting student.  "Bang!" you yell out.  That student drops to the floor as if dead.  The dead student, however, is not the one who is playing.  Rather, it is now the two students standing on either side of the dead student (the one to his right, and the one to his left) who are now in a duel.  They must say the vocabulary word, point their finger gun at the other student, and yell "Bang!"  (e.g. "Soccer! Bang!").  The fastest student wins, and the slower student is out and has to go back to their desk and sit down.

The dead student now stands up and goes to the middle.  They will now take over the teacher's role, say the next definition, and select the next student to shoot.

This game works well when reviewing a vocabulary set that the students have already studied.