UNFOCUS TO FOCUS: A FUN GAME TO BOOST STUDENTS’ ATTENTION

Fancy playing a quick game? Name 3 concentration killers in 5 seconds.

Five,

four,

three,

two,

one…

Time’s up! Back to work.

It’s commonly known that giving students a break is one of the most effective ways to help them regain focus and attention. However, we drastically underestimate the importance of brain breaks. Recent research shows that incorporating brain breaks into learning is as important as practice. ‘As a general rule, concentrated study of 10 to 15 minutes for elementary school and 20 to 30 minutes for middle and high school students calls for a 3- to 5-minute break.’ Brain breaks can be used to get language students to go physical or to play some fun games that will help them restore their attention and focus on learning.  

I have already shared quite a number of brain teasers (see TOP 10 BRAIN TEASERS FOR ENGLISH CLASSES) and activities to get students to move, whisper, laugh, sing, talk and dance in the classroom. So I thought it would be a good idea to create an interactive version of one of my favourites – the 5-Minute Rule game or Name 3 Things in 5 Seconds. The game seems incredibly easy, but it gets quite tricky when you have to race against the timer. 

The rules of the game are simple: pick a card and name 3 things in 5 seconds. If you believe that a card in your student’s hand is worth two in the digital jungle, you will need to print out and cut the cards (see the downloadable pdf below). You can add your own questions (check this website for inspiration). Otherwise, save a tree and just give the link to the interactive game to your students. You can also download the game in html and use it offline (get in touch with me if you need help). 

Click on the image below to open the game in a new window and play the game.