ESL Games: True or False?

The Game: The game True or False? is a fun, interactive game for students to share interesting facts about themselves and to sharpen creative thinking, creative problem solving skills, and listening skills…all  while have fun with the English language. What’s more? Your students will learn more about each other by guessing which statements are true or false about others in the class. This inevitably helps build classroom cohesion.

Materials Needed

1. Index cards (3 for each student)
2. Pencils or pens
3. Chairs to sit on

How to Play

1. The teacher collects the true/false cards to shuffle.
2. Students sit in a circle and place their pens under their chairs.
3. One student is chosen to start.
4. Remove the student’s chair from the circle.
5. This student stands next to the person on his or her right, who also stands.
6. The teacher reads a card. (The card should not be about either of the standing students.) Each student calls out, quickly, whether he or she thinks the statement is true or false. Whoever responds with the right answer first continues to stand. The other student sits down. If both students call out the wrong answer, the teacher reads another card.
7. The student who answers correctly moves clockwise to the right, and the new student he or she is next to now stands.
8. The game continues with a new question.
9. The winner is the student who goes around the circle to his or her original spot, indicated by the pen under the chair.
10. If all of the cards have been read, and no student has completed the circle, the student who has gone the farthest around the circle from his or her original spot wins.
11. After a winner is declared, the teacher discusses with the class what clues were especially helpful, well written, creative, etc.

How to Make It

1. The students receive 3 index cards each.
2. On the top of the cards, they write their names.
3. On each card, they write something about themselves. This is either true or false.
4. The teacher should give some examples and try to encourage creativity.
5. Under the statements, the students write true or false.

Variation

1. The teacher guides the students with categories (E.g., write something about yourself that happened before you were a certain age, something about what happened in your favorite class in high school, or something about a future career goal). Students should not write down obvious things that others in class already know (e.g., I am class president, I won the class spelling bee), or things that are easily visible (e.g., hair color, height)
2. The number of statements can vary depending on the age, level, and ability of the student.
3. Rather than reading another card if both students give the wrong answer, the teacher can have both students sit, and the student who the card is about stand for the next question.