39 ESL Vocabulary Activities: For Teenagers and Adults - Jackie Bolen, Jennifer Booker Smith 2015

Steal the eraser
Games and activities for lower-level students

Skills: Listening/Speaking

Time: 10-15 minutes

Materials: 2 chairs, a table or desk, eraser

This game is a fun way to review grammar and vocabulary and makes an excellent activity for the class before a test. Divide the students into two teams. Have two desks at the front of the class, facing each other with an eraser in the middle of the two desks. One student from each team comes and sits in the hot seat. Rotate through the class so that all the students get a chance to play at least once. You then ask a question of some sort, which you should prepare beforehand (one round = one question/2 students. Two rounds = one question/student. Include a few extras for a “bonus” round). The first person who grabs the eraser can try to answer the question. A helpful rule is that a student can take the eraser at any time, but the teacher stops talking as soon as someone touches the eraser. The student then has ten seconds to answer as you count down on your fingers. If the students is correct, he/she gets one point.

If the student is incorrect, the other player gets a chance to answer the question after you repeat the full question one more time.

To make it even more exciting (or if one team is behind by a lot of points), you can have a "Bonus Round" where the teams pick their best three players and each question is worth three points.

Here's an example list of very simple questions that I use for this game:

Steal the Eraser Game Questions

Teaching Tips:

Emphasize that the first student to touch the eraser must take it in order to prevent any chaos. I also require students to keep their fingers on the edge of their desks when I begin the question. It's really important to stop talking the instant one student touches the eraser. If not, students will just grab the eraser and wait for you to finish the question, which is really unfair. It's best to use questions that have very well-defined answers so you don't have to make any judgement calls because half the class will be unhappy with you no matter what decision you make.

Procedure:

1. Prepare two desks facing each at the front of the class, with an eraser in the middle.

2. Divide students into two teams.

3. Each team sends one person to the front and they sit at the desks. I don't let students choose the person for each round but instead make them go in the order that they are sitting.

4. Begin asking a question (prepare the list beforehand), but stop speaking once the eraser is touched. Alternatively, you can have each team appoint a captain who takes turns reading the prepared list of questions in order to increase student talking time.

5. The first player to touch the eraser must answer the question within ten seconds. Count down the time on your fingers.

6. If correct, he/she gets one point and the next two people come up to the front for another question. If incorrect, read the question (in full) one more time and the opposing player gets a chance to answer the question within ten seconds.

7. If correct, he/she gets one point. If incorrect, both players sit down and the next pair comes up. You can share the correct answer with the class before saying a new question.

9. Continue until all students have had a chance to play at least once.