Sometimes it can feel like we’re doing the same review games over and over. I can’t even hear the words “Running Dictation” without wanting to run for the hills.

(Although if you’ve never tried a running dictation in your class, check out the rules here because students love it and it’s great practice.)

But if you’re like me and need some more obscure or unique review games for your classes, check out the ones below.

1. Pre-Recorded Sentence Dictation

Put students in groups of 2-3. Give each group either a mini-whiteboard or a blank piece of paper. If they’re using a blank piece of paper, it should be numbered based on how many sentences you’ll be giving the students. If students are using mini-whiteboards, they can just erase and start over for each new sentence.

Before class, make an audio recording of sentences that you want the students to write. Record the sentences like this, “Number 1, Was it raining when Jane came home?” “Number 2, Ben was doing a puzzle when his mom arrived. Number 3…”

Then make a PowerPoint with the answers, so that the students can immediately check whether they’re right or wrong.

Now, when you get to class, play a sentence for the students, tell them to write it down, and time them! You can either put a timer from YouTube on the board, or you can just count down or watch the clock in the back of the room. When time is up, they must put their writing utensils down.

Groups who correctly finish their sentences before time is up get a point. Make sure to show the correct answer on the board, so everyone has a chance to see what the answer should have been.

Repeat for all of the sentences you’ve recorded.

This game is excellent listening practice, but its also good grammar and vocabulary practice.

2. Around the World (Fun Version)

If you’re above a certain age, then I guarantee you played this in elementary school.

The traditional game goes like this. You have two students who sit next to each other stand up. You ask them a question. First student to answer is the winner. He goes back and stands next to the kid behind him. The new student stands, the teacher asks a question to the two students, and the winner moves onto the next student. The goal is for one student to make it all the way around the whole room, defeating all the other students, and getting back to his original seat.

The big problem with this game is that the students who aren’t competing often zone out or start causing trouble

So how can you make this game more engaging for everyone?

First, create a PowerPoint with the question on one slide and the answer on the next. This ensures that you won’t have any students saying “Huh?” after you’ve just asked the question.

Second, get a bell, a buzzer, or squeak toy. When it’s time to play, have students put their hands behind their backs and tell them they can’t hit the buzzer until you say go. The student who hit the buzzer first, gets to answer. Give them a limited amount of time to answer to ensure students don’t just hit the buzzer even if they don’t know the answer.

Third, on the answer slides, put funny pictures or GIFs. This will keep students’ eyes on the board, even if its not their turn to answer the questions. You know your students, so if they’re into Pokemon, try putting a new Pokemon on each page.

With these simple changes, I guarantee class participation will move way up and they’ll be much more invested in who is going to move “Around the World.”

This is a fun, fast-paced game that can be used to review anything. If you want all students to participate more, then encourage everyone to read the answers out loud when the answer slide is projected on the board.

3. Grammar Casino (Make Worksheets More Exciting)

If your students are reviewing for a test, then they probably have some worksheets or workbook pages that they’re supposed to complete, but which will be met with cries of “Boring!”

A simple way to make those exercises more exciting are by playing Grammar Casino!

Put students into small groups of 2-4. On the board, give each team $200. (This is even more fun if you have toy money, like Monopoly money, which you can hand to the groups.)

Next explain the concept of betting.

Here are the rules. After completing a grammar exercise, but before the teacher gives feedback, students are going to bet money on how well they did the grammar exercise. The maximum bet they can make is $100. This is to prevent teams from losing all their money on the first round. If students get 100% correct, then they can add their bet to their teams’ money. If they miss 1-2 questions, they can add 50% of their bet. If they miss more than 2, then they will lose the money they bet.

For example, let’s imagine a team with $200 bets $50. When you check their work, they’ve made one mistake. That means they’ve earned $25. Now they have $225.

Another team with $200 bet $50. When you check their answers, they’ve made 3 mistakes. They now have $150.

Make sure you have the answers to all the grammar exercises because after students make their bets, you have to quickly check each group’s exercises. The best way to do this is by calling one “team leader” up from each group. That student brings the exercise to you. You can check all of the teams’ answers quickly this way.

Students love this game and get super competitive, but at the end of the day they’re still doing the “boring” grammar exercises that they have to complete for the class. Also, by quickly grading and handing back their answers, students get instant feedback which is great review for an upcoming test.

I hope these games can make your review classes more exciting, and I hope they can provide some inspiration for the teacher who is stuck in a review rut.

If you need more fun games, check out these sentence structure games.