Got to Hand it to You: ESL Relay Race Game

Are you looking for a fun ESL review activity? Then you’ve certainly found the source of all good things ESL awesome with this relay race game. Keep on reading for everything you need to know about Got to Hand it To You.

Got to Hand it to You Relay Race Game

If you’re an ESL teacher looking for an ESL review activity, you’ve come to the right place! Got to Hand it to You is kind of like a quiz show, but instead of the teacher asking questions and the students answering, everything is on paper. It can really appeal to a few different types of learning styles as well, within a single activity.

This has the potential to make it far more student centred than the traditional kind of quiz show thing that is a popular alternative. What does a student-centred classroom have going for it? The potential for even more learning to happen, so it’s certainly worth it to try to increase student thinking/reading/speaking, etc.

In groups, students read the questions and then they have to fill out an answer sheet. It’s far more student centred than the traditional “ESL Jeopardy” game and as a bonus, students have to answer all the questions instead of every 1 in 20 or so.

Got to Hand it to You ESL Activity

Skills: Writing/Reading
Time: 5-30 minutes
Level: Beginner to Advanced
Materials: Question sheet and answer sheet
Age: 8+

This is a group quiz relay activity. In advance, you will need to prepare a quiz sheet with the questions and a blank answer sheet. If you will be repeating the activity with several classes, laminate the question sheets and reuse them.

Each group will use one answer sheet, but you can give each student a question sheet or have the group share one or two. If this activity is for credit, be sure to include spaces for all group members to write their names on the answer sheet.

This relay race activity is simple enough: each group races to be the first to fill in the answer sheet correctly and hand it to you. If there are errors, you return the answer sheet and the group must keep working.

How to Prevent Random Guessing

My rule is that I require groups to wait 5 minutes between me checking answer sheets. This prevents students from randomly trying to guess answers. Usually another group has finished correctly before the five minutes it up so it doesn’t become a big issue.

Check Answers as a Class, Especially if there’s a Big Test Coming Up

When all groups have finished or time is up, check the answers together as a class. Go over any particularly hard questions and/or highlight things that might be on an upcoming test!

Procedure for Got to Hand it to You:

1. In advance, prepare a quiz sheet with the questions and a blank answer sheet. Each group will need one answer sheet and at least one question sheet.

2. Have each group races to be the first to fill in the answer sheet correctly and hand it to you. If there are errors, they must keep working. Require that students wait five minutes before checking with you again in order to prevent random guessing.

3. When all groups have finished or time is up, check the answers together.

4. If you like, you can give out a prize to the winning team. For some students, this is often an added incentive to try their hardest, but be sure to try to balance out the groups to make it fair.

Like this Simple ESL Relay Race Activity?

If you liked this relay game, we have good news for you! There are 38 more of them just like it in this book: 39 ESL Review Activities: For Teenagers and Adults.

Have Some Fun With ESL Review Games

Review lessons are often not liked by the students and for good reason-they’re often quite boring! But, they don’t have to be. This book will help you plan some fun, engaging and useful review lessons in no time.

Available in a Variety of Formats

You can get the book in both digital and print formats. Keep a copy on the bookshelf in your office as a handy reference guide for when you do lesson plans. Or, take a copy to your favourite coffee shop for some serious lesson planning on the go. Yes, it really is that easy to make your English classes even better.

Get the Book Today

Check it out on Amazon today, but only if you want to get yourself some serious ESL lesson planning awesome in your life:

39 ESL Review Activities: For Teenagers and Adults

Check out Another Favourite ESL Game

If you’re looking for some more ideas about what to do before that big midterm or final exam, then you’re going to want to have a few more ideas up your sleeve, right? Of course!

Check out this short video about using ESL board games. They’re ideal because they cover a range of skills, and you can easily design your own for just about any vocabulary set, grammar points, or topic. Seriously, it’s really easy and takes just a few minutes once you get the hang of it.

What do the students think about this ESL game to play in the classroom? They love it! Pure fun and joy in an English class? It’s most certainly possible.

Have your Say about Got to Hand It To You Relay Game

What are your thoughts about got to hand it to you? Have you tried it out in your classes? Or, do you have another go-to relay activity you like to use? Leave a comment below and let us know. We’d love to hear from you.

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