Criss-Cross

Goals

Just a simple warm up to get kids engaged and, depending on how you play, encourage students to take risks and make mistakes.

Materials

• None

Preparation The only thing you need is a classroom and desks that are in a formation conducive to having rows and columns. In my experience, this is almost all classrooms in Japan.

Procedure Criss-cross is the golden standard of warm-up games.

Students all stand up and the teacher asks them a series of questions (you can use this list ADD_LINK). The students can raise their hands and attempt to answer. If they are correct they can choose "row", "column" and just me". If "row", all the students in the row of the answering student sit down. If "column", the column sits down, if "just me" only the answering student sits down.

For the first time you play, write down "column", "row" and "just me" on the board and practice pronunciation. In Japan, you can use O and X to represent right and wrong. Use O next to all three (row, column and just me) to indicate if they are correct they have a choice. Use X next to just me to show that even if they are wrong they can sit down.

Vocabulary

Evaluation
None

Variations & Tips

• If nobody tries to answer within ten seconds I usually make a row or column stand up then begin to countdown again.
• Because students often don't say "I don't understand" or "I don't know". If they raise their hands and say either of those phrases I will let them sit down. If they say "I don't understand." I will explain the question in an easier way to understand. I usually intentionally ask questions that students won't understand so they become more willing to say these phrases.
• The last students standing are usually pretty nervous so I ask them an easy question or a question I've already asked

Notes:

• I believe a lot of students learn "column" as "line", I usually teach them to say "column" because it's harder and they play this game so much they will learn it.

• Some students will intentionally answer a question bizarrely just to sit down. I usually let this happen. If it gets out of hand I don't let them sit down for bizarre answers.