Linguistic aim: - practice numbers 1-100 or any vocabulary (e.g. classroom objects, school things)
Materials: a strip of paper with numbers, a box with toys, school things
I have tried yes-no games with young learners in different forms.
I used both linear and non-linear games. For example, I asked my students to guess a number from 1 to 100, a letter on the board, an object in my bag and an object in the classroom. They had to ask a definite number of questions (from 8 to10). First it seemed to be a rather difficult task for them, but after I had explained them some techniques and we had chosen among a variety of questions the most appropriate ones, my students were able to do the tasks successfully. We did't forget to reflect on the activities we had done. We discussed which questions were good and which were a waste of time. Besides they were asked what things we would need to ask about in order to guess quickly and then we made a list of suggestions. So in addition to the paremeters of colour, size and location my students offered such parameters as shape and material.
In my opinion yes-no games can be used at the beginning of a lesson as a warming-up activity. On the other hand it's a good way to practise prepositions of place and asking questions.
Overall, my students enjoy yes-no games, they seem to be more motivated and competitive.
Comments
A few comments.
1. In the TA context, we've always got a thinking aim in addition to the language aim. Can you share your thinking aims when bringing Yes-No games to learners? What are you trying to develop and how do you evaluate it?
2. You are speaking about 'explaining some techniques' to your learners to help them to ask good questions. What are the techniques and how did you explain them to the learners?
3. It'd be useful if you could share more details on how reflection was organised. For example, how did you distinguish between 'good' and 'waste-of-time' questions, what did the list if suggestions include and how it was made, etc.
4. It'd also be useful to have more details on the questions learners asked and how the teacher responded. You might be interested in looking at my colleague Renata's reflections here that do it in a good way:
http://www.ta-teachers.eu/index.php/diaries-language-and-literature/diaries-english/88-english/433-introducing-challenge-to-the-pre-school-children-i
Looking forward to more posts.