Bad Luck Billy

No separate online/Zoom version - use game as is for online classes

Download game font HERE

Having trouble downloading the PowerPoint version or editing the Google Slides version? CLICK HERE

(you do not need to request access to the file)

Game Features

Easily play as a reading or speaking game

Fun animations, sound effects, and graphics

By default this game has 30 game slides which you can adjust depending on how many students are in your class (ex. 30 slides = 31 students, 14 slides = 15 students)

How to Play

Everyone stands up.

One student reads the word or sentence on the screen.

Then, the next student goes. (i.e. The next student reads the same word/sentence on the screen- think of Hot Potato, but with words.)

At a random time, Billy will be struck by lightning. The lightning will strike automatically after the dark clouds appear. The time when it strikes is different on each slide (view the animation pane to view or change the timing).

Whichever student is reading when Billy gets struck is out (they sit down).

The teacher then moves onto the next slide and the game continues.

The last student standing is the winner!

Further instructions on how to play and edit the game can be found in the notes section of each slide.

Variations

To play as a speaking game, delete the text and put an image in the box instead.

Runtime

No runtime information has been submitted yet for this number of students. If you have used it with your students and would like to share how long it took to play, please fill out the form on the last tab. It would be very much appreciated and would be a big help to other teachers like you!

STUDENTS: 10-20 TIME: 15min SKILL FOCUS: Speaking FINISHED GAME?: Yes

Played with all grades (3rd-6th) with varying class sizes (10~20 kids) Very memorable, a lot of students ask to play this.

STUDENTS: 15 TIME: 20min SKILL FOCUS: Reading FINISHED GAME?: Yes

STUDENTS: 16 TIME: 10min SKILL FOCUS: Speaking FINISHED GAME?: Yes

My students LOVED this game - they wanted to skip lunch to keep playing. If a student with more emerging skills is starting, I did, read the sentence or word to help start the game off.

STUDENTS: 18 TIME: 12min SKILL FOCUS: Speaking FINISHED GAME?: No

Elementary school EFL - We only ran the game until 5 students were still standing instead of getting down to one, but we got through it very quickly. The students absolutely loved this! They keep requesting we do it again. Great game to wrap up a heavy new vocabulary day.

STUDENTS: 20 TIME: 15min SKILL FOCUS: Speaking FINISHED GAME?: Yes

STUDENTS: 23 TIME: ~15min SKILL FOCUS: Reading FINISHED GAME?: Yes

STUDENTS: 25 TIME: 20min SKILL FOCUS: Speaking FINISHED GAME?: Yes

STUDENTS: 26 TIME: 15min SKILL FOCUS: Speaking FINISHED GAME?: Yes

We finished one round in 15 minutes, but the students loved it and wanted to play again, so we started a second round in the last 5 min of class and played until we ran out of time.

STUDENTS: 27 TIME: ~25min SKILL FOCUS: Speaking FINISHED GAME?: Yes

STUDENTS: 27 TIME: 12min SKILL FOCUS: Speaking FINISHED GAME?: Yes

STUDENTS: 27 TIME: 20min SKILL FOCUS: Reading FINISHED GAME?: Yes

STUDENTS: 28 TIME: 15min SKILL FOCUS: Reading FINISHED GAME?: Yes

A big hit with my middle schoolers.

STUDENTS: 28 TIME: 15-20min SKILL FOCUS: Speaking FINISHED GAME?: Yes

The game took between 15-20 mins with my 3rd grade middle school classes. It even got my quietest class excited - thank you! :)

STUDENTS: 30 TIME: 15min SKILL FOCUS: Speaking FINISHED GAME?: No

I used this for my Middle School grade 2s who loved it!! I thought it was going to be too "childish" maybe for them, but they had a good time once they got the hang of it. Even those who are more shy or reluctant to take part seemed to have a really good time. To add to the fun I added a couple tongue twisters too hahaha.

STUDENTS: 40 TIME: (remainder of classtime) SKILL FOCUS: Reading FINISHED GAME?: Yes

I have used this activity to give the students practice reading aloud bits of their assigned reading. Before each round, I'll model the pronunciation for them and then start the round. My students are Japanese students in Senior High School, and most find it fun.

The runtimes in this chart are based on experiences from me and other teachers. If you had a different experience playing this game and would like to submit your own runtime feedback, please use the form below.

Bad Luck Billy

Game Features

How to Play

Variations

Runtime

Game runtime feedback

Questions & Feedback