If you want to get your students engaged in the lessons and turn the fun mode on in class, this web tool is for you! Kahoot is one of the latest gamifying apps that I constantly use in my classroom to liven up my warm ups, quizzes and reviews! They raise the energy level of my classes to the highest level – every time!
Kahoot is a student-response gamifying tool that let teachers create multiple-choice quizzes. They provides quick, real-time results and give students instant feedback on their devices without anyone being called out individually.
Tech Requirements
For teachers: white screen and overhead projector
For students: smartphones, tablets or laptops
…and of course a strong, reliable internet connection!
How to Create a Kahoot!
- Simply have your test questions ready and log in to create.kahoot.it.
- Click Quiz to create a series of multiple choice questions.
- Adjust each kahoot question if necessary by varying the timer and point system depending on the level of difficulty.
- Finally, add images and videos for a more engaging content and/or if you wish to give clues.
How to Play Kahoot!
Players do NOT need a kahoot account to play!
- Launch the game you created on a shared screen (using overhead projector) so the class could see the Game Pin.
- Using their electronic device, students will go to kahoot.it and join in the fun by entering the pin. They will have to provide a nickname to see who got what score. I suggest letting them play by pairs or in groups, but if you have a strong internet connection you can let them play individually.
- Once you see all their nicknames on the waiting screen, you can click Start to begin the fun!
Tip
If students join in using inappropriate or offensive nicknames, it is easy to “kick” them out of the game by simply clicking on their nicknames. Remind and encourage students at the outset to use proper or suitable names to avoid these situations.
Try it now
You can try out this simple game that I created about Jobs and Profession.
- Launch this kahoot quiz on your laptop/desktop computer.
- Enter the pin using your smartphone or tablet.
- Have fun!
Ideas for Using Kahoot in Class
1. Set a Weekly Kahoot Day
I use this Kahoot mainly to review concepts and vocabulary. My students always ask to play Kahoot again and again so I decided to establish a Kahoot day for quick revision and informal assessments. You can download a report of your students performance which can give you an idea where are your students at in their learning.
2. Challenge Kids to Create their Own Kahoot
You can also challenge your students to create their own Kahoot quiz for higher order learning. I divide my class into groups with 4 or 5 members where each member contributes at least 5 questions about the topic or unit we discussed in class.
3. Break the Ice or Fill the Time
There are thousands of Kahoots made by educators which you can quickly access for free! Play a Kahoot when you have random few minutes to fill, or when students need some energy booster!
4. Play Kahoot as a Warm up or Exit Ticket
Use Kahoot as a class starter – a quick five-question quiz about the previous lesson or as a lead in to the new topic. Alternatively, play Kahoot before students leave the class and ask them a short 3 to 5-item survey or poll about the day’s lesson.
5. Assign Kahoot as Homework
The latest Kahoot feature called Challenge lets you assign kahoots as homework and is quite helpful! Assigning kahoots as homework saves the teacher lots of time because this kind of homework corrects itself. Also, after a challenge is completed, you can review stats question by question and see the ratio of correct and of incorrect answers.
Quick Kahoot Links
Play Kahoot Quiz with your students using quick links below which cover a variety of ESL theme-based vocabulary and grammar topics.
- Book Genre
- Book Genre 2
- Country Flags
- Country Trivia Country Trivia 2
- Crime
- Environment
- Feelings
- Government System
- Home Appliances
- Jobs and Profession
- Jobs and Profession 2
- Parts of the Body
- Personal Qualities
- Sports
- Technology
- TV Programs
Sanjay Shivaji Dalavi
September 20, 2018 9:26 pmThis is very good resource for teacher.
Jo
November 14, 2018 6:23 amI agree! My students love Kahoot!
ann foreman
October 1, 2018 3:20 pmHi!
Just to let you know that we’ve shortlisted this blog post for this month’s TeachingEnglish blog award and I’ll be putting up a post about it on tomorrow’s TeachingEnglish Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/TeachingEnglish.BritishCouncil, if you’d like to check there for comments.
Best,
Ann
Stephen
October 2, 2018 3:09 amThank you for this thorough guide and also for the activity tips you mentioned! Keep up the good work!
Melchor Bernardo
November 14, 2018 6:24 amYou’re welcome 🙂 and thanks!
RASAMIMANANA
October 18, 2019 2:13 pmi want to play kahoot
Melchor Bernardo
October 21, 2019 1:28 amGo for it! 😉
Dave
December 2, 2019 11:40 pmFor me it was pleasant learning until I caught some student using this https://kahootbot.org to send bot to the game. I was pretty surprized and shocked at the same time