Sticky Note Sorting Race needs no props, so it could double as a warm-up
Despite the name, this game uses nothing but a whiteboard and a marker: students race to write words under the right heading, one point per correct placement, so it fits any eight to ten minute warm-up in a hagwon classroom.
Park English2026-11-092 min read
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The name is a little misleading. There are no actual sticky notes. We call it Sticky Note Sorting Race because the idea came from a lesson where words had to "stick" to the right category, and the name stuck too. All you need is a whiteboard, a marker, and a timer on your phone.
It works with 8 to 15 students, runs in under ten minutes, and needs zero prep once you know your two categories for the day.
How it works
- Draw two columns on the whiteboard with headers. For a middle school class, opinion-based headers work well: "Good habit" and "Bad habit," or "Fair" and "Not fair."
- Split the class into teams of 2 to 4.
- Say a word or short phrase out loud (from the word bank below, or your own unit vocabulary).
- One player per team runs to the board and writes the word under the column they think is correct.
- First correct placement gets the point. A wrong placement gets corrected but no point, and play moves to the next word.
- After six or seven rounds, the team with the most points picks the next topic.
That's the whole game. A nine-year-old gets it in one round, which is exactly why it also works as a warm-up while you take attendance or set up the next activity.
Adding the opinion layer
For A2-B1 students, add one line after each placement: the student (or their teammate) has to say the sentence frame "I think ___ because ___" out loud before the point counts. This turns a vocabulary drill into a speaking rep without adding any prep. If the reason is weak, you can ask the class to vote, which buys you another thirty seconds of English and settles close calls fairly.
Example category sets
| Topic | Column A | Column B |
|---|---|---|
| Daily habits | Good habit | Bad habit |
| School rules | Fair | Not fair |
| Food | Healthy | Unhealthy |
| Weekend plans | Relaxing | Tiring |
Timing and scoring
Keep rounds to 60-90 seconds each so the energy stays up. We've found that going past ten words in one sitting is where kids start losing focus and arguing over marker ownership, so stop before that happens and save the rest for next class.
One thing that genuinely varies: how strict to be about spelling. Some teachers give the point for correct placement even with a misspelled word, since the game is about category thinking, not spelling. Others dock half a point. Decide before round one starts, or you will get an argument about it in round three.
For a stronger class, drop the two-column setup for three columns with a gray-area middle ("It depends"), which forces longer, messier justifications and works well with higher-level teens who like to argue.