I am REALLY excited about this giveaway because I love games and I love comprehensible input!
Tonight’s giveaway is a deck of VERBA cards. VERBA is a card game that, in layman’s terms, is Apples to Apples that provides Comprehensible Input. In their hands, students hold high frequency cognate nouns in their hands. Instead of matching the cards in their hand to adjectives (as they do in Apples to Apples), students select which of their nouns best completes a sentence in the target language. Currently, there are VERBA sets in Latin, English, French, Spanish, and Chinese (Japanese will be available soon). If you teach a language for which there is no VERBA set available, you can still enter the giveaway! You will instead receive a copy of Terry Waltz’s TPRS with Chinese Characteristics: it’s an excellent how-to-TPRS guide for teachers of ALL languages!
I was able to attend a session at ACTFL by one of VERBA’s developers, Kevin Ballestrini, and I left with many new ideas and some reminders for ways to take traditional activities (such as dictations) and use them as a tool to provide students with comprehensible input. He and the rest of the team at The Pericles Group are working hard to develop innovative twists on classic games and activities so that they will provide comprehensible, FUN input to students! One of the many things that I love about the VERBA project is that the developers have made contribution to the World Language teaching community a priority over profit–you can actually download VERBA sets for FREE or create your own using their clipart!! This is a great option if neither you nor your school can afford to buy a set. Having the actual set does, of course, impact student engagement (not just a homemade game by teacher…this thing is legit!), and its purchase supports The Pericles Group and allows them to continue developing more products for us to use in our classes!
Wow, you’re still reading? You must really want a VERBA set! (Who wouldn’t!?) To enter tonight’s giveaway, here is your task: leave a comment on this post with an explanation of a game that you play in class that provides comprehensible input to students. If the explanation is already written up somewhere in cyberland, you can provide the link instead of typing out the instructions. If at all possible, please try to share a game that has not already been mentioned by someone else. If all of your games are taken, though, you can add a duplicate game and elaborate on what the previous commenter wrote.
Once you’ve left your comment on this post, you can click here (or on the image below) to enter your name in the giveaway. All entries must be received by 10:00pm EST on Tuesday, December 8! (And remember, you can still enter the first night of Hanukkah’s giveaway until 10:00pm EST tonight, December 7!) Winners have 24 hours to claim their prize before it gets passed on to someone else. Happy Hanukkah!
Sounds fun!
My students like el rastro. I have students bring in items from home they no longer want, food, cd, picture frame etc… I tell them to be creative. I put on a free homework pass and some spanish pencils ams candy. I have a list of the big numbers 100 to 1000 on the board which they are in the middle of reviewing and I photocopy euros. I give each student 1000 euros 10-100 euros and 1 500 euros since they all struggle saying quinientos. I hold some items up for them to bid on and highest bid in spanish gets the item. They are allow at first to start the bidding. I don’t show them some items and I explain in spanish what I have. They love this
So many good ideas here. We also play Kahoot, Bingo, I have a version of Go Pesca and Uno that I downloaded from Teachers Pay Teachers.
Here is a link for a game to practice counting 0-100 by 5s in Spanish. The cards and instructions are there. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5CakCfm6Wy5UkNmQzEwdnlpWDQ/view?usp=sharing
As elementary with minimal time spent with the kids we play matamoscas a variety of ways and they love it! In pairs or trios and they use their fingers to point. Whole group in two groups and the pictures are on the board and they use pointers/fly swatters to see which team can get the most correct. For the classes that have trouble with lots of movement or competitions we do it solo, where the kids have a board in front of them and they are pointing to the words quickly and they are competing against themselves.
One game I love to play is “slap n grab.” I give out sets of pictures of various items to each pair of students. Students arrange the cards face up between the two. 10-12 cards works well. I then DESCRIBE the item in Spanish. The first kid to slap the right card wins! Also fun to play with a song. Give cards with pics of words mentioned in a song. Play the song. When they hear a word be the first to slap it! 🙂
My students love playing “99” by Sr. Wooly. It’s a great card game to help them review/learn numbers up to 100 (and can be tweaked for even higher numbers.) It’s an easy game with a long explanation so I always refer people who want to learn to the video Sr. Wooly made: https://www.senorwooly.com/blog/tutorial-6-noventa-y-nueve
My Spanish students beg me to play Kahoot. A public game can be duplicated and then edited if it has any errors or if the teacher wants to add/delete material. My students are very competitive and I love hearing all the Spanish flying around the room with so much enthusiasm!
Just played Kahoot for the first time. Kids loved it! Counted it as a “Skills Check” (like a pop quiz) for Chapters 1 and 2 of Esperanza.
My new favorite game is running dictation. I actually got the game from your unit 4 (sp1) plans. I shared the game with a group of non CI teachers, who loved it as well. The link can be found here http://martinabex.com/2011/06/29/reconstruction-relay-race/
My students like playing “La jefa” where student try to guess the rule of the things they can take on our imaginary trip or adventure. Great game by Martina http://martinabex.com/2014/04/19/my-favorite-game-ever/
Thank you for sharing this! I liked it so much I tried it today and the kids loved it!
I would LOVE to see a video of this. I can’t completely wrap my head around how it would work totally in the target language, etc. I really want to use it but am afraid it will flop! Ideas? Tips?
I play a game called “POW” or often called “BANG”. High frequency vocabulary on laminated cards in a jar. Students reach in and select a card. To keep the card they must read the card and its definition/translation. If the student reaches in and receives a “POW” card all their previous cards must go back in the jar and the they must start over. I usually play where the student with the most cards when the bell rings gets a candy prize. I believe I stole this game from you Martina. 🙂 gracias
I use BINGO a lot to practice vocabulary. The students fill in words of their choice from a selection of the target vocabulary. Then I dictate a question or statement that indicates one of the words or phrases and , if they know the answer, they get to cover up a space. Works for elementary up to HS.
We play a version of Password, where each team has one person up in front guessing the secret term. In round one, only one TL word clue can be given by each team. In round 2, a two word clue can be used; in round 3, a 3 word clue, etc… The earlier the secret term is guessed, the more points earned. You can also have a pair from each team up front to collaborate on their guess–in the TL, hopefully! Nothing too original, but the kids enjoy it. In a big class, dividing the kids into more than 2 teams increases engagement–more kids have to come up with clues!
circumlocution you have a list of five words on the board and half the students have their back to the board and the other half face the board, The students that are facing the board try to describe the words in the target language without using any part of the word. They also try to not be too loud so their neighbor doesn’t steal their clue
Its an oldie but in my opinion a goodie, if there is some down time or students are zoning out I like to play a quick game of Simon says or “Simon dice”. We use the word/phrase action combinations that we have already made as a class and I add in some commands like “toca…” too. “Out” students can do the motions seated to keep everyone engaged throughout the whole game.
My students really like playing Martina’s Go Fish game with scenes from our movie talks. Here are the instructions I made to introduce some card game vocabulary and the rules of the game: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_lJTDjc3X97LVVJZ1lZTmhBSmM/view?usp=sharing Here are some cards I made for the Vampire at the dentist video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_lJTDjc3X97elpHM2FNd01GUXM/view?usp=sharing I print them on card stock and laminate them. They hold up really well. This year, I have some students in my French 2 classes who are slower processors so I decided to do a little prep work. I partnered the students up and gave them each a few scenes. Together in French they had to come up with a sentence to describe each of their scenes. We then worked together to create a “cheat sheet” that they could use during the game: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_lJTDjc3X97c2RaWmoxZ25sV2M/view?usp=sharing The students still had to read and understand the sentences to figure out which one they needed!
I probably also should have included the link the instructions on Martina’s Website: http://martinabex.com/2014/12/20/go-fish-to-review-a-story/
My students play “Que Lástima” to review. (I probably got this game from your site)
I type any structures or vocab that I want students to practice, laminate, cut, and put them all in a box. I also add several ones that say “Que Lástima or Lo Siento”
Students play in small groups. They take turns drawing a word from the box and tell what it means. If they are correct, they keep it. If incorrect, it goes back in the box.
If a student draws “Que Lástima” or “Lo siento” they return all their cards to the box. Students love this game and it is 100% student led, which admin loves to see. Thank you to whoever posted this game. I will credit/link when I come across it again
Here are some of my favorites:
1. Heads-Up: This game is based off an app. I give students a word on a notecard, they put it on their forehead for their team to see (but they cannot), and the team tries to get them to say the word within a time limit. I blogged about it here: https://sradentlinger.wordpress.com/2014/03/26/heads-up-app-styled-review-game/
2. ¡Mala Suerte!: I write numbers 1-x on the board with correlating questions on a piece of paper that only I have. 1 are easier questions (vocab or who/what kinds of questions) and the end number is the hardest. Students play in teams. Mixed in there are ¡Mala Suerte! numbers. When students choose one of the ¡Mala Suertes! their team loses all of their points. Is great for reviewing numbers and teaching the phrases “Tienes suerte” and “Tienes mala suerte.” I blogged about it here. I blogged about it here: https://sradentlinger.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/mala-suerte/
3. Chispas: Perhaps the least comprehensible friendly as this is strictly translation, this is my students FAVORITE game. Students translate a sentence word by word until it’s done. When the sentence is over, the next student says CHISPAS and the following student is out. I added a new element last time and all remaining students whisper “chispas, chispas, chispas” until the student sits out – emanating the sounds of a sparkle. Students who get out have to write the translation down. I blogged about it here: https://sradentlinger.wordpress.com/2015/11/08/chispas-a-translation-game/
My students love playing ” La Jefa” where students try to guess that they can take or not take to our trip or adventure. Great game by Martina: http://martinabex.com/2014/04/19/my-favorite-game-ever/
After being exposed to a series of stories, I play Pictionary with my students.
To prepare, I compile a list of memorable sentences from their last few stories, type them out, cut them into strips of paper, and place those strips of paper into a hat. The first student to come up to the board must read the strip of paper and try to draw a representation of that sentence on the board for classmates to guess. Students have stories out in front of them and are provided with more repetitions as they scan through them to guess the sentence.
Mafia!!!!! Thank you, Martina! http://martinabex.com/2015/04/16/mafia-the-tci-game-of-all-games/
My students love the Word Chunk game….found it here http://todallycomprehensiblelatin.blogspot.com/2014/01/word-chunk-game.html
from Keith Toda
I like to offer students the opportunity to play “Cognate Frenzy” from Teacher’s Discovery. Some samples and the instructions are available at http://www.teachersdiscovery.com/gp1g0650.html
This is a great variation on Apples to Apples where students have red cards with adjectives and green cards with proper nouns and pop culture references. I love how confident students are in playing this game and how it helps them to recognize cognates in their reading and listening exercises.
However, this VERBA game looks even better by exposing students to fuller phrases and complete sentences rather than individual words. I’d love to introduce it to my students!
I love playing Heads Up/Password! Really easy circumlocution game. A student will come up to the front of the room and I’ll project a list of words in the TL on the SmartBoard behind them. To provide CI I’ll start giving definitions for each word in the TL to see if the student can guess, they get 1 pt per word. This can transition into a speaking practice activity after the students listen to me describe words for a while!
My students love Four Corners. Once the students move to their respective categories, we can discuss in the TL why they chose what they did and defend their opinions.
http://www.creativelanguageclass.com/activities/modes-skills/reading/four-corners/
I love the idea of Heads Up and have been creating one for my classroom. I am currently collecting old name tag badges from my colleagues that I will be using to make them. I also have been playing “Lo tengo” (which is like Go Fish) to review vocabulary and practice direct object pronouns.
One game students ask for again and again is “el Juego del Mono”…Frustratingly, I can’t seem to find the genius who created the game, but it is a PPT game board with an “evil” monkey who determines the points teams get for answering a question correctly. The monkey awards 1, 2, or 3 points…OR eats all the points, OR makes teams swap points. So, an element of chance is added to an otherwise straightforward neck-in-neck battle of the wits. There have been many last minute, *JUST* before the bell rings dramatic losses or gains in points that leaves the class craving another chance to redeem themselves and play again. I have the PPT file and will gladly share with anyone who wants it!
I would love the file. thanks
email me at jeSassica@gmail.com
I would love the PPT file for the mono game!
I loved “matamoscas” as a pre CI teacher but couldn’t find a way to use it after I jumped on the TPRS train. Now Creative Language classroom has made it it even better to promote circumlocution skills! The kids love it!
http://www.creativelanguageclass.com/activities/games/flyswatter-game-all-in-the-tl/
My students love playing Bazinga. Each story we create one or two students are responsible for writing questions to go along with the Bazinga board.
I love BAM! Cut up a list of all recent structures and throw in a few old ones all in an envelope, along with 5-6 cards that say BAM! In small groups, 1 by 1 a student pulls out a slip and has to say or act out the structure correctly to keep the slip and their “point”. When a student pulls a BAM! They have to put all their slips back in the envelope. My students always loved that game!
I love BAM! Cut up small slips with current structures in Spanish, and some old ones to review, and put them in an envelope with 5-6 slips that say BAM! Make small groups and one by one students pull out a slip and translate to English or use TPR to act it out correctly. If they get it right, they keep the slip. If not, put it back. If pull out a BAM! All your cards go back in the envelope. My students always loved this one!
I have used this game “I am going on trip” from you Martina with my ELL students and they continue to ask to play it. I believe they love the satisfaction of tricking their classmates. Using patterns in the target language you can or cannot bring specific things on your trip. Students must guess and try and discover the pattern of items they are allowed to bring.
http://martinabex.com/2014/04/19/my-favorite-game-ever/
Also, my Spanish 1 beginner students loved playing “POW” or some call it “BANG”. Have cards of high frequency phrases or vocabulary in a container. The student draws a card and must translate the phrase from Spanish to English or English to Spanish. If they are correct they keep the card. If they are wrong they must return the card to the container. If the student draws a “POW” card they must return all their cards to the bin and start over again. I usually play till the bell rings and whoever has the most cards wins candy!
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/150729918755099400/
Sheesh, first my Jewish ears perk up at Hanukkah, and then you pull out Kevin Ballestrini (I’m a Latin teacher, too!), and here you are with VERBA. You are speaking my language this evening – literally!
The game I’m posting is straight-up vocabulary, but it’s all target language. http://latinforeveryone.blogspot.com/2015/09/more-games-your-students-play.html
My favorite (and the kids’ favorite) is absolutely Werewolf, which we’ve been playing for years, and which they CLAMOR for. There’s much murder and cultifying and taking sides and betrayal and destruction. It’s very similar to your Mafia, though, so I’m not going to post it because you already know about it.
I also like to play story pictionary with them.
The class is divided into three groups, and one volunteer from each group sits up front with a copy of the story. Everyone in the ‘audience’ has a mini whiteboard and a marker. I project a sentence from the story on the board behind the volunteers. The kids in the audience illustrate the sentence to the best of their ability while the kids up front read and reread their stories, trying to find the sentence in question. When one team gets to three points, the volunteer switches out. It’s a nice story review that is consistently correct input that allows everyone to participate simultaneously.
Chanukah sameach!
It’s telling me this is a duplicate, but I don’t see my comment showing up, so apologies if this does in fact duplicate…
Sheesh, first my Jewish ears perk up at Hanukkah, and then you pull out Kevin Ballestrini (I’m a Latin teacher, too!), and here you are with VERBA. You are speaking my language this evening – literally!
The game I’m posting is straight-up vocabulary, but it’s all target language. http://latinforeveryone.blogspot.com/2015/09/more-games-your-students-play.html
My favorite (and the kids’ favorite) is absolutely Werewolf, which we’ve been playing for years, and which they CLAMOR for. There’s much murder and cultifying and taking sides and betrayal and destruction. It’s very similar to your Mafia, though, so I’m not going to post it because you already know about it.
I also like to play story pictionary with them.
The class is divided into three groups, and one volunteer from each group sits up front with a copy of the story. Everyone in the ‘audience’ has a mini whiteboard and a marker. I project a sentence from the story on the board behind the volunteers. The kids in the audience illustrate the sentence to the best of their ability while the kids up front read and reread their stories, trying to find the sentence in question. When one team gets to three points, the volunteer switches out. It’s a nice story review that is consistently correct input that allows everyone to participate simultaneously.
Chanukah sameach!
I like to play “3 Rounds” with the VERBA cards. Divide class into 2 teams, sit in a circle with every other person on a team. Distribute a card to each player then put in basket & mix. Each team has 1 minute to do the following in each round. Every other team takes a turn, continue around the circle. Keep cards your team wins & tally points.
ROUND 1: Pull a card and describe the word in Spanish to your teammates. If you team guesses first word continue with next word until time is up.
Put all cards back in basket and start with next person.
ROUND 2: Describe the pictured word with 1 WORD ONLY in Spanish – no acting, no pointing.
Put all cards back in basket and start with next person.
ROUND 3: Act out the word – absolutely no speaking or pointing on the actor’s part
Tally points after each round.
A better description can be found at: http://palmyraspanish1.blogspot.com/2015/04/verba-more.html
I need a Christmas related set to play this game before Christmas vacation!
I don’t have a great name for this game, but it’s a fun way to review a bit of vocab.
1. Have students write words on slips of paper. The teacher could also choose the words in order to review certain structures/vocabulary.
2. Divide students into 2 teams.
3. The object of the game is write a list of words relating to the word. For example, if the word is shower, the students might write “morning, soap, clean, etc.” Tally the number of the words that the team writes for their score.
4. They get a point for the word as long as they can explain the connection.
Instead of BINGO, we play VOILA! same concept, though. I have laminated cards with high frequency words. Also, when I do stations, one of the favorite spots is “Guess Who”. We’ve picked up several boxes at thrift stores and garage sales. Each box holds vocabulary cards in case they forget “beard” or “glasses”. Kids love it.
I like the game PANCHO CAMACHO. Here is a link to a blog post where I described it in detail:http://tprsforchinese.blogspot.com/2015/09/pancho-camacho-game.html
Mine of course is Very Unfair Game – http://martinabex.com/2015/10/27/the-unfair-game/
Can be used for any topic in any language, and as techie as you want.
Lot’s of great games here!
Another oldie is “Around the World.” Students are in a circle. One student stands behind another. The teacher gives clues to describe a noun in the target language. The teacher gives students private think time, says “adelante,” and the first student to guess gets to move one spot “around the world.”
I like Mike Peto’s variation of the Running Dictation with crossword puzzles to review novels and/or stories. I think it’s going to be a blast!
https://mrpeto.wordpress.com/2015/12/06/crosswords-lame-or-fabulous/
It’s hard to choose just one! We recently played ‘Quiz-Quiz-Trade’ to introduce vocabulary associated with describing ourselves and others (can be used for anything!). To play, each student receives a card with a picture or English on one side and the Spanish equivalent on the back. Students must mingle with each other to practice and memorize as many vocab words as possible during the allotted time. To begin, Student A shows the Spanish side of his card to Student B. Student B reads the word/phrases aloud in Spanish and then attempts to say the English translation. If Student B doesn’t know the translation, then Student A feeds the answer to B. This may be done as many times as necessary until B knows the answer. Next, Student B wil hold up his vocab card for A to read and translate. Once each person in the pair have completed the partner’s words, they trade cards and move on to the next person. My students love being able to get up and move!
Another variation on a circumlocution game – I give my students a word in Spanish on a slip of paper, usually from a new group of target vocabulary or sometimes just random funny words. The students have 3 minutes to prepare a description of the word in the target language for the class. They take turns coming to the front, and everyone tries to guess what their word might be as they read their descriptions. They really enjoy it!
5 phrase skits- This isn’t so much a game as an activity, but you could turn it into a competition of sorts. (All credit goes to the Creative Language Classroom!). Give students 5 phrases (today I’m pulling out 5 important ones from a song we are doing in class, but could be for a story, reading, etc.). Give students props and have them create a skit using only the 5 phrases. Students hear the phrases over and over when prepping and then when presenting. To make it more into a game/competition you could have groups vote for the most dramatic, the funniest, the best use of the phrases, the most “out there”, etc.
http://www.creativelanguageclass.com/activities/modes-skills/speaking/idea-30-try-the-5-phrase-skit/
We love to play many variations of “Log Tag” and “Duck, Duck Goose.” We have used sentences to reinforce structures in these games. One of our first versions of Duck duck goose was inspired by your lesson “Camina y Corre” from your Spanish 1 curriculum. http://martinabex.com/2012/09/07/camina-y-corre-lesson-plans/
We would tap each person on the head and say “this is a boy or this is a girl” (from the http://martinabex.com/2013/08/23/lesson-plans-for-dice-unit/)
then when we wanted them to chase us, we would say “Corre (run)”. It is a huge hit in our classes!
I got this idea from one of the FLAM presenters at this year’s conference. It’s called pass the paper and the kids love it! The teacher writes several different phrases or target structures on a piece of paper and group the students in groups of 3-6. Each group has one die and each students has a different colored pencil or pen. The students each pick a different number, which is “their” number so that when the die is rolled to that number it’s that student’s turn to write. The student with closest birthday starts translating the phrases first, while another rolls the die. Whenever a student’s number is rolled, he/she gets to grab the paper and start translating. The object is to whoever has the most translations wins. The different colored pencils help keep track of who is winning.
My students love ‘Two Truths and a Lie.’ Recently I updated the form to use Martina’s ‘Dos Verdades y Una Mentira’ found here: http://martinabex.com/2011/12/02/mentirosopq/!
My students love to play Geoguessr! Here’s an explanation of how it works: https://senorabas.wordpress.com/2014/04/25/geoguessr/
More recently, I have a chart of target vocabulary used to describe streets, terrain, and climate so that students can chime in with their own observations. It’s also a great opportunity to add large numbers in Spanish so that we can total up our class score.
Could you share your chart of the target vocabulary for the game? Thanks
My students enjoy playing a version of telephone but instead of speaking they draw and write. What you need is a piece of 81/2 x 11 paper with a blank table with an odd number of rows (I usually use 5) and I usually put four columns (two per side) so that we can play the game four times on a single sheet of paper. Fold the paper (baguette style…or the long way) so that only a single column is showing.
Working in groups of 5 (or at least as many students as their are rows on your sheet) have the first student write out a sentence in the first box. They pass it to the person on their left. That person draws a picture that represents the sentence. Then, they fold the paper downward (croissant style) so that the original sentence is covered up, but their drawing is showing. Then, they pass it to the person on their left. That person writes a sentence based on the drawing. They fold the paper downward (croissant style) so that only their sentences is showing and passes the paper to the person on their left. This continues until the last students writes a sentence based on a picture. I usually allow the first person ope the table up and read all of the sentences. It is really fun. I would warn against certain students who just draw random items. I had a student who would just draw a taco not matter what the sentence was. She was given a warning (an eventually, an alternative assignment). I also like to give each student a piece of paper so that that are all active during the entire process. In other words, their are 5 sets of papers circulating in a group of five.
As elementary with minimal time spent with the kids we play matamoscas a variety of ways and they love it! In pairs or trios and they use their fingers to point. Whole group in two groups and the pictures are on the board and they use pointers/fly swatters to see which team can get the most correct. For the classes that have trouble with lots of movement or competitions we do it solo, where the kids have a board in front of them and they are pointing to the words quickly and they are competing against themselves.
My students like to play Bluff. I learned this game from my cooperating teacher when I student taught. You can use it for just about anything, but I use it for vocab review. I divide the class into 2 teams. For first team, I call out a vocabulary word and then the students on that team stand up if they know the word, think they may know the word, or just want to try and get points for the team and hope I don’t call on them. Once I call on a student to answer, they can neither stand up or sit down. I call on the student and they give me equivalent word. If they are right, the team gets points for each person standing. If they are wrong the other team can steal the points. If they aren’t paying attention and repeat the wrong answer then they loose the points.
My students love Around the World. They form a circle, and one student starts by standing behind another student. I describe a vocabulary word in the target language, and the first student to guess the word moves one space around the circle of students.The other student takes a seat. The goal is for one student to make it around the circle without sitting. Usually this doesn’t happen, but the students still love the game.
There are so many great things on here! My students also love Kahoot (a trivia like game). We also like to play Guerra with cards I purchased from Teacher´s Discovery http://www.teachersdiscovery.com/catalog/product/view/id/22216 . Today I tried Noventa y Nueve as suggested by someone on here and they loved it! I also enjoy verbo, another game from Teacher´s Discovery where students practice verb conjugations in a fashion similar to uno. http://www.teachersdiscovery.com/canada/index.php/games/verbo.html I also battleship, a form of the original but with verbs and subject pronouns instead of numbers and letters. I use something similar to this https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Verb-Battleship-Batalla-de-Barcos-verb-practice-game-Spanish-French-etc-407065
I like to play el rastro. You play this game when you want to teach big numbers. I have students bring in items from home that they do not want returned they can bring a dog bone, a used cd, bag of chips etc… a limit of nomore than 5 items per students. Any student who brings in a item gets an extra 100 euros per item. Each student receives 10 100 euros and 1 500. I also add extra items like candy a free homework pass etc… I show the first item and I make it good. They have to bid on the item. Highest bid gets the item. I hide some gifts and I may give a description or not. Students love this game while practicing numbers. Those to afraid to talk are still listening to the reinforcement of big numbers
The credit of this game goes all to a fellow teacher friend…the name of the game is Policia and focuses more on the construction of ser. I make clues about famous people, fellow teachers, admin…really ANYBODY….and write clues in riddle form in the target language. We use American and Hispanic options from any time period and will even collaborate with SS, ELA, and Science teachers to see if they are covering any certain person I can use. The students all start out as detectives and race to figure out the clues and get the right answer. All input is in reading format but can ask the teacher questions as if they were a “witness” in TL. The “reward” to getting the most “cases” is to become captain and the fun of that is that the captain can take any clue from any group at any time and sometimes they even get the donuts!! I have used places and things as well to have all the “pieces” like the board game Clue.
I like to play memory games to build our Spanish working memory. Lately my favorite is rhythm chains for our phrases of the week. Here’s how it works.
1. Place students in groups of 3-4
2. Student one says a word/phrase while doing the gesture. For example, imaginate [students raise arms, place hands together and slowly move hands to the side – like sponge bob does]
3. Student two says and does the gesture that student one said and then adds their own. For example, imaginate the que pena [hand to forehead]
4. Student three says and does the gesture for student 1 and student two and then adds their own. For example, imaginate, que pena, then que susto [mouth open and hands on cheeks].
5. Repeat to create the longest chain.
I usually give groups 2-3 minutes to create a chain and then have then share with the class. The class will echo each gesture/phrase as the group present. It’s a great way to get extra repetitions of key structures/vocabulary.
My second favorite working memory game are number sequences. Students are put into pairs. Partner A can’t see the board. Partner B will read a 3 number sequence to partner A in the target language. partner A will say the sequence backwards and then put the sequence in order from smallest to largest.
One of the games that my students like to play is Quiz-Quiz-Trade. We do this to learn or practice new vocabulary. Students are given a flash card with Spanish on one side and English or a visual on the other side. Students move around the room to find partners. Once partners are found, Partner A reads his partner’s word in Spanish and then says the equivalent in English (Quiz). Partner B then does the same with Partner A’s card (Quiz). They then trade cards. If partners don’t know the English word, the other partner shows the English side, practicing that card several times before the trade is made. A possible variation of this would be using a scene with a list of sentences on the back. The partner could say things like “There are three cats” or “The book is under the desk”. It’s really up to your imagination how this could be used to get students moving and communicating with each other!
I didn’t see my comment 🙁 ….The game I shared we call Policia. It focuses on the verb ser and adjectives. Simply put, I write riddle clues in the TL that students have to figure out. First they have to figure out the language and then they still have to solve the riddle!! I use people, places and things….kind of following the set of the board game Clue (Who did it? Where? With what?) The clues can lead to something culturally related or not…past or present. I hope that makes sense…feel free to reply with a question if it doesn’t. The point for the students is to solve as many clues as possible to progress to Captain (in which they get to pick and choose any “case” even if another “detective” already has it. Anything goes!!
I like to play the Totally Unfair Spanish Game. It is particularly good as a getting to know each other activity. Here is a link to an explanation. http://bit.ly/1HRCrmc