When you’re teaching Novice Low and Novice Mid students (especially learners in early Year 1) it’s tempting to think class should be about “covering” grammar points and vocabulary lists. But that’s not how language acquisition works. Students don’t acquire language by memorizing conjugations or drilling isolated words. They acquire language by understanding messages in the target language.
So what should class content be about? Communication. Instead of centering lessons around grammar explanations, we center them around meaningful, communicative activities. This might look like:
- Talking about students’ lives and interests
- Discussing a short reading or class-created story
- Watching and talking about a short video clip
- Exploring cultural products, practices, or perspectives
- Looking at an image together and asking/answering questions about it
Within that communicative framework, games are an incredible tool. Sometimes, the game itself is the content of the lesson: a structured way to have a meaningful conversation. Other times, games serve as a way to review or recycle the content you’ve already explored. Both purposes are powerful in building proficiency, as long as the focus stays on comprehensible input.
When you’re teaching Novice Low and Novice Mid students (especially learners in early Year 1) it’s tempting to think class should be about “covering” grammar points and vocabulary lists. But that’s not how language acquisition works. Students don’t acquire language by memorizing conjugations or drilling isolated words. They acquire language by understanding messages in the target language.
So what should class content be about? Communication. Instead of centering lessons around grammar explanations, we center them around meaningful, communicative activities. This might look like:
- Talking about students’ lives and interests
- Discussing a short reading or class-created story
- Watching and talking about a short video clip
- Exploring cultural products, practices, or perspectives
- Looking at an image together and asking/answering questions about it
Within that communicative framework, games are an incredible tool. Sometimes, the game itself is the content of the lesson: a structured way to have a meaningful conversation. Other times, games serve as a way to review or recycle the content you’ve already explored. Both purposes are powerful in building proficiency, as long as the focus stays on comprehensible input.
Part 1: Games as the Content of the Lesson
Some games are the activity. The discussion or choices generated through play become the content of the lesson itself. These games give you an instant structure for communicating with your students in the target language, even if you don’t have a reading or story planned.
One’s Gotta Go
Students are presented with four options in different categories (foods, sports, hobbies, celebrities, etc.), and they debate which one “has to go.” You, the teacher, facilitate the conversation by asking questions, pointing out patterns, and restating ideas in comprehensible ways. The game is the content: it gives you an endless supply of input-rich conversations about likes, dislikes, comparisons, and justifications.
👉 Read more about One’s Gotta Go here.
Elimination
This storytelling game, popularly known as Mafia, is so compelling that it can anchor an entire class period. You narrate what’s happening, who is eliminated, and how the drama unfolds. The events of the game are the story of the day. Students are immersed in repeated, meaningful input while reacting and engaging with the plot.
👉 Learn how to play Elimination here.
The Unfair Game
At The Comprehensible Classroom, The Unfair Game has become one of our go-to ways to make the game itself the content of the lesson. Here’s why: it takes something students love—competition—and turns it into a quirky, conversation-rich experience where the rules are stacked against them.
The Unfair Game can be used to review content from a lesson, but we love it even more as a way to introduce content. Asking questions about an unfamiliar topic means that students probably won’t know the answer; which makes it even more unfair! As you reveal the answers, students begin learning about the content.
Other games shine because they give students multiple exposures to the same words, structures, or ideas you’ve already introduced. They don’t create new content; instead, they repackage existing content in a playful, high-engagement format.
Truly, the options here are endless–so here are some of our favorites:
Why Both Kinds of Games Matter
Whether games are the main content or a way to review content, they succeed when they keep the focus on comprehensible input. Students aren’t pressured to produce language they don’t yet have; instead, they’re flooded with understandable, engaging messages that lead to acquisition.
So, don’t be afraid to use games strategically: sometimes to spark new conversations, other times to revisit familiar language. Both purposes keep your lessons compelling, communicative, and aligned with how language is acquired.
Want more game ideas and activity walkthroughs? Browse the archives of The Comprehensible Classroom Blog for hundreds of input-focused strategies to bring into your Novice classroom.
