GAMES:
FUN, FOOD AND FROLIC!
Presented by:
Alyse Schoenfeldt, Ed. D.
Fulbright Scholar
University of Tirana, Albania
Palm Beach State College, USA
Conversation Cards: Tell Me!
Your turn, my turn….
Skills to be practiced:
Speaking, active
listening, supporting, collaborating,
connecting, networking, and turn-taking
Levels:
All
Organization:
Pairs
Materials: Make up cards using suggested
questions on sheets provided
Why use this system
of questions?
????????
Goals or objectives
1.
a.
b.
c.
TO DEVELOP:
the ability to speak with a variety of people
confidence in speaking with and
understanding real people
a repertoire of conversation-starting
questions
d. the ability to respond to topics raised in everyday
conversation
e. motivation in order to encourage the continuance
of language learning
2. To place students in a language
environment at the beginning of class
3. To enliven and energize the class
4.
TO BUILD COMMUNITY BY:
a. helping students to get to know one another as well as
the instructor
b. incorporating new students into the class
c. inviting native speakers to class
d. encouraging the usage of these questions in their
social life
5. To provide more conversational opportunities:
a. when more advanced students wait for
classmates to finish work
b. when a lesson plan finishes early
c. towards the end of a class before the students
leave the language environment
d. when another activity needs to be abandoned
due to student participation
6. To use as writing exercises
Procedure:
Students in pairs sit facing one another on either
side of a desk. (If an odd number of students
exists, allow only one group to have three
students.) All pairs of students will participate
simultaneously.
Give 20-30 question cards to each pair. Place the
side with the question face down on the desk.
Student A takes a card from the pile and asks
Student B the question. Student B answers and
then asks Student A the same question. The
card is to be left face up while conversing in case
it is needed for reference.
When finished answering, the card is to be
placed face up in a separate pile for used cards.
Student B takes a card from the original pile of cards
[face down] and asks Student A the question. Student A
answers and then asks Student B the same question.
The conversation continues as the students take turns
taking cards and asking each other new questions.
Remind them to place each card with the question side
face up after they have used it.
When the instructor sees that the pile of cards of a pair of
students is getting low, pick up the used cards from
another pair’s desk and put them UNDER the pile of new
cards on the desk of the pair that needs more.
Do not let the students do this! That produces chaos. It is
very important for the instructor to do this in a consistent,
orderly manner so that students will not receive the same
cards by mistake.
NOTES:
Tell the students to sit next to a different partner
each time the cards are used.
In each pair, tell the student who knows less to
ask the questions first. This makes it easier for
him/her to answer when it is his/her turn.
Sometimes, if a particular question disturbs a student,
he/she may respond by saying:
I prefer not to talk about that.
If possible, have students with a similar ability
level sit together. This minimizes translation and
encourages the more advanced student to say
more.
Give more cards to the weaker students because
they use them more quickly since their responses
are shorter.
Before the cards are put away, allow students to
ask the instructor questions.
Select questions carefully so that they are relevant to your
student’s age and interest group.
Demonstrate the process clearly and carefully at the
beginning.
The first time that you use the questions, walk around,
listen, encourage and help where needed. After each of
these occasions, it is good to tell the entire class how well
they understand one another and how they are developing
fluency.
Tell the students that “perfect” language is not the goal,
but communication is the aim.
Depending upon the group, times for usage may vary
from 5 to 30 minutes.
Use the questions two or three times a week and you will
see significant improvement in fluency.
After several weeks, encourage students to ask follow up
questions. Demonstrate. For example, “What is your
favorite sport?” “ Baseball”.
The questioner could then ask Where?, When?, or With
whom?.
If students are at a very low level, they may build up to
these questions by using pictures for vocabulary
improvement.
After students are comfortable with responses, place
more requirements on grammatical features and
specific vocabulary.
Students may make their own vocabulary lists while
working with the questions.
Many teachers have found that it is quite useful to
invite other language learners-Spanish, etc. and pair
them up with these questions.
Make a poster for the room with question words such as
:
Why/ What/ Who /Where/ When /How/
To where/ How many/ At what time
[It is useful to add a picture for each word with amusing
appropriate drawings which are available at
www.cpli.net/cuentame.
Make your own “Helping posters” with one question or one
sentence on each poster:
How do you say?
What does it mean?
How do you pronounce?
How do you write?
I do not remember.
I do not know.
I do not understand.
I prefer not to speak about that.
What did you say?
Speak slower please.
Instructions for writing answers to questions
Skills practiced: Writing, collaborating and
cooperative learning
Levels:
All
Organization:
Individuals
Materials:
The Tell me cards
Procedure:
1. Once or twice a week put the cards in a place
where every student may pick some up.
2. The students write a question and write their
own answer to the question. The answer
may be from a single sentence to a whole
page, depending on the level of the student.
3. The students leave a space after each answer
and continue on with more questions and
answers.
4. Allow students to decide whether or not they
would like the instructor to read and
respond to their writings in class.
They may choose to only share with other
students.
Notes:
Some students may write only 3-6 questions and answers; others
may write more. It does not matter how many they write as long as
they are engaged in the task.
Collect students’ papers. Write “Well done” on every one. Limit
your grammatical corrections to a few specific points. On the
papers of those who want you to comment on their answers,
encourage them to write more about specific topics by inquiring
further about what they have shared.
Power Point Games
http://ic-schools.net/tutorials/PPT-games
This site contains PowerPoint templates for Millionaire,
Jeopardy, 20 Questions, Covered Word, “Hillsborough Squares,”
Wheel of Fortune, Weakest Link, Concentration.
Parade of Games
http://facstaff.uww.edu/jonesd/games/
Contains samples and templates of 16 different games,
including Word Search, Word Jumble, Buzz Word Bingo,
and more.
Games for Learning
http://www.nova.edu/~spahn/games_for_learning.html
Contains links for classroom and online game templates, including
Discovery School’s Puzzlemaker and Hot Potatoes.
http://freegplsoftware.com
free games- mostly for computer like videogames
http://bblocks.samhsa.gov
material for younger students
specific games at:
http://bblocks.samhsa.gov/educators/lesson_plans/classroomgames.aspx
Basic Vocabulary Builder Blackline Masters. Dorothy
Gabel Liebowitz. National Textbook Company. 1991.
Grids of vocabulary pictures that can be used to get
students asking each other simple questions as they
learn basic vocabulary.
New Comics and Conversation: Using Humor to Elicit
Conversation and Develop Vocabulary. Reproducible
blackline masters. Ed. by Joan Ashkenas and Sergio
Aragones (cartoons). JAG Publications. 2000.
Learning Another Language Through Actions.
James J. Asher. 2012.
Shows how to use Total Physical Response and describes
research on effectiveness.
A picture is worth a 1000 Words: Book 1.
Anthony Mollica. Editions Soleil Publishing, 1992.
Fun and interesting photos that get students talking and
laughing.
Comic Strip Conversations. Carol Gray. 1994.
www.discoveryschool.com. Puzzlemaker. Make your
own crosswords, searchwords, cryptograms with the
vocabulary your students are learning.
Excellent free resource for you or your students as
homework or extra credit assignments.
Teaching English Through Songs. Richard Grünert.
2010.