Hello all, Chris here. Today I would like to share a fun activity that is applicable for any language and/or level! Everyone should be familiar with board races -whether as a language student or using them as a teacher. Typically board races are used as a vocabulary knowledge test or to test individual grammatical points. I have recently used a variation of this game since I noticed my students needed a bit of review and practice of both grammar and sentence writing.
To setup the activity I did the following:
1 Preparation: Using note cards, I wrote down a large variety of possible grammar/sentence configurations (about 50 different variations!). An example would be: 2 adjectives, preposition, past tense. There are many possibilities here and teachers could focus on a narrower range of grammar items if they wish to practice specific areas with their students.
2 The Game: I randomly divided the class into four roughly even groups. To begin, I read one of the cards aloud twice. Then, a student from each group would run to the board and attempt to write a sentence using the grammar items I specified. Should a student be unable to write an answer they may ask another student from their group to come and help them. The first student to write a correct sentence will earn a point for their group. The game lasts several rounds. I generally would spend 10-15 minutes on the game. Every student should have the opportunity to go to the board at least 2x.
3 Followup: A good activity to serve as a continuation from the Board Race would be to move students into a structured writing activity such as creating a short story in small groups. The teacher could provide the beginning of a story and each group would write their own addition to it. The teacher could further specify which and how many grammatical points should be included. Alternately, either of these activities could serve as a warmup for reading a text (especially one that employs specific types of grammar).
Questions and comments welcome!
To setup the activity I did the following:
1 Preparation: Using note cards, I wrote down a large variety of possible grammar/sentence configurations (about 50 different variations!). An example would be: 2 adjectives, preposition, past tense. There are many possibilities here and teachers could focus on a narrower range of grammar items if they wish to practice specific areas with their students.
2 The Game: I randomly divided the class into four roughly even groups. To begin, I read one of the cards aloud twice. Then, a student from each group would run to the board and attempt to write a sentence using the grammar items I specified. Should a student be unable to write an answer they may ask another student from their group to come and help them. The first student to write a correct sentence will earn a point for their group. The game lasts several rounds. I generally would spend 10-15 minutes on the game. Every student should have the opportunity to go to the board at least 2x.
3 Followup: A good activity to serve as a continuation from the Board Race would be to move students into a structured writing activity such as creating a short story in small groups. The teacher could provide the beginning of a story and each group would write their own addition to it. The teacher could further specify which and how many grammatical points should be included. Alternately, either of these activities could serve as a warmup for reading a text (especially one that employs specific types of grammar).
Questions and comments welcome!
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