WTH is this?

I have only a vague idea of what this game is and what I used it for. Although I forget exactly what I used the  card set below for, it could be used to teach and practice a number of different aspects of English. I think  one of the teachers I was working with wanted me to do some kind of an activity where the students would practice the phrase "Do you know what this is?" I believe I suggested the following activity:


Use the card set below to review and practice the target phrase, "Do you know what this is?" and it's appropriate response, "I think it is a/an _____." When two cards are matched correctly they reveal a picture. There are 40 cards in a set that when paired make 20 pictures.



First introduce and practice the phrase: "Do you know what this is?" and the response, "I think it is a/an _____." Then review the vocabulary written on the cards (at the bottom of the page). Use A4 (about letter size) size cards or larger to introduce the vocabulary. There are twenty matching cards in the set depicting twenty different objects. After you've gone over the new words hang one card on the board (half a picture) along with a few possible matches and ask the class: "Do you know what this is?"



Give the first student to answer correctly one of the two cards and repeat the exercise as many times as you think necessary.

When you're finished, ask six students (maybe those who collected the most cards) to come up to the front of the class so they can help you model the next part of the exercise using a smaller sized deck of the same cards (without any text printed on them). Give each student a card. Then have them hold the card out and in turn ask each person in the group of six, "Do you know what this is?" Once a student has found the person with the matching card who uses with the appropriate response, they can both return to their seats. Next ask another group of six up to model the exercise once again. This time instead of asking the question in turns, the students ask in random order all at once. Like before, once they find their matching card they may return to their seats.

Next distribute one card to every student in the class. Ask everyone to stand up and repeat the exercise they have just watched, only this time involving everyone in the class. Once two students have found a match to their card they can return to their seats.

All the students should have been able to ask the target question at least a few times. When everyone is finished and seated, look at each student's card and ask them individually: "Do you know what this is?" so all the students have a chance to use the appropriate response phrase.

That's basically what this is but it could be something entirely different.


Here is the card set:

WTH is this?

• Key words: vocabulary, speaking, verb usage (Do you know…)                                         
• Learner English skill level: Intermediate (third year junior high school)                                
• Learner age level:                                                                                                          
• Preparation time: 20 minutes                                                                                          
• Activity time: 50 minutes for all activities                                                                          
• Materials: one regular size deck of cards (see below), one oversize deck of the same cards 

What the heck is this? That's the question I asked myself after pulling this one out of the mold encrusted box cluttering my closet. Then I remembered I used this activity to review and practice the target phrase, "Do you know what this is?" It also introduces and helps students practice saying the appropriate response, "I think it is a/an _____." The deck consists of 20 pairs of cards that when correctly matched form a picture (a hat, a cup, etc.).

First introduce and practice the phrase: "Do you know what this is?" Then introduce and practice the appropriate response, "I think it is a/an _____." Next, using matching pairs of cards, review the vocabulary you see written on the card set. Use A4 (about letter size) size cards or larger to introduce the vocabulary.

There are twenty matching cards in the deck that when matched correctly depict twenty different objects. After you've gone over the vocabulary words for each of those objects, hang one card on the board (half a picture) along with a few possible matches and ask the class: "Do you know what this is?" Give the first student to answer correctly one of the two matching cards and repeat the exercise as many times as you think necessary.

When you're finished, ask six students (maybe those who collected the most cards) to come up to the front of the class so they can help you model the next part of the exercise. Give each student one card (void of any text). Then have them hold the card out and in turn ask each person in the group of six, "Do you know what this is?" Once a student has found the person with the matching card, who uses the appropriate response, they can both return to their seats. Next ask another group of six up to the front of the class to model the exercise once again. This time instead of asking the question in turns, the students ask in random order all at once. As before, once they find the person with the matching card they may return to their seats.

Next distribute one card to every student in the class. Ask everyone to stand up and repeat the exercise they have just watched, only this time involving everyone in the class. Once two students have found a match to their card they can return to their seats.

All the students should have been able to ask the target question more than a few times. When everyone is finished and seated, look at each student's card and ask them individually: "Do you know what this is?" This will give all the students a chance to use the appropriate response phrase and you a chance to see what they have learned.

That's basically what this is.

Here is the card set. I printed the text on the cards for the purpose of introducing the vocabulary, but it’s not necessary for the deck the students use in the exercise since they have already reviewed the words before hand.Use the card set below to review and practice the target phrase, "Do you know what this is?" and it's appropriate response, "I think it is a/an _____." When two cards are matched correctly they reveal a picture. There are 40 cards in a set that when paired make 20 pictures.

Gone Fishin'

• Key words: vocabulary, speaking, verb usage (Do you have…)                                         
• Learner English skill level: Beginner                              
• Learner age level:                                                                                                          
• Preparation time:                                                                                       
• Activity time: 15 minutes for all activities plus instruction time                                                                         
• Materials: one regular size deck of cards (see below), one oversize deck of the same cards 

There is perhaps no better way to idle away the hours than fishing and a perfect occasion to talk about the haves and have-nots of this world. This game uses a regular deck of playing cards to practice these phrases:

"Do you have a _____ _____ ?" and "Yes, I have a ______ ______ " or "No, I don't have a ______ _____."

Since we're using a deck of cards the words in the blank spaces will be either "red" or "black" followed by some number between two and ten or "ace, king, queen, or jack."

After reviewing and drilling the vocabulary and grammar to be used explain how the game is played. One way to do this is to model the game for the class with the assistance of a couple of students. Use a shorter deck when modelling the game to save time.

Deal five cards to each player and put the remaining cards in the deck face down in the center of the table. Keeping the cards in their hands and out of view of the other players, each player discards any matching pairs they have in their hand and places the matching pairs in individual piles before them. Once they have discarded their matching pairs and decided who will go first (by some means like high card low card, rock, scissors, paper, etc.) the game can proceed.

The starting player begins by looking at a particular card in his hand and asks any other player in the group if he/she has a matching card.

If a player has a eight of hearts or eight of diamonds (the red eights) he/she will choose another player in the group and ask them: "Do you have a red eight?" If the player who is asked the question has the card, he/she replies: "Yes I do" or "Yes I have a red eight." The player then hands over the card to the player who asked the question. The player who asked the question takes the card and places it along with the matching card from his/her hand on top of his/her individual discard pile located in front of them. The game continues with the next player to the right asking a question.

If the player who is asked the question does not have the card, he/she replies: "No, I don't" or "No, I don't have a red eight" (this is the same as saying "go fish" in the traditional version of the game). In this case the player asking the question draws a card from the deck in the center of the table and the game continues with the next player to the right asking a question.

Players should always have at least five cards in their hand. Some players will have more than five cards in their hands but those who don't should draw enough cards from the deck in the center of the table at the end of their turns to fill their hand. Towards the end of the game when the the deck in the center of the table is depleted, it will not be possible for every player to keep five cards in their hand. The game is over when the deck runs out and the players have matched all the cards in their hands.

Players try to collect as many pairs as they can. When there are no more cards remaining in the deck in the center of the table and the players have matched all the cards in their hands, the game is over. Players count the cards in their discard piles and the player with the most cards wins.

After modeling the game with a short deck, divide the class into groups, give each group a deck of cards and let the games begin. Each group should be able to play at least a couple of hands and... there you have it.

Going to the Dogs

• Key words: vocabulary, speaking, relative pronoun (Do you have a dog that has a short tail?)                                       
• Learner English skill level: Intermediate (third year junior high school)                                
• Learner age level:                                                                                                          
• Preparation time: 20 minutes                                                                                          
• Activity time: 60 minutes for all activities and instruction time                                                                          
• Materials: one regular size deck of cards (see below), one oversize deck of the same cards 

Do you have a dog that speaks English? Don't feel bad if you don't. You may have a dog that can fly or do all sorts of other amazing tricks in this variation of the classic card game, Go Fish. This game introduces and helps student use the relative pronoun, "that."

For the purpose of this lesson (and game) practice the following kinds of questions and answers with the students using the appropriate graphics displays.

Q: Do you have a dog that has spots?
A: No I don't. / Yes I do.

Q: Do you have a dog that has a long tail?
A: No I don't. / Yes I do.


The basic deck should include 40-80 cards (20-40 matching pairs) made from the following card set (using 2-4 copies of each page).

a dog that has long ears
a dog that has short ears
a dog that has big eyes
a dog that has eyeglasses
a dog that has spots
a dog that has a bird
a dog that  has a curly tail
a dog that has a long tail
a dog that has a hat
a dog that loves cats

a dog that reads
a dog that dances
a dog that has a short tail
a dog that speaks English
a dog that sleeps
a dog that drives
a dog that plays baseball
a dog that eats trees
a dog that flies
a dog that watches TV








After reviewing and drilling the vocabulary and grammar to be used explain how the game is played. One way to do this is to model playing the game with the assistance of a couple of students. Use a shorter deck when modelling the game to save time.

Deal five cards to each player and put the remaining cards in the deck face down in the center of the table. Keeping the cards in their hands out of view of the other players, each player discards any matching pairs they have in their hand and places the matching pairs in individual piles before them. Once they have discarded their matching pairs and decided who will go first (by some means like rock, scissors, paper, etc.) the game can proceed.

The starting player begins by looking at a particular card in his hand and asks any other player in the group if he/she has a matching card.

If a player has a card featuring a dog that has a curly tail, he/she will choose another player in the group and ask them: "Do you have a dog that has a curly tail?"  If  the player who is asked the question has the card, he/she replies: "Yes I do" or "Yes I have a dog that has a curly tail." The player then hands over the card to the player who asked the question. The player who asked the question takes the card and places it along with the matching card from his/her hand on top of his/her individual discard pile. The game continues with the next player to the right asking a question.

If the player who is asked the question does not have the card, he/she replies: "No, I don't" or "No, I don't have a dog that has a curly tail" (which is the same as saying "go fish" in the traditional version of the game).  In this case the player asking the question draws a card from the deck in the center of the table and the game continues with the next player to the right asking a question.

Players should always have at least five cards in their hand. Some players will have more than five cards in their hands but those who don't should draw enough cards from the deck in the center of the table at the end of their turns to fill their hand. Towards the end of the game, when the the deck in the center of the table is depleted, it will be impossible for every player to keep five cards in their hand. The game is over when the deck runs out and the players have matched all the cards in their hands.

Players try to collect as many pairs as they can. When there are no more cards remaining in the deck located in the center of the table and the players have matched all the cards in their hands, the game is over. Players count the cards in their discard piles and the player with the most cards wins.

After modeling the game with a short deck, divide the class into groups, give each group a deck of cards and let the games begin. Each group should be able to play at least a couple of hands and remember no gambling dog gone it.

Putting Everything in Order

1st     2nd   3rd    4th   5th

• Key words: ordinal numbers, speaking                                        
• Learner English skill level: Beginner                          
• Learner age level:                                                                                                          
• Preparation time: 10 minutes                                                                                          
• Activity time: 50 minutes for all activities                                                                          
• Materials: one regular size deck of cards (see below), one oversize deck of the same cards 

Here is a code-breaking game for teaching ordinal numbers and more (colors, animals, etc.). If you are familiar with the classic board game, Mastermind, this should be a no-brainer.

First things first. Introduce the concept of ordinal numbers. If you're in a classroom setting where there are more than 30 students you can do this on the board with colored chalk or round colored magnets. Begin by drawing a large red dot or by placing a red magnet on the board. Draw or place a red dot on the board saying, "This is a red dot." Have the students repeat "red dot." Then say, "the red dot is first" or "red is first" and have the class repeat after you. Continue by drawing a yellow dot or placing a yellow magnet and repeat the same process of repetition until you have about six different colored dots on the board.

Next take five or six sheets of paper in which you have drawn different colored dots and tape or use a magnet to place them at the top of the blackboard with the drawing side facing the blackboard so the students can't see them. Then have the class form into groups of 4-6 students. Pointing to the paper on the board, ask one group, "Which dot is first?" or "What's first?" Have one student answer, saying for example: "The blue dot is first" or "Blue is first." Then draw (or ask a student assistant to draw) a blue dot underneath the first sheet of paper on the board. Continue this process of question and answer in turn with the each group until there are dots drawn under all the sheets of paper on the board. If the students have guessed the order of any of the dots correctly, turn over that sheet of paper to reveal that they have discovered the correct order. Repeat the same process of question and answer until the class, working in groups, has figured out the order of  the dots.

Next ask the students to break up into pairs.

Stand in front of the class holding a blank sheet of paper and ask the students to take out a sheet of paper or distribute a sheet of paper to each student (if possible try to get the students to ask for the paper, saying something like: "May I have a sheet of paper please."). Fold the paper in half and while pointing to the sheets of paper on the board explain that they are the same or will be used for the same purpose ("this is the same as this"). Then distribute m&m candies, jelly beans, or something similar to one student in each pair and tell him/her to place them in any order he/she desires behind the folded paper so his/her partner can't see. Have the students do the same thing they did as a group, only this time in pairs. When one student has correctly guessed the order of the m&m's, etc. it's his/her partners turn to ask the questions (What's first?, etc.).

I've used handmade glass beads here, hence the irregular shapes.

If you don't have m&m's drawing little animals, etc. will work just as well.

You can even draw legs on them and have them running a race. Who's first?

That's the order of the day.

Making Faces

I found this on my bookshelf today. It's a little tome I scribed (with some help) when I was teaching the people of Japan to speak English. That mission accomplished, I packed most of my teaching materials in boxes and tucked them away in the dark recesses of my closet. This one, made using a pen, paper, and photocopier, is useful for learning how to describe facial features. I used it when teaching ESL(English as a second language) to public junior high school kids in Kanagawa, Japan. While it's not perfect, it's not entirely without merit and ideal for a semi low-tech classroom environment.






Here is Making Faces:

If you have a printer, you can make your own Making Faces using these images below. You might want to change some of the labels (like buckteeth, etc.). I used terms I found in textbooks I was working with at the time. Most important of all, remember to put on a happy face!

 


















Related unit(s): Eye Spy

Eye Spy

This game, introducing descriptions of facial features, is kind of an ESL variation of the game Battleship. Players follow pretty much the same rules as in the classic naval game except instead of placing ships of varying lengths, they draw a spy or some symbol (circle, x, etc.) representing a spy on their respective grids.

Here are the front and back sides of the handouts I used in my classes. It's not so pretty but spying is a pretty ugly business.

The game helps students describe facial features using the target phrase: Does ____ have _______?
First introduce the facial features appearing on the top row of the sheet (the "has" row).

Then combine the names of the suspects from the "Does" column with facial features in the "has" row.
You can use visual images to present and practice (through repetition, etc.) questions and answers like the following that students will later use in the game.

                                                   


Does Akiko have a mustache?


No, she doesn't have a mustache.







Does Akiko have a mustache?

Yes, she has a mustache/Yes she does.

Once you've glued both sides together, or better yet, printed both sides on a single sheet of paper and distributed enough for everyone in the class, instruct the students to fold the paper as shown below so their playing partner can't see where their opponents spies have been placed (drawn).




Players first draw five spies on any of the grids (players may draw as many spies on the same row or column as they like). Using the visual cues on the grid's vertical and horizontal axes, players take turns asking each other questions. The column on the left side of the grid, the "Does column," has a list of international spy suspects. The top row, the "have row," features the disguises the spies could be wearing. Players combine one suspect from the have column with one disguise from the have row to form a question that will help them discover the whereabouts of his/her opponents spies.


A player may ask his/her opponent a question like: "Does Akiko have thick eyebrows?"

In this case the opposing player has drawn one of their spies on the grid square just below the picture of thick eyebrows and on Akiko's row so the spy has been discovered. The player will mark an "X" in that grid and the game will continue until one player has discovered the locations of all five of his/her opponent's spies.



If a player forgets how to describe any of the facial features depicted at the top row of the grid they can simply lift the flap to reveal a cheat sheet with the same exact pictures accompanied by the new vocabulary terms to spark their memory.




You could end the class by reviewing the same phrase, using "you" and "I" by asking students questions like:
"Do you have short hair?" etc.  If time permits you might also try a 20 questions type game where you think of a student, or write the name of a student in the class and students try to guess who it is by asking questions like: "Does she have long hair?" etc.

One drawback I discovered with this game is that after discovering the third spy, it tends to get monotonous. You could cut the number of spies but it's still not as exciting as the high seas adventure it's based on where the varying lengths of the ships add to the suspense. Then again who said learning should be fun.

Related activities: Making Faces