STOP!

 You certainly played this game when you were a child, or even later. Check it out.

Objective - To review vocabulary/word categories.

Age level - Any

Proficiency level - Any

Materials - Sheets of paper with the grid to be completed

Decide on the type of vocabulary or category(ies) you want to assess. Make a grid with as many columns as your items and as many lines as you want your activity to last. The more lines and columns, the longer it will take to play. Let's take the examples below:

           Things you eat                things you drink               things you wear          places you go        sub-total
1-


2-


3-


4-


5-




                   Nouns                 Adjectives                   Irregular verbs in the             Prepositions     sub-total

                                                                                      past participle

1-


2-


3-


4-


5-

Rules

1) The teacher chooses any letter of the alphabet and writes it on the board. Students work in groups (of 3 or 4, at most) to complete all the columns with words that begin with the letter given. When the first group finishes, they shout, "STOP!!!", and all the others have to stop writing. The group that finished first reads the first word they wrote, then the second group reads theirs, then the third, and so on. They get 10 points for each original word (which has not been written by any other group) and 5 points for repeated words. If a group can't come up with an answer, they should write a "?" in the corresponding space. So their grid should look like this: Letters T          B

       Things you eat             things you drink           things you wear          places you go    SUB-  TOTAL

1-       tangerine (10)             Tea (5)                               T-shirt (5)              Tower (10)            30

2        banana (5)                    ? (0)                           bandanna (10)              beach (5)                  20

At the end, each group adds its sub-total. The group with the highest score wins.

Teacher, beware! Students usually try to continue writing when they shouldn't or "borrow"answers that previous groups have given when there is a blank space in their grid. So it's advisable to walk around and look at their grids while they are reading their answers.

VARIATION - I tried to use this game to practice language items that my students were having problems acquiring, especially because of Portuguese interference. They were: to have X there to be; wear X use; borrow X lend. Therefore, I prepared a grid like the one below. When I said time was up and we had to stop playing, one of my students jumped up and said, "But there is one more line!" I was exhilarated!!!

     I have it in my room           There is (are) this (these)            I can wear it             Your friend can lend


       in a supermarket                  at the mall                        it to you

A BOARD GAME

Time to play! Meanwhile, you can see how much of the subject your students have attained.

Objective: To assess any topic given in class, such as grammar, vocabulary, or reading comprehension.

Level: Any

Proficiency: Any

Materials: A game board with blank spaces and "Try your luck" ones; some dice; different markers for the groups; slips of paper with commands for students who have reached the "Try your luck" spaces; questions, fill-in-the-blank sentences, synonym/antonym items, True or False statements, or any other means of assessment you judge appropriate for your students.

1) Prepare your list of assessment items.

2)  Prepare several slips with commands such as, "Play again"; "Get one (two, three) extra point(s); "Miss a turn"; "Move one (two, three) space(s) ahead; "Go back one (two, three) spaces; "Back to Start", "Lose one (two, three) point(s) etc. You can have more than one slip of each kind.

3) Divide the class into groups of four (ideally) and give each group a dice. Decide the order in which they will play.

INSTRUCTIONS: One student rolls the dice and another moves the marker on the board.  Whenever it falls on "Try your luck",  choose one assessment item from your list and read it to the group, allowing a few seconds for them to reach an answer.  The group gives their answer. A third student draws a slip from the command pile and reads it. Ask the class to decide whether the answer is correct. A fourth student moves the marker again on the board, if that is the case, or you give them the extra points/erase the points they lost. Wrong answers are not penalized, but the group cannot move the dice.

If the dice falls on a blank space, nothing happens, and the next group plays. If a group doesn't know the answer, the next group gets a chance to answer and then play their turn.