Games Language People Play JERRY STEINBERG Pippin Publishing Copyright © 2009 by Pippin Publishing Corporation P.O Box 242 Don Mills Ontario, Canada M3C 2S2 www.pippinpub.com All rights reserved Reproducible pages are identified by and may be photocopied for classroom use only Otherwise, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise, including photocopying and recording, or stored in a retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher Every effort has been made to identify and credit sources of copyright material Please inform Pippin Publishing of any omissions, and they will be gladly rectified Designed by John Zehethofer Typeset by Gwen Peroni Printed and bound in Canada by Transcontinental Inc Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Steinberg, Jerry Games language people play / Jerry Steinberg Includes index ISBN 978-0-88751-129-5 Literary recreations Language and languages – Study and teaching I Title GV1507.W8S84 2009 418.0071 ISBN 978-0-88751-129-5 Third edition 10 C2009-900129-2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication v Acknowledgement v Game Essentials vi Linguistic Skills vi Examples vii Level vii Optimal Group Size vii When To Play Games ix Scope of Games ix The Pedagogical Value Of Games x LEVEL: All 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 T.V Definitions Tic-Tac-Vocab Guide Word Four-Square Tic-Tac-Verb Dictionary Question Baseball Triple Definitions Hidden Sentence Password Segmented Sentences Diamond Word Word Scrambles Do Heads And Tails Telephone The Name Game LEVEL: Beginners 18 19 20 21 Commands Tic-Tac-Number Surprise Sack Where Was I? 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 Guesser Yes/No Ping-Pong Prepositions Tic-Tac-Weather Here And There Fish! Professions Who Has It? Family Tic-Tac-Before-And-After Odd And Even Results Rhyme Ping-Pong Body Stretcher Word Calling I Spy Prepositional Pictures Where Is It? Tic-Tac-Math What Happened? Odd Or Even? Sound Off Description Darts Sit for Sounds Ninety-Eight Where? What Are They Doing? The Game Of War What Did They Do? LEVEL: Beginners & Intermediate 51 52 53 54 Flashwords Rhyme Mime Railroad Spelling Slides And Ladders Games Language People Play iii 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 Name The Nouns Alphabet Dash Spelling Baseball Hands Up! Stop! Twenty Questions Three Words What’s Different? Question Tag Four By Four LEVEL: Intermediate 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 Super Secretary Lettergory Opposites Rhyme Whirl Tic-Tac-Tense What’s My Line? Lost And Found Categories Mystery Person Paired Letters Interrogation Waiter/Waitress Puzzle Words Questions And Answers Exaggeration Make A Sentence Alphabetical Adjectives Letter Getter Suitable Adjectives What’s My Rhyme? Tic-Tac-Frequency My/Mine Deafman Sentence Relay What Am I? Verb And Particle iv Games Language People Play 90 Two-Word Verbs 91 Grammar Relay LEVEL: Intermediate & Advanced 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 Newscast Chain Stories Words Within Predicaments Finish It! How Many Words? Misfits Biography Alphabet Out Word Explosion Ten Definitions Travelog Hink-Pink Buffet Hybrid Prerootsuff Charades Wonder Word Sabered Stories Homonyms Compliments LEVEL: Advanced 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 Encyclopedia Lifeboat Rhyme Detailed Instructions What’s New? Relatively Speaking Figure This! Adages To Tell The Truth DE DI CAT I O N I dedicate this book of games to Bill, a former student of mine, who once confessed, “Every time we sang a song, listened to one of your corny jokes, or played a game (all in the target language, of course), we thought we were just fooling around and not working Then, I realized that everyone was paying attention and participating, and that as much learning was taking place during the fun times as did during the formal lesson We were laughing and learning You tricked us!” You’re right, Bill I did trick you And in doing so, I made learning more fun for you, and teaching more fun for me A C K N O W L E DG E M E N T I would like to thank Sharon Ginsberg for her perceptive comments from a fresh perspective Games Language People Play v ABOUT GAMES G AM E E S S E NT I AL S Things I look for in games to play with my students (1) Ease of Explanation: The rules of a game should be few and simple If you are fortunate enough to be able to speak the background (native) language of all of your students, I would suggest taking a few minutes to explain the game in that language and use the remaining time to play the game (I would rather spend a few minutes explaining the game and have lots of time left over to play it, than use up all the time explaining it in the target language and have no time left to play.) If you cannot communicate with students in their own language, use the simplest vocabulary possible, utilizing lots of visual aids and giving lots of concrete examples, to ensure comprehension (2) Absence of expensive or complicated materials (3) Versatility: I like games that can easily be adapted to suit the number, age, and linguistic level of my students L I NG UI S T I C S KI L L S Under each game title, I have indicated which linguistic skills are involved in playing the game They are Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing Letters in parentheses indicate the linguistic skills which can be practiced if the game is adapted Feel free to modify the games to emphasize or de-emphasize any particular linguistic skills – I often do! vi Games Language People Play E X AM P L E S Examples given in this book are exactly that – samples, models, guides to be followed, modified, and expanded to suit your needs They are not intended to be used exactly as they appear, nor are they meant to represent all possibilities I often make modifications to a game to suit the specific situation and meet the needs of the particular students I am teaching at that time LEVEL I have attempted to indicate which level of learner (Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced) each game is best suited to, but please keep in mind that the meaning of each term will vary according to the educational situation of the individual teacher So please examine each game with the intention of adapting it to suit your students OPTIMAL GROUP SIZE During my demonstrations of linguistic games for the language classroom, teachers have often expressed the concern that it is next to impossible to play games with classes of 30 to 40 (or more) students Although some games are well-suited to large groups (YES/NO PING-PONG, LETTERGORY and WHAT’S NEW?, to name a few), to ensure total involvement and participation of all students, teams of no more than 10 students are recommended This enables each and every student to take an active part in the game and to contribute to his team’s effort, in addition to permitting the teacher to monitor each individual’s performance So, what should you if you have upwards of 30 students in your class? Send half of them home? No! I suggest “Activity Stations.” Divide your class into equal teams (as nearly as possible) and assign each group to an Activity Station By way of illustration, a class of 40 could have teams of 10 students each Team A could go to Station One, where they could, for example, listen to a taped story and answer written questions about the story Team B, at Station Two, could crossword puzzles Team C would play T.V DEFINITIONS (or another suitable game) against Team D under the direction of the teacher at Station Three Games Language People Play vii After a given length of time (for example, 15 minutes), the groups would move on to the next station in a clockwise direction: Team A would advance to Station Two, B to Three, and D to One, leaving Team C at Station Three to compete against Team B This rotation could take place the next day, depending on your schedule This takes a bit of organization, but once the system is learned, it functions quite smoothly, and students move from one station to the next with a minimum of noise and confusion Here is how the rotation would work Each diagram represents one session And here is a partial list of alternative activities which students at Stations One and Two could engage in while waiting to play at Station Three (All are to be done in the target language, of course.) Reading comic books; Listening to a taped song and doing a cloze exercise; Watching a video-taped program and answering written questions; Creating a dialogue or skit on a given theme; Reading a story and answering written questions; Doing written exercises on grammar or vocabulary; viii Games Language People Play Listening to a taped dialogue and answering questions; Creating a story on a given theme; Reading a newspaper article in preparation for discussion; Listening to a taped newscast and answering questions; Doing word searches or crossword puzzles; Reading a dialogue and answering questions; Playing quiet games which don’t require the teacher’s presence or supervision W HE N T O P L AY G AM E S Games can be played at any time I frequently play a short game with my students at the beginning of the lesson, especially on Mondays, to welcome them back, refresh their memories, and warm them up for learning new material You know only too well how much can be forgotten over the weekend, and how difficult it is to “get their motors started,” particularly on Mondays What better way to review last week’s (or yesterday’s) learning than by playing a game which requires students to recall and use that information repeatedly? Also, occasionally, I will interrupt a lesson to play a short, snappy game when I find students’ attention waning I then return to the lesson with alert and attentive students Saving a game for the end of the session also has its advantages It will encourage students to co-operate during the lesson and, by ending on a “high note,” it may entice them to return for the next session In summary, the best time to play a game is any time that a game will benefit your students S CO P E O F G AM E S I have used every one of these games in my teaching of both English and French as second languages to children and adults Teachers of other languages have told me at my workshops that almost every game in this book works equally well in Spanish, Japanese, Arabic, Korean, German, Cantonese, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Russian, Mandarin, so feel free to adapt them to whatever language(s) you are teaching Games Language People Play ix Someone might come up with the following poem: When I go to sleep, I hear the clock But when I sleep deep, I hope I’m not on a dock 117 DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS L, S, R, W level: advanced optimal group size: unlimited OBJECTIVE To give students practice in giving and receiving precise instructions M AT E RI AL S NE E DE D Pen and paper for each student DE S CRI P T I O N Each student chooses a task to explain and writes a detailed description of the actions to be performed He then chooses a partner and reads his instructions to his partner who, in turn, follows each instruction explicitly For example: How to – tie a shoelace eat spaghetti put on and button a shirt change a flat tire 166 Games Language People Play sharpen a pencil put on and up a belt brush your teeth cut and eat a steak change the oil in a car fix a bicycle tire take a picture with a digital camera (35 mm SLR) S UG G E S T I O NS To encourage my students to be exact, I tell them to pretend that they are going to describe how to something to someone who has never done it before For example: “You are going to tell someone how to tie a shoelace He has never seen nor worn shoes before in his life.” To discourage the use of gestures, they could sit back to back 118 WHAT’S NEW? L, S, R, W level: advanced optimal group size: unlimited OBJECTIVE To refine listening skills M AT E RI AL S NE E DE D A tape recorder, a taped newscast, dictionaries, and a list of questions about the newscast DE S CRI P T I O N The class is divided into teams A newscast is played for the group while they take notes, as required At the end of the newscast, the Games Language People Play 167 teacher poses questions, alternately, to members of each team Two points are earned for each correct response If a member of one team cannot answer correctly and fully, a member of the other team can gain one point by giving the correct answer Questions should cover many listening skills, such as: listening for details; to note general significance; to draw conclusions; to determine the accuracy of statements; to get the sequence of events; to identify known personalities mentioned; to form opinions; to determine reasons behind events; to speculate on future developments; and to gain an appreciation of past events and how they have affected other incidents S UG G E S T I O NS For Canadian schools, I recommend using CBC newscasts since they are the most complete and in-depth of any coverage I have heard For those within range of CJRT-FM (basically anywhere in Ontario with cable), there is a BBC newscast at a.m Monday - Saturday, which concentrates on international news and issues with which some of your students may be familiar For schools in the U.S., National Public Radio carries excellent newscast, as does ABC in Australia And in the U.K., the BBC is the obvious choice Before presenting the newscast, I always write unfamiliar vocabulary on the board This enables us to familiarize ourselves with new words before hearing them in context 168 Games Language People Play 119 RELATIVELY SPEAKING R, W level: advanced optimal group size: unlimited OBJECTIVE To review various idiomatic expressions M AT E RI AL S NE E DE D The following examples on the board or overhead stand i ter/very/esting DE S CRI P T I O N The teacher shows the above examples to the class and asks them what they think the coded puzzles mean Students eventually discover that the first example means “I understand,” and the second means “very interesting.” Several other examples can now be presented and the students challenged to decipher them For example: b/sick/ed (sick in bed) s t s o (rising costs) c Games Language People Play 169 r o roads d s area populated (crossroads) (overpopulated area) When the class has found the solutions to the above examples, students can work in pairs to create their own graphic depictions of known idiomatic expressions Here are some that my students have conceived: t h g i f e l g g u r t (uphill fight) (uphill struggle) s fed child (underfed child) loved fed (overfed, underloved) s t i c k (long stick) stick (short stick) 170 Games Language People Play b a r o m e (falling barometer) t e r cover agent (undercover agent) taking difficult (difficult undertaking) GAINS (capital gains) sur/fire/ance (fire insurance) going around (going around in circles) (dark circles under his eyes) ar/up/ms (up in arms) I’m time (I’m on time) working time (working overtime) Games Language People Play 171 p – a – n – t –s (stretch pants) (running around the block) (spiralling inflation) I indulged estimate me you he’s weight You’re your mind wear clean (I overindulged) (you underestimate me) (he’s overweight) (you’re out of your mind) (clean underwear) 172 Games Language People Play 120 FIGURE THIS! L, S, level: advanced optimal group size: unlimited OBJECTIVE To familiarize students with the names of figures and lines M AT E RI AL S NE E DE D The shapes and lines as illustrated on the following Copiable Handout on paper for each student Paper, pencils, and erasers for each student DE S CRI P T I O N Students are taught the names of the various figures and lines Then the teacher directs students to draw various figures and lines on their own papers For example, in the upper, right corner of your paper, draw a circle with a straight line through it from side to side at o’clock and o’clock, and extending two centimetres beyond each side To the left of the circle, draw a crescent with a wavy line passing through its left side and base In the center of the page, draw a ladder with a triangle in the space between the second and third rung In the lower, left corner of the page, draw a square with a straight, broken line from the upper, right corner to the lower, left corner The student with the most accurate rendition takes a turn at dictating the instructions to the class next Games Language People Play 173 Copiable Handout ² point dotted broken ² ² straight/solid shaft :::::::::::::: butt /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ jagged lines arrow ² ² ² ² top side left side diagonal square ² ² wavy ÷² apex right side ² bottom side base triangle sidepiece ² rung diameter circle ladder ² ² ² ² upper tip outside edge left side of the roof ÷ ² peak of the roof inside edge lower tip crescent 174 Games Language People Play house ² ² ² overhang right wall floor 121 ADAGES L, S, R, W level: advanced optimal group size: unlimited OBJECTIVE To teach common adages (proverbs) and have fun twisting them M AT E RI AL S NE E DE D A number of adages – giving only the first part DE S CRI P T I O N Students are given the first part of a number of adages and are challenged to complete them, either individually or in teams of two or three; or alternatively, they can be given the entire original adages and be challenged to give them a funny twist When everyone is finished, the funnier and more thought-provoking ones are read aloud and displayed for all to see Examples: Here are some well-known adages; the ones in parentheses are examples of funny and possibly thought-provoking endings A bird in the hand .is worth two in the bush (A bird in the hand is messy/will bite you.) Do unto others as you would have them unto you (Do unto others before they it unto you/then run away.) A picture is worth a thousand words (A picture is worth for $2.00.) As you shall make your bed so shall you lie in it (As you shall make your bed so shall you mess it up.) Games Language People Play 175 Better be safe than sorry (Better be safe than punch somebody.) Strike while the iron is hot (Strike while the bug is close/other guy isn’t looking.) It’s always darkest before the storm (It’s always darkest before the sun rises/daylight savings time/ morning/you open your eyes.) You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink (You can lead a horse to water but does he know how to swim?) Don’t bite the hand that feeds you (Don’t bite the hand that looks dirty.) A miss is as good as a mile (A miss is as good as a Mister/Mrs./Ms.) You can’t teach an old dog new tricks (You can’t teach an old dog new math.) If you lie down with the dogs, you’ll get up with fleas (If you lie down with the dogs, you’ll make them growl/stink in the morning/not sleep very well.) An idle mind is the Devil’s playground (An idle mind is the best way to relax.) Where there’s smoke, there’s fire (Where there’s smoke, there’s pollution.) Happy the bride who the sun shines on (Happy the bride who gets all the presents.) A penny saved is a penny earned (A penny saved is not much/worth one cent.) Two’s company, three’s a crowd (Two’s company, three’s one more/the musketeers.) Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and you’ll cry alone (Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and people laugh at you/you have to blow your nose.) 176 Games Language People Play 122 TO TELL THE TRUTH L, S (R & W) level: advanced optimal group size: unlimited OBJECTIVE To give students practice telling stories, listening to stories, and asking and answering questions about the stories M AT E RI AL S NE E DE D None DE S CRI P T I O N Students tell three stories about themselves Two of the stories must be true The third must be fabricated (in other words, a lie) For example, one story could be about a trip you took; another could be about something interesting that has happened to you (a prize you won, an accident you had, a famous person you’ve met); another could be about your family’s history Once each story has been told, the other students may ask up to 20 questions about it After all three stories have been told and questions asked and answered, a poll is taken to see which students believe which story was a fabrication When all votes are cast, the fabricated story is identified If you want to play competitively, you could tally up the number of students duped by each story-teller – the student who dupes the largest number is the winner S UG G E S T I O N For students who have difficulty ad-libbing, stories could be written beforehand and read to the class Games Language People Play 177 xxxxxx Index (Numbers refer to GAME NUMBER, not page number.) A E action verbs – 48, 50 adjectives – 66, 78, 80 adjectives, possessive – 85 adverbs – 66, 78, 84 after – 31 alphabet – 61 asking/answering questions – 14, 23, 60, 69, 74, 77, 99, 122 auditory discrimination – 42, 45 expression – 93 expressions, idiomatic – 1, 79, 119 B be – 21, 38 before – 31 body parts – 34, 48, 50 C cardinal numbers – 19, 32, 39, 41, 44, 46, 49, 54 composition (of words) – 3, 6, 12 conditional tense – 95 controversy – 115 conversation – 115 common adages – 121 creativity, oral – 93 critical listening – 6, 8, 16, 58, 72, 75, 88, 92, 114, 118 F family members – 30 figures and lines, names of – 120 frequency adverbs – 84 G general knowledge – 7, 54 grammar – 7, 54 H have – 27, 29 here – 26 homonyms – 112 I idiomatic expressions – 1, 79, 119 imperative – 18 indirect speech – 86 instruction – 117 it is – 38 D K defining words – 2, 6, 103 description – 17, 20, 22, 43, 70, 72, 88 discrimination, auditory – 42, 45 discussion – 115 – 14, 21 knowledge, general – 7, 54 L listening, critical – 6, 8, 16, 58, 72, 75, 88, 92, 114, 118 Games Language People Play 179 M nouns – 55, 78 numbers, cardinal – 19, 32, 39, 41, 44, 46, 49, 54 similes – 96 Simple Past – 21, 40, 50 so that – 78 speech, indirect/reported – 86 speech, parts of – 65, 91 spelling – 1, 3, 4, 9, 12, 13, 36, 53, 57, 59, 61, 64, 73, 101 such that – 78 suffixes – 106, 108 stories – 93, 122 syntax – 9, 11, 64, 87 O T opposites – 8, 66 oral creativity – 93 tenses, verb – 5, 14, 18, 21, 27, 29, 40, 48, 50, 68, 95, 99, 104 there – 26 two-word verbs – 89, 90 Mathematics – 7, 8, 39, 44, 46, 49 members of family – 30 memory – 16, 17, 50, 64 memory ability – 64 N P parts of speech – 65, 91 parts of the body – 34, 48, 50 Past, Simple – 21, 40, 50 possessive adjectives & pronouns – 85 prefixes – 106, 108 prepositions – 24, 37, 38, 47, 62 present progressive/continuous – 48 professions – 28 pronouns, possessive – 85 proverbs – 121 Q question tags – 63 question words –58 questions, asking/answering – 14, 23, 60, 69, 74, 77, 99, 122 R recognition, word – 35, 51, 59 reported speech – 86 rhyming – 67, 105, 116 S separable verbs – 89, 90 sequence – 111 180 Games Language People Play V values clarification – 115 verbs – 21, 66 verbs, separable/two-word – 89, 90 verb tenses – 5, 14, 18, 21, 27, 29, 40, 48, 50, 68, 95, 99, 104 vocabulary – 1, 2, 4, 8, 10, 13, 15, 33, 36, 52, 56, 62, 64, 65, 66, 67, 71, 73, 76, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 94, 97, 98, 100, 101, 102, 105, 106, 107, 109, 110, 113 vocabulary items – 47 W weather – 25 WH-words – 58, 74, 77, 88, 99 words, problematic – 79 word recognition –35, 51, 59 words, defining – 2, 6, 103 Y yes/no questions/answers –23, 60, 69