The vote is in!
OK. My students overwhelmingly like playing games. And I... just don't have enough to make them play. Help out again? There were some good suggestions last time, and I'll summarize what I've got already. Games for any vocab, any grammar...
Send one person out of the room, and while they're gone, the class picks an object. The student returns and starts asking questions. Is it large? Is it alive? Does it talk? Is it the professor?
20 questions with famous people, whole class or half class activity. I pick someone and students get to ask questions. 20 is problematic because that's not enough for the entire class to have one question each, and they have a very hard time shutting up the people who talk all the time. Although, we could also use this to work on consensus-building :)
Jeopardy. Takes a little more organization and since it's still a speed game, ends up being all the same people all the time. Categories: various types of vocab (buildings, sports, objects) grammar (tough verb conjugations, adjective endings, noun genders). How can I get this not a speed game?
Charades. They liked that. I can do more, but it's... problematically unfocussed.
Comparisons (although this is second semester). Each student gets a notecard with the name of a celebrity. They go around the class comparing their celebrities. (Not so much a game, but more fun than lecture nonetheless :) Not that lecture is really the alternative.)
Italian taboo: notecards possibly with fewer limitations on words that the players cannot say. Possibly no limitations, since the language is a limitation already.
Anything else people can think of? Or make up? (No, no jumping jacks, transversely)
Thanks!
Send one person out of the room, and while they're gone, the class picks an object. The student returns and starts asking questions. Is it large? Is it alive? Does it talk? Is it the professor?
20 questions with famous people, whole class or half class activity. I pick someone and students get to ask questions. 20 is problematic because that's not enough for the entire class to have one question each, and they have a very hard time shutting up the people who talk all the time. Although, we could also use this to work on consensus-building :)
Jeopardy. Takes a little more organization and since it's still a speed game, ends up being all the same people all the time. Categories: various types of vocab (buildings, sports, objects) grammar (tough verb conjugations, adjective endings, noun genders). How can I get this not a speed game?
Charades. They liked that. I can do more, but it's... problematically unfocussed.
Comparisons (although this is second semester). Each student gets a notecard with the name of a celebrity. They go around the class comparing their celebrities. (Not so much a game, but more fun than lecture nonetheless :) Not that lecture is really the alternative.)
Italian taboo: notecards possibly with fewer limitations on words that the players cannot say. Possibly no limitations, since the language is a limitation already.
Anything else people can think of? Or make up? (No, no jumping jacks, transversely)
Thanks!