Points Behind FCs
To be honest, FCs are not necessary for this activity. Just write the words on the board. But for the sake of an easy explanation, we'll refer to the target language vocabulary as FCs.
This is a good activity for getting individual students to say the FCs without being put under pressure. The teacher has ample chance here to check and correct pronunciation.
Flashcards are attached to the whiteboard (or the vocabulary is written). Usually a 3x3 grid works best for reasons that will become clear later.
Whiteboard
FC FC FC
FC FC FC
FC FC FC
Now, on the lesson plan (or on a scrap piece of paper) the teacher copies the grid and randomly writes the numbers 1 – 9.
3 5 6
1 8 9
2 7 4
Next we need to decide which team will go first. Either get two students to flip a coin, do a “paper, scissors, stone”, or simply spin a marker pen and wait to see if it ends up pointing at team A or B.
Teacher: “Ok, team B is first. Hands up, what do you want?”
The teacher picks the [#5] student from team B. [#5s] says, “I want [The Pyramids].”
“Ok,” says the teacher, underlining [The Pyramids] in the centre of the grid. “Eight points to team B.”
“Now, team A. What do you want?”
The teacher picks the [#2s] from team A. [#2s] says, “I want [The Grand Canyon].”
“Ok,” says the teacher, underlining [The Grand Canyon] in the top right corner of the grid. “Six points to team A.”
And so the game continues until all the flashcards have been picked and the points awarded. (Note: because there is an uneven number of FCs in the 3x3 grid, it is sometimes a better option to leave the last FC so that the teams are picking four FCs each.)
Note: If you don't want to always write down the pattern of numbers, you can decide on a pattern that is easy for you to remember - e.g. the numbers going around in a circle / from top to bottom / from side to side, etc.
Battleships Style Version
Also note, the grid can be larger. Wit a larger grid you could put a few 'bomb the other team's points' or 'bomb your own points' in as wildcards.
Follow up option: Noughts and Crosses / Tic-tac-toe
By choosing a 3x3 grid you have now given yourself the option of playing noughts and crosses / tic-tac-toe with the same set-up. Decide which team takes the first turn. Students raise their hands. The game commences.
4 x 4 Tic-tac-toe
This is also an option and a good game for older students. Four in a row is the winner, but if no team can get four in a row, then the team with the most three in a rows is the winner.
(Explain to students - three is good, four is very good.)
Using the FCs in language context
For a lot of the games described in this book, you also have the option of challenging the students to use the FC vocabulary within a sentence. For example the game of Points Behind FCs can very easily be played in this way:
Teacher: “Ok, team B is first. Hands up, tell me about where you have and haven’t been ... remember to tell the truth ...”
The teacher picks the [#5] student from team B. [#5s] says, “I have never been to [Mount Fuji].”
“Really? But it’s so close. Do you want to go?” (etc.) says the teacher, underlining [Mount Fuji] in the bottom centre of the grid. “Seven points to team B.
“Now, team A. Where have you been or not been?”
The teacher picks the [#2s] from team A. [#2s] says, “I have been to [The Great Wall].”
“Wow, was it exciting? When did you go?” (etc.) says the teacher, underlining [The Great Wall] in the top left corner of the grid. “Oh no, just three points to your team I’m afraid.”
This method of putting the FC language into sentences is not only limited to higher levels, e.g., for ‘Cat’ you could get the students to say, ‘It is a cat,’ or ‘I like cats.’ For ‘basketball’ you could get them to say, ‘I can play basketball,’ or ‘I am playing basketball.’ In this way you can incorporate the grammatical structures you are teaching into your FC games. (For a good example of using the target language question and answer in a flashcard game, see later activity Hunt the Flashcard.)
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