Race to Draw, Race to Write

Race to Draw, Race to Write

Here students are once again using their knowledge of the vocabulary to score points. Such games as this are a fun test for the students. They do not know they are having a test, they think they are just playing a game. The teacher meanwhile is observing how well each student has absorbed the target vocabulary, taking a mental note of their current abilities and where help is needed.

The set-up of this activity is as follows:

Words are written / Flashcards are attached along the top half of the whiteboard as shown below.

Whiteboard

FC          FC          FC         FC          FC

Team A                                                                              Team B

With the space on the lower part of whiteboard divided in two as shown above, each team has their own area in which to either copy the picture from one of the FCs or to copy the word(s) from one of the FCs.

So let us say for example that the flashcards are for vehicle plurals: cars, buses, planes, trains, bicycles, boats, motorcycles, scooters. ...

The teacher begins the game by pointing and drilling the FCs to the students as described in The Basic Drill. Then the teacher calls the [#3] students to the front and shouts, [“Buses.”]

Race to Draw: The first [#3] student to successfully draw [two buses] on their part of the whiteboard and then return to their seat is the winner. There is of course a balance between how good their artwork is and how fast it is drawn and I would suggest that deciding on speed as the priority usually works better because this way the game is more exciting. Now and then you will find a child taking forever to draw the perfect picture of a [bus], which can really slow the game down. Alternatively, however, it is a good idea to make clear that any old scribble will not do. The picture must be drawn quickly but we must be able to recognise it as the object intended. If students are not good at drawing then this often does not matter. In fact the game can be rather humorous when the pictures are not perfect.

Race to Write: The first [#3] student to successfully write [buses] on their part of the whiteboard and then return to their seat is the winner. Extra points can be awarded for good handwriting or taken away for rather messy scribbles, but as with Race to Draw, the game works better when there is an emphasis on speed. In Race to Write spelling is obviously important too. It is best to be strict with this and state that the words must be spelt correctly: if there is a problem with the spelling then the student must rush back to the whiteboard to correct this before returning to their chair.

With Race to Draw and Race to Write you can gradually take the FCs away so finally the students are playing the game without any FCs to help them. This is a good way to train the students to remember the vocabulary item (Race to Draw) and the spelling of the vocabulary item (Race to Write).

As an extra option, the drawing and writing can sometimes be combined. Either alternate between drawing and writing or get the students to do both at the same time.