FC Collector

 FC Collector

This game has exactly the same set-up as Cards Up, Cards Down and as the following game, Hunt the Flashcard. Like with Cards Up, Cards Down, this is an excellent way to review old vocabulary.

The teacher calls for a volunteer student (e.g., the #4s from team A) to come and stand at the front by the whiteboard. Next the teacher hands out the FCs to the rest of the students ... with the usual example of your classroom set-up shown below, the students are handed an FC each. They then, while still sitting in their chairs, hold up their FCs for the [#4s] to see – the instruction for them to do this comes in the form of the teacher saying, “Cards Up!”

WHITEBOARD

#4s

Team A                                          Team B

#1s                                  #1s

#2s                                  #2s

#3s                                  #3s

#4s                                        

#5s                                  #5s

#6s                                  #6s

Looking at the above diagram, picture all of the students holding their ‘cards up’ while the volunteer student scouts around the classroom, trying to memorise which student has what FC.

Finally, after a half minute or so, the teacher instructs the students to put their, “Cards down!” and the students respond by putting their FCs face down on their desks (or under their chairs if they do not have a desk attached to their chair).

The [#4s] now has thirty seconds (you can of course experiment with the amount of time given) to go around the class naming the FC that each student has. When they guess correctly, they can ‘collect’ this FC.

Once the thirty seconds are up (“5, 4, 3, 2,1 ... stop!” says the teacher) the [#4s] must now hand the FCs that they have collected to the teacher who awards a set amount of points for each FC received.

Next a student from the other team (e.g., the #2s from team B) is chosen to be the volunteer. All the FCs are taken back by the teacher, shuffled and handed out again.

“Cards up!”

A half minute or so allowed for [team B’s #2s] to memorise which student has what FC.

“Cards down!”

The [#2s] has thirty seconds to go around the class naming the FC each student has, ‘collecting’ as many as they can. …

This game can take a while if you give every student a turn. Therefore, to reduce the amount of time, you can try letting just a few volunteer (maybe two or three students from each team). By telling the others that they can, “Play next time,” you may get a few disappointed faces, but if you keep your promise, then they will be happy enough. Plus, by keeping the activity short, the students will retain their enthusiasm for the game (which goes for almost all of the activities described in this book).