Yes or No?

Yes or No?

This is an extremely simple game; although that is not to say that it is not effective.

The teacher stands at the front with a wad of flashcards in hand. The teacher looks at the top of the pile and takes note of what the top FC is, not revealing this information to the students.

Let us say, for example, that the FCs are for hair styles/colours. …

The top FC is [blond hair]. The teacher looks around at the class, the students who have their hands up, and randomly picks the #6s from team B. “Is it blond hair?” asks the teacher. The #6s now guesses as to whether it is or is not [blond hair]. “Yes, it is,” says the #6s finally. “Yes, it is!” says the teacher, awarding this student with points for their team (or alternatively awarding them with a progression along the scoring system that they are using).

The teacher next shuffles the FCs and starts again. Sneaking a glance at the top FC once more, the teacher now asks the #2s from team B “Is it [long hair]?” The #2s now has to guess if the top FC is in fact what the teacher is saying: they decide to guess, “Yes, it is.”

“No, it isn’t!” says the teacher, revealing that the top FC is in fact [curly hair]. “Unlucky!”

The game continues as the teacher shuffles the FCs once again and turns their attention to the team B students. “Is it [short hair]?” asks the teacher of the #2s from team B. The #2s ponders for a moment, wondering if the answer is yes or no. …

Once you have played this a couple of times you can start to incorporate the target language Q&A into the game: with the hairstyles/colours example, the teacher could ask, “Do I have [red hair]?” (i.e., referring to the FC in their hand) with the student’s response being, “Yes, you do,” or, “No, you don’t.”

To give a more flexible example, let us say that the FCs are for food: the teacher could ask, “Do I like [lasagne]?” / “Am I eating [lasagne]?” / “Did I eat [lasagne] for breakfast?” / “Can I make [lasagne]? / “Have I ever eaten [lasagne]?” etc., with the students answering yes or no with the corresponding auxiliary verb.

This game works for all levels. For higher levels you could constantly mix the question, i.e., use a range of questions as shown in the example above.

To add a little extra spice to the game, it is also an option to have students bet points on their answers. For example, the teacher asks, “Is it [black hair]?” of the #4s from team A. “No, it isn’t,” they respond. “Ok, how much are you willing to bet?” asks the teacher. “Thirty points,” says the student after consulting their teammates. “Ok, ready. ... No, it isn’t!” reveals the teacher. “Your thirty points are doubled so you can have back sixty points.”

The teacher now shuffles the FCs and turns their attention to the #3s from team B. “Is it [grey hair]?” they ask. “Yes, it is,” replies the #3s. “Ok, how much are you willing to bet?” asks the teacher. “Fifty points,” replies this student. “Unlucky!” says the teacher, “It’s [spiky hair]! Wave bye-bye to your fifty points ...”