To err is human Sequel

This is an activity for (lower) intermediate students to review some of the most common mistakes they make in an entertaining way. The students correct the mistakes in the sentences on the board. If they manage to do it correctly, they add either an O or an X to the board until they line up 6 symbols in a row. The mistakes in the exercise are actual mistakes made by my own students on a regular basis.

Level: B1

Time: 30 – 45 minutes

Objectives:

To identify and correct common mistakes made by (lower) intermediate students.
To line up 6 symbols (O or X) in a row.

Materials (Click on the worksheets below to download the PDF files):

to-err-is-human-sequel Download

to-err-is-human-sequel-answers Download

Procedure:

Divide the students into teams and display To err is human Sequel board game on the screen if you are using Zoom. If you have smaller groups students can also play individually.
To see who starts do rock, paper, scissors. Whoever wins chooses the square they want to start with. Next the player(s) identifies and corrects the mistake in the square they have chosen. There is only ONE mistake in each sentence or question e.g an incorrect preposition, article or a verb form etc. If the player(s) manages to do it correctly, they add either an O or an X to the board. The first player to line up 6 of their symbols in a row wins. I actually use inserted predefined icons on Zoom (a star and a heart) as it looks cleaner and much cuter on the screen than an O or an X . You can find the stamps in the annotation tools when you start screen sharing.

Alternative idea/ procedure :

Players take it in turns to throw the die twice – the first throw indicates which column they should use, and the second throw indicates which row, to obtain the question or a sentence.
When a player lands on a QUESTION all players find and correct the mistake in the question first and then answer the question from that square in as much detail as possible. Encourage students to ask each other additional questions to obtain more information. When a player lands on a square with an AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCE, they find and correct the mistake in the sentence first and then say if the sentence is TRUE or FALSE for them and OF COURSE at length 😉 explain WHY.
Monitor at all times and go through some of the most problematic sentences/ questions together at the end of the class. At home ask students to correct the sentences and questions you didn’t finish in class.

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