Introduction:
Name three board game is a great speaking activity to get to know each other better and to revise linking words to express reason. The activity can be easily adapted to different levels.
Teacher tip/reflection:
This is one of those activities where I would strongly encourage teacher participation.
I have been teaching for over 11 years now and my approach keeps changing as I grow older. Sometimes I go back to the things I used to do when I first started teaching, sometimes I become too attached to a certain methodology or a technique and struggle to let go of it, and sometimes I just trust my gut, tune into my students and let my intuition guide me. After finishing my Delta I became fiercely attached to accomplishing all the lesson objectives, ticking things off the list, and often I think, to the detriment of my students. It resulted in me emotionally withdrawing from my classes, as I thought my priority was to diligently go through all the points in the lesson plan and not disappoint anyone (I am thinking of an imaginary tutor watching my every step). I became what I would call “clinical”and thorough, but somehow life was sucked out of my lessons. I was trying to comply, to be formal and as a result came across as detached and hard to reach. It was not until a couple of years ago that a few students actually asked me to get more involved, to share my personal opinions with them and shorten the distance I created. I initially resisted as I thought I was robbing them of speaking opportunities. Then slowly I become comfortable with opening up again. I am not saying you have to reveal secrets to your students but we create relationships with the people we work with and I want these relationships to be more authentic, more real. My students are curious, they want to know about the culture I come from, my experiences and opinions and they really appreciate it if I show them the vulnerable, human me instead of an ‘authority’ on a pedestal.
That’s why I actually participated in today’s activity and did not hold back. We had a lovely time and I would encourage you to do the same. You might be surprised how much you will discover about yourself.
Level: A2+
Time: 30 minutes, but it can vary depending on the number of students and of course on how talkative and engaged they are or how engaged you make them;)
Objectives:
- To name three things in a given category
- To revise linking words to express reason
- To get to know others, and frankly, yourself, better 😉
Materials (Click on the worksheets below to download the PDF files):
Procedure:
- Hand out Name three board game to each team/pair or simply display it on the screen if you are using Zoom or any other online platform.
- Before you start the game go through some common linking words to express reason e.g. because, because of, so, since, as, etc. I have attached a list of appropriate linking words with my own examples so feel free to use it.
- The teacher or a student throws the dice twice – the first throw indicates which column they should use, and the second throw indicates which row, to obtain the category.
- Now students must list three things that fit that category and think of the reason WHY they chose these things.
- Monitor and make sure students use linking expressions other than because 😉 as we all tend to stick to what we know best and what we are comfortable with so insist on using a variety of expressions.
- An alternative idea is to ask students to try and predict what their classmates’ answers might be. I have done it with a class of students that have known each other for a very long time and it worked like a dream, but you could also make it work with students that don’t know each other that well. It might be fun for them to see what others think and it will definitely encourage them to listen very closely as they will have to correct their classmates if their predictions are wrong.
- Monitor students throughout the activity, correct mistakes and feed them new vocabulary.
- At home ask students to choose 3 categories that speak to them and answer them in writing. Tell them to try and use a different linking word in each answer.
Karola' s English Blog 