Games Galore

The end of the school year is rapidly approaching! My department recently shared a collection of activities and games that are helping to keep our students engaged during these last few weeks of school. The list below contains a few go-to games that can be used to keep your students engaged during the end of the year.

• Freeze Frame
  I recently used this game to review a chapter of Brandon Brown, but it could be used with any written text. In secret, the teacher selects a sentence from the text and calls up students to act out that sentence (the number of actors depends on the number of characters in the sentence you select). The actors read the sentence, but the rest of the class doesn't know what it is. The students have a copy of the text in front of them and the teacher tells the students what page the sentence is found on. The actors then act out the sentence, but there is a catch: the action of the sentence is frozen in time. The class looks at the 'frozen' actors and tries to find the exact sentence that is being acted out (remember, you told them which page to look on). The students raise their hand when they have found the sentence--the student that finds the correct sentence gets to be the next actor.
• Sticky note game
  This game is great after you have read or acted out a story (thanks for the idea, Karen Rowan). Have two students sit across from each other at a table and place a pencil between them. The teacher orally reads statements about what happened in the story. If the statement is true then the first student to grab the pencil uses it to give themselves a point on their sticky note. If the statement is false and a student grabs the pencil then they take a point away from themselves. Students also have to negotiate what happens when they grab the pencil at the same time. This is an exciting way to both check for student comprehension and give students more repetitions of target structures.
•  Trashketball
  I heard about this game from my colleague Su Pesa (if you know the original source please let me know). Divide the class into 4 separate groups. Orally read the students sentences from a story or MovieTalk. If a group can correctly translate the sentence into English they have the opportunity to get a point. Points are made by throwing a crumpled up piece of paper into the trash can. I usually have lines for 1, 2, and 3 points (occasionally for fun I will put a line for 50 points by the door or some other place in the room that is nearly impossible to make a basket from). If the group incorrectly translated the sentence then the next team can steal the question. This is great because it keeps teams engaged even when it is not their turn. Not only is this game extremely fun for the students, but it also serves as a comprehension assessment to see what parts of the story the students are truly understanding. 
• El juez
  Have six students stand at the whiteboard while 'el juez' (the judge) sits with his back to them. The students at the whiteboard have 30 seconds to draw a sentence that the teacher orally reads to them. When the 30 seconds are over the students at the whiteboard sit down and the judge turns around. The teacher describes each of the drawings in Spanish (this makes for some very comical comprehensible input) and the judge picks the drawing that most accurately shows the sentence that the teacher read. The artist of the winning drawing gets to be the next judge. 
•  Partner draw
  The teacher picks 10 sentences from a story that contain target vocabulary structures and puts them on the SmartBoard (for my younger students I broke the sentences up into 2 groups of 5). Before starting the game the teacher should read each sentence to the students to make sure everyone understands what they mean. In groups of 2 the students secretly select one of the sentences that is on the board--they then have 20 seconds to draw a picture that depicts the sentence that they choose. When the 20 seconds is up the students have to guess what their partner drew (they must read the sentences from the board in Spanish). If they correctly guess they earn a point. 
• Taco caliente
  I have a giant taco pillow in my classroom. During this game the students stand in a circle and underhand toss the pillow to each other while Spanish music is playing in the background. When the music stops whoever has the pillow must respond to a comprehension question in Spanish that is displayed on the SmartBoard. Depending on the level this could be a yes/no question, multiple choice or open ended. I tell the students that they each have 1 phone a friend--one time during the game they can ask a friend to help them with the answer. If a student incorrectly answers a question he is out for one round.
• La rueda
  I first read about this game in the Brandon Brown quiere un perro teacher's manual. I write the names of characters from a story on a spinning wheel and verb structures from a story on a whiteboard dice. The students are in 4 teams and each team has a small whiteboard and dry erase marker. Someone comes up and spins the wheel and throws the dice. Each team then has 1 minute to write a sentence in Spanish using both the character from the wheel and the verb from the dice. The sentence has to be either something that happened or could have happened in the story. I go around and read each sentence, correcting errors as I read aloud. I give each team 1 point if they come up with a sentence in Spanish and 2 points for the most creative answer. This is a great comprehension check once you have finished a story--plus the students always come up with extremely creative sentences. 

Please feel free to comment below with any fun activities or games that are helping you push through the end of the year!