Transforming worksheets in to games

I have been changing many of the materials I used in the past (worksheets) to learning experiences that are meaningful and meet communication purposes.

One example of that was a worksheet I had in the travel unit. Students were given a list of questions, and they were to complete the answers using full sentences. So I asked myself the following questions:

Did they practice grammar on the worksheet? Yes; Was it engaging? No; Did the worksheet accomplish a communicative goal? No

Thus I decided to make a simple change, make it an interpersonal communication activity in the format of a game. I grouped students in groups of 3, and asked them to “play” the board game. When students land on a question, they have to answer the question to claim that space. The other students are expected to make comments and follow up questions.

Answering a question from the board game gives 10 points to the student.

Answering the follow up question gives the student 3 points

Asking a follow up question gives the student 3 points

Making a comment gives you 1 point.

Winner of the game is the student with the most points.

Incentive: winner of the game gets 5 extra credit points towards the next quiz J

For a specific example of how the game works:

Student 1-During the game landed on the question: What was the worst part of your last vacation? Student 1 answered: “I got sick during the trip”

Student 2- needs to ask a follow up question: Why did you get sick? what did you feel? Did you have to go to the hospital?

Student 1- I got sick because I ate too much. I had a stomachache. I did not have to go to the hospital, but my parents went to the pharmacy and bought Pepto-Bismol