2015 nclc - building proficiency through a consistent literacy program and fun, engaging activities

Hands-on Activitiesfor Splash Immersion Classrooms

© 2013 The Center for International Education, Inc.

OBJECTIVE:Around the World is a contest to correctly identify words, pictures, etc.

MATERIALS:You need a pack of at least 10 cards with pictures, numbers, stroke, radical, character or words related to whatever you are teaching in class.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:Your entire word study group (i.e. all 6-8).

HOW TO PLAY:1. Start the activity with one student standing

behind another seated student.2. The teacher holds up a card. The standing and

seated student compete to see who can say what’s on the card first.

3. The winner moves to challenge the next person in the circle.

4. If the person standing loses, he/she sits down in the seat of the loser, and the winner stands up to challenge the next person.

5. If there is a tie, the students get another card to try.

WINNINGThere are multiple chances to “win” during this game. Around the World ends when the teacher calls time.

SCAFFOLDING:Basic Level:• Students correctly identify color, picture, stroke,

radical, character, or word on the card you hold up.

Intermediate Level - Word Recall:• When the teacher holds up a card with a

stroke/radical on it, the students compete to be the first to call out a character that be-gins with/contains that stroke/radical (e.g.,“丶”�� _“六” or “文”).

• When the teacher holds up a card with a char-acter on it, the students compete to be the first to call out a word that begins with/contains that character (e.g., “男” _“男孩”).

Advanced Level:• Students give an antonym (or synonym) to what’s

on the card.• Students make a sentence with word on the card.• Students use word of different parts of speech

correctly.

WORD STUDY: AROUND THE WORLD

OBJECTIVE:Draw is a timed contest to see which student can collect the most cards. Use DRAW to review days of the week, months of the year, pictures, shapes, colors, number words, opposites, nouns, verbs, or whatever you are teaching in class!

MATERIALS:You need a pack of about 14 cards with a stroke/radical/color/picture/word on each card.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:Ideally, 2 players, but no more than 4 per game. (Within one Word Study rotation, you may use two identical sets of Draw or two different sets.)

HOW TO PLAY:Spread cards face down on the table. Students take turns to flip over one card. If they properly identify what is on the card during their turn, they keep the card. If they don’t get it right, they must turn the card back over.

SCORING & WINNING:When the teacher calls time or no more cards are left on the table, the teacher asks how many cards each student has.

Whoever has the most cards, wins. There doesn’t have to be a prize for this contest. Simple recognition is enough!

SCAFFOLDING:Basic Level:• Students correctly identify the color, picture,

stroke, radical, character, or word on the card they pick up.

Intermediate Level • Given a stroke/radical on the card students say a

character that begins with/contains that stroke/radical.

• Given a character on the card students say a word that begins with/contains that character.

Advanced Level:• Students give an antonym (or synonym).• Students make a sentence with word.• Students give a definition for a word on the card

or a word for a definition on the card.

WORD STUDY: DRAW

OBJECTIVE:Concentration is a memory game in which players try to collect the most cards.

MATERIALS:You need a stack of at least 16 cards (with 8 matching pairs), but no more than 24 cards (with 12 matching pairs).

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:Ideally, 2 players, and no more than 4

HOW TO PLAY:1. Put all cards faced down on the table. 2. Students take turns. During their turn, they may

flip over two cards, leaving the cards face up on the table. If they get a match, they keep the cards.

3. If they don’t get a match, they turn the cards back over – in the same spots as before. And it’s the next person’s turn.

4. The person with the most cards at the end of the game wins.

You can use Concentration to review:• Pictures with initial stroke/radical (e.g., “丶” _”

说”; “讠”_”说”)

• Pictures to words• Shapes, colors, numbers, months, holiday, etc.

with words that represent corresponding concepts• Antonym/synonym (“对” vs “错”)• Words with definitions• Story characters with an adjectives that describes

that character

You can also think of hundreds of other possibilities to create pairs of pictures for Concentration.

WORD STUDY: CONCENTRATION

OBJECTIVE:Students try to collect the most cards that they can during a game – although they realize they may have to give up all their cards if they pull an “Oh! No!” card.

This game is very similar to Draw, except that it never ends unless a teacher calls time.

MATERIALS:• You will need 10 to 20 cards with 2 to 3 cards

that read “Oh! No!” or “不！” and the rest with a color, picture, letter or word on each card.

• A small bag

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:Ideally, there are 2 to 3 players, and no more than 4 players to a game.

HOW TO PLAY:1. Put all the cards in a bag.2. Students take turns pulling a card from the bag.3. If they correctly identify the card, they get to

keep it.4. If they incorrectly identify the card, they put it

back.

5. If they incorrectly identify the card, they put it back.

6. If a student draws a 不！card, then he/she says “不！” and puts all the cards he/she has accumu-lated (including the 不！card) back into the bag.

SCAFFOLDING:

Basic:Student identifies concept (e.g., color, shape, pictures of objects, etc.), stroke, radical, character, or word on each card.

More Advanced:• Given a stroke/radical, the player says a character

that begins with/contains that stroke/radical.• Given a character, the player says a word that

begins with/contains that character.• Given a word, student says a synonym/antonym.• Given a word, student makes a sentence using

the word.

WORD STUDY: OH! NO! 不！

[高阶 Advanced Version]OBJECTIVE:This game is exactly like regular Oh! No! – except that it adds a written component. Students try to collect the most number of cards they can before the teacher calls time.

MATERIALS NEEDED:• Dry erase boards and markers• A set of 10 to 20 cards with a picture, letter, word,

number, etc on each card and 2 to 3 of the cards with “Oh! No!” or “不！” written on it.

• A small bag to hold the cards

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:Ideally, 2 to 3 players, and no more than 4 players.

HOW TO PLAY:1. Put all the cards in a bag.2. Students take turns pulling a card from the bag.3. If they correctly write the name or answer, they

keep the card. If they incorrectly identify the card, they put it back.

4. If a student draws a 不！card, then he/she says “不！” and puts all the cards he/she has accumu-lated (including the 不！card) back into the bag.

EXAMPLES

• Time. A card reads “早上九点。(9 o’clock in the morning.)” The student draws the time on a clock on his/her dry erase board.

• Synonyms/Antonyms. Given a word, student writes the synonym/antonym.

• Grammar/Punctuation. Shown the name of a punctuation mark, the student draws it on his/her dry erase board (e.g. “句号” → “。”).

WORD STUDY: OH! NO! 不！

OBJECTIVE:Maximize simultaneous participation (while saving paper!)

MATERIALS:• Dry erase boards (class set or small group set)• Dry erase markers• Some kind of eraser (socks, scraps of felt, used

dryer sheets; not Kleenex or paper towels—too expensive and not reusable)

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:Everyone in a small group (6-8 students) or a whole class

WAYS TO PLAY:1) A simultaneous response to a question a. Yes/no questions b. Multiple choice questions (a,b,c,d) c. Single-word answer d. Phrase or sentence2) Questions to other students or to the teacher3) Compare and contrast (draw a line down the middle of board)4) Graphic organizer5) Sequencing

6) Bingo (see separate activity card)

RULES (IMPORTANT!):

• When teacher is talking, pens must be capped.• Students must obey teacher’s commands (e.g.

“pens up,” “pens down”).• Students should not constantly draw and erase,

draw and erase.• Students should cap their markers when they are

not using them.• After rules have been taught, if a student violates

a rule, the teacher should immediately take away his/her dry erase board and have the student use pencil and paper instead.

WORD STUDY: DRY ERASE

OBJECTIVE:Students try to fill their bingo charts with a certain number of chips. This activity asks students to correctly identify vocabu-lary words or answers to math problems.

MATERIALS:• Tic-tac-toe board with at least 9 squares• Chips or markers

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:Everyone in a small group (6-8 students) or the whole class

HOW TO PLAY:Bingo can be played in several different ways. In its most basic form, the teacher calls out an item, and students search for it on their boards and cover the item with a chip if they have it.

WINNINGThere are multiple chances to “win” during this game. Around the World ends when the teacher calls time.

SCORING & WINNING:Students win when they either fill a column, row, diago-

nal, 4 corners, or the whole board.

EXAMPLES:

Basic Level• Teacher holds up a card with 2 items, and stu-

dents look for the number 2 on their boards.• Teacher holds up a picture, and students look for

the name of the image on their boards.

More Advanced Level• Teacher shows students a math problem, and

students find the answer on their boards.• Teacher calls out the definition, antonym, or syn-

onym of a vocabulary word on students’ boards.

WORD STUDY: BINGO

OBJECTIVE:Bean Bag Toss is a great game for simultaneous partici-pation and quick informal assessments of your students’ knowledge.

MATERIALS:• Two to four dry erase boards or pieces of con-

struction paper.• Bean bags. Ideally you have one bean bag for each

student. But you should have enough bean bags for at least half of the students playing the game.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:Your entire word study group (i.e. all 6-8).

HOW TO PLAY:1. Lay on the floor two to four dry erase boards or

pieces of construction paper, each with a stroke/radical/character/word/picture on it.

2. Have students stand in a line about 6 feet away from the boards.

3. Call out stroke/radical/character/word. Students try to toss their bean bag to the correct board or piece of construction paper.

EXAMPLES:Character to radical • Character to stroke • Picture of object/concept to word• Seasons: Describe characteristics and students

toss to correct season (e.g. leaves falling, swim suits, snow)

• Noun to word of measurement (e.g., “人”_”个”; “狗”_”只”)

WORD STUDY: BEAN BAG TOSS

´Single-Column SortsHOW TO PLAY: Randomly lay out a set of cards (with words/charac-ters/strokes/radicals/pictures) face up on a table. Students sort the cards in sequential order into a column or line. Linear sorts can be used to review: • Numbers • Events in a story

MATERIALS NEEDED:Six to eight cards to be sorted.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:Individually or in pairs.

´Physical Sorts

HOW TO PLAY: Students pull objects out of a bag and place them into categories.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:No more than 2 to 3 students should pull objects out of the same bag.

EXAMPLES:• Animals: 2-legged, 4-legged, 8-legged• Amphibians vs. mammals• Living vs. non-living things• Colors: Red objects vs. green objects

´Double/Multiple Column SortsOBJECTIVE: Given a random set of objects or words, students divide them into different columns or categories.

MATERIALS NEEDED: 10-12 cards

HOW TO PLAY: Put cards face up on a table and have students pair them either individually or in partners.Examples:

Number Number Word

1 一

OTHER EXAMPLES:• Synonyms/Antonyms• Picture(s) and first stroke of character• Picture(s) and radical contained in the corre-

sponding character

WORD STUDY: SORTS

OBJECTIVE:The goal of Match Mine is to work on students’ oral production.

MATERIALS:• An object that can act as a visual barrier between

two students (e.g. a folder or a notebook).• Objects, such as unifix cubes, shapes, colored

counters and any pictures you can make patterns with.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:Students play in pairs.

HOW TO PLAY:1. One student takes his/her objects and makes a

pattern with them. 2. Using oral skills, he/she guides the other student

on how to make the same pattern.3. The other student can’t see the pattern because of

the visual barrier so must rely on verbal cues.

WORD STUDY: MATCH MINE

OBJECTIVE:The goal of Same Different is to work on students’ oral production.

MATERIALS:• Two pictures• An object that can act as a visual barrier between

two students (e.g. a folder or a notebook).

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:Students play in pairs.

HOW TO PLAY:1. Each student has a picture. The pictures are very

similar except for some differences. You tell stu-dents how many differences they need to identify.

2. They must orally describe the pictures to each other to figure out the differences.

3. Students make a list of the differences or circle the differences on the picture.

WORD STUDY: SAME DIFFERENT

OBJECTIVE:Four Corners is an easy way to jump start an oral pro-duction or writing activity by giving students choices. It also gets them up and moving.

MATERIALS:You need signs for the four corners of your room.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:You can play this game with an entire Word Study group or even your whole class.

HOW TO PLAY:1. Assign a category/name to each of the four cor-

ners of your classroom or carpet2. Ask students to pick one of the four corners to

go to.3. Once they get there, do an activity related to that

corner, usually they produce something either individually or with the group.

4. They can make a sentence, make a list, write a paragraph.

EXAMPLESSeasons: Each corner represents a season. Ask students to go stand in the corner with their favorite season. Once there, students say or write a sentence about the season. (e.g. “我喜欢夏天因为我可以游泳。(I like summer because I can swim.)”)

Colors: In the corner of their favorite color, students make a sentence with that color.

Food: Put four food groups in each corner. Once students pick one of the corners representing four food groups, have them write the names of five foods within that food group.

Geography/Travel: You could have four corners with city names (e.g. Miami, Chicago, New York, and Las Vegas). Students must pick one of the cities they’d want to go to and write 5 sentences about that city.

NOTE: When students see friends going to one corner, that may influence their choice. You may get a lot of friends in one corner. So you may want to make stu-dents write down their choices on paper or a dry erase board first before they start moving to a corner.

WORD STUDY: FOUR CORNERS

OBJECTIVE:Inside/Outside Circle is a great way to review material. It gets students moving and engaged with different students.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:A whole Word Study group or class can play. The more the better!

MATERIALS:You’ll need an index card for every player. Each card has a problem/question on one side and an answer on the other side.

HOW TO PLAY:1. You need two circles with an equal number of stu-

dents. Half of the group stands in an inner circle facing out. The other half stands on the outside of the inner circle – facing in.

2. Everyone in the inner circle answers a question on the card of the person opposite them (in the outer circle).

3. Then one of the circles rotates one or more spaces around the circle.

4. Continue until it’s time for the inner circle to ask questions of the outer circle.

EXAMPLES:

Picture/WordsFront of card:Back of card: 月(moon)

Numerals/Number wordsFront of card: 2Back of card: 二

Math Facts:• Front of the card: “五加六”• Back of the card: “十一” (You can also have more complex word prob-lems.)

Topical Facts:• You could choose questions about any theme/

topic you have studied in class.• For example, if your class was studying polar

bears. The inside circle might have questions about polar bears. And the outside circle would have to answer those questions.

WORD STUDY: INSIDE/OUTSIDE CIRCLE

OBJECTIVE:Line-up sharpens students’ ability to place things in a sequence. It maximizes simultaneous participation and utilizes the Total Physical Response method. Students must physically move to get into a correctly sequenced line.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:The whole Word Study group or even a whole class can play this game simultaneously.

HOW TO PLAY:1. Each student gets a card.2. Each card has some piece of information (e.g.

a number, a word, an event in a story or a math problem). Students can show their cards to other players.

3. Students must get into order from the first person in the line to the end of the line according to the sequence.

EXAMPLES of Line-up:

• Sentences: Each card has a word or punctuation mark of a sentence.

• Math problems: Students must get in the order of the answers to math problems on the cards, standing from least to greatest.

• Words: Students get cards with words on them. They must line up in alphabetical order.

• Words: Students get a picture on a card. They must identify the word name of the picture, and then line up in alphabetical order.

• Events in a story• Timelines

WORD STUDY: LINE-UP

OBJECTIVE:The goal of Stick Nose is to review positional words, work on students’ listening comprehension and oral production.

MATERIALS:• Blackboard and chalk, or whiteboard and marker• Sticky notes• A pen• A handkerchief

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:In pairs or small groups

HOW TO PLAY:1. Draw a big face without a nose on the board.2. Draw a nose on a piece of sticky note.3. One student comes up to the board, blindfolded

with a handkerchief. His/her goal is to stick the nose at the correct place on the board with other students’ verbal help.

4. The other students are responsible for giving instructions to the blindfolded student by using position words such as 上、下、左、右(Up, down, left, right).

5. This game should be played multiple times until the whole class comprehends the position words and different body parts can be used (e.g., eyes if playing with a face, limbs if playing with a whole human body on the board).

WORD STUDY: STICK NOSE贴鼻子

OBJECTIVE:The goal of Describe and Guess is to review vocabulary, and work on students’ oral production.

MATERIALS:A set of vocabulary cards

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:Ideally 2 players, but no more than 4 players per team. (With one Word Study rotation, you may use two iden-tical sets of Draw or two different sets). It can also be a group competition game.

HOW TO PLAY:1. Each team is divided into the Describe side and

the Guess side. 2. The Describe side will pick a vocabulary card,

and verbally describe in Chinese or act out the meaning of the word.

3. The Guess sides goal is to guess the word and write the word on the board (or say the word)

4. Exchange sides and repeat the game. 5. The exchange continues for certain number of

rounds. The team that collects the most vocabu-lary cards wins.

WORD STUDY: DESCRIBE AND GUESS 我说你猜

OBJECTIVE:The goal of Simon Says is to review vocabulary, work on students’ listening comprehension and oral pro-duction.

MATERIALS:An open space big enough for the whole class to move around

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:The entire word study group or the whole class

HOW TO PLAY:1. One person acts as 西蒙(Simon). Teacher can

pick a different name students are more familiar with.

2. All the other students stand up, make a big circle, Simon stand in the middle of the circle

3. Simon gives action orders to the students by saying: “Simon says…”. The students need to do what Simon says.

4. If anyone fails to do what Simon says, but a student reacts to the command, he/she is out. If Simon skipped the word “Simon says”, he/she is out as well.

5. The first time playing this game, the teacher will be Simon. After the students are familiar with the game, they can choose to act as Simon. Only one Simon at a time.

EXAMPLES:• Simon: “西蒙说，‘跳’(Simon says, ‘jump’)”;

students need to jump. • Simon: “西蒙说，‘跑’(Simon says ‘run’)”; stu-

dents need to run.• Simon: “站起来(Stand up)”; students should not

stand up.

WORD STUDY: SIMON SAYS 西蒙说

OBJECTIVE:The goal of Sentence Relay Race is to work on students’ listening comprehension and oral production.

MATERIALS:No material needed

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:Small group

HOW TO PLAY:1. Divide students into several teams. Each team

should have 5-8 students. 2. Each team lines up.3. Teacher whisper a full sentence to the first student

of each team, so the rest of team can’t hear the sentence from the teacher. Then the students deliver the sentence one by one, until the sentence is delivered to the last student.

4. The last student says the sentence out loud.5. Compare the speed and accuracy of the delivery

among different teams. The sentences for teams can be the same or different.

WORD STUDY: SENTENCE RELAY RACE 句子接力比赛

OBJECTIVE: Yell and Whisper is an activity used to review vocabulary. The game is great to use when the teacher’s throat is tired or the students do not want to read words.

MATERIALS:• A set of word cards• Stickers or magnets• Blackboard or whiteboard


HOW TO PLAY:1. Stick the word cards onto the blackboard/white-

board2. Teacher points to a word card, reads the word,

and asks students to read after her.3. The rule is that if the teacher reads loudly, the

students should read with a small voice; if the teacher reads with a small voice, the students should read loudly.

WORD STUDY: YELL AND WHISPER 大小声

OBJECTIVE:Bouncing Ball helps students review numbers.

MATERIALS:A bouncing ball


HOW TO PLAY:1. Divide the students into two groups.2. Ask the students to close their eyes.3. While teacher is bouncing the ball, students need

to count the number of bounces by heart.4. The teacher stops bouncing and asks the students

how many times she bounced the ball. (多少？)5. The group that answers correctly earns points,

and a member from that team gets to bounce the ball for the next question.

6. The group that scores higher wins the game.

EXAMPLES:• The teacher can bounce the ball with regular

rhythm, pause at some point, or change the rhythm in order to make it more fun. Then, the teacher asks: “多少？” the student should answer: “十一。”

WORD STUDY: BOUNCING BALL 拍皮球

OBJECTIVE:The goal of Inflatable Hammer is to review vocabulary.

MATERIALS:• An inflatable hammer• A set of pictures that correspond with vocabulary

learned in classes

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:In pairs or the whole class

HOW TO PLAY:1. Stick the pictures on the blackboard.2. Ask one student to stand in front of the black-

board, holding the inflatable hammer.3. The teacher says a word, student need to repeat

the word and hit the corresponding picture with the inflatable hammer.

4. The teacher’s role can be substituted with a student.

WORD STUDY: INFLATABLE HAMMER 砸榔头

OBJECTIVE:The goal of Bouquet Toss is to review sentence patterns, works on students’ listening comprehension and oral production.

MATERIALS:A bouquet


HOW TO PLAY:1. Students remain seated or stand in a line.2. Teacher stands a couple feet away from the stu-

dents, and turns his/her back to the students.3. Teacher tosses the bouquet backward, towards

the students; whoever catches the bouquet need to make a conversation with the teacher, using sentence patterns learned.

4. Practice using sentence patterns like“你叫什么？”(What’s your name?)、“我叫……”(My name is…).

5. The teacher’s role can be replaced by a student.6. This game can be used in other language points

that needs two-person conversation practice.

WORD STUDY: BOUQUET TOSS 抛绣球

OBJECTIVE:The goal of Treasure Box is to review vocabulary.

MATERIALS:• A large bag, or a large box with a hole on one side• Objects corresponding to the vocabularies

learned in classes, such as pen, book, or pencil

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:In pairs or small group

HOW TO PLAY:1. Put all the objects into the large bag or box.2. Ask one student to grab one object from the con-

tainer without looking (he can be blindfolded).3. Teacher and other students ask him/her: “那是

什么？” (What is it?) The student needs to feel the object with his/her hands and guess what the object is.

4. The student answers correctly can get a prize.

WORD STUDY: TREASURE BOX 百宝箱

OBJECTIVE:The goal of Cowboys is to review vocabulary.

MATERIALS:A set of word cards

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:In pairs

HOW TO PLAY:1. Two students stand back to back. Each one holds

a word card in front of them.2. Teacher counts “一, 二, 三（1，2，3）”, the two

students walk three steps away from each other. Then, turn around and try to speak out the word on the other student’s hand as quickly as possible.

3. The one who speaks faster and correct wins.

WORD STUDY: COWBOYS 牛仔

OBJECTIVE:The goal of Number Reading Competition is to review numbers. MATERIALS:paper and pens

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:Small group

HOW TO PLAY:1. Pair two groups to compete with each other.2. Every student takes a piece of paper and writes

down a set of numbers: a 3 digit house number, a 5 digit zip code, or a 10 digit phone number (more digits means higher level of difficulty).

3. One student from group A gives his/her paper to a student in group B, and he/she reads the numbers. If he/she reads them correctly, the team will score 1 point.

4. The roles exchange between two teams5. After a certain number of rounds, the team with a

higher score wins.

WORD STUDY: NUMBERS READING COMPETITION 报号码对抗赛

OBJECTIVE:The goal of How Old is She? is to practice the order of numbers.

MATERIALS:A set of pictures with people of different ages

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:In pairs or small group

HOW TO PLAY:1. Teacher writes the age of the person on the back

of the picture.2. Pair two groups up to compete with each other.3. Group A chooses a picture to show group B,

and asks: “how old is she/he?” Group B needs to guess. Group A needs to say if the person is younger or older than the guessed age. Group B has 10 chances.

4. If group B guesses correctly within 5 times, they gain 6 points, they gain 5 points with 6 guesses, 4 points with 7 guesses, 3 points with 8 guesses, 2 point with 9 guesses, and 1 point with 10 guesses.

5. Switch roles between teams for the next round.6. The group which scores higher after certain num-

ber of rounds wins the game.

WORD STUDY: HOW OLD IS SHE? 猜年龄

OBJECTIVE:The goal of Counting Numbers is to review numbers, and a grouping tool.

MATERIALS:No material needed


HOW TO PLAY:1. All students stand in a line, or make a circle. 2. Let students take turns to count from 1 to 5.

Which student to start counting can be decided arbitrarily. The first student counts 1, the next counts 2, and so on and so forth until the fifth counts 5. The sixth student counts 1 again, and the cycle continues until all students get a number assigned.

3. Teacher can use this activity to divide students into groups, or assign seating area (the highest number can change depending on how many groups the teacher wants to have).

WORD STUDY: COUNTING NUMBERS 轮流报数

OBJECTIVE:The goal of Listen and Pick is to review vocabulary and work on students’ listening comprehension.

MATERIALS:Two same sets of word cards


HOW TO PLAY:1. Stick two sets of word cards on two sides of the

blackboard.2. Divide students into two groups.3. Each group nominates a representative.4. Each group representative stand in front of a set

of word cards.5. Teacher will read a word and group representa-

tives must pick the corresponding word card as fast as possible. Scoring their performances base on speed and accuracy.

6. Change group representatives and repeat the game, until every student has participated at least once.

7. The scoring rubric• Faster and correct:2 points; • Slower but correct gains 1 point; • Other outcomes: 0 point.8. The group with a higher score at last wins. 9. Teacher can increase the level of difficulty by

speaking a phrase, or even a sentence much more complicated than a word and having students pick a picture they think represents the phrase/sentence.

EXAMPLES:• Teacher reads: “太阳” (Sun), then the group

representatives must pick the word card that says “太阳” (Sun) as quickly as possible. The one who picks the word card faster and correctly will gain 2 points, if the other one also pick the word card correctly; he/she gains 1 point for the team.

WORD STUDY: LISTEN AND PICK 听词语摘卡片

OBJECTIVE:The goal of Bouquet Toss is to review sentence patterns, works on students’ listening comprehension and oral production.

MATERIALS:A bouquet


HOW TO PLAY:1. Students remain seated or stand in a line.2. Teacher stands a couple feet away from the stu-

dents, and turns his/her back to the students.3. Teacher tosses the bouquet backward, towards

the students; whoever catches the bouquet need to make a conversation with the teacher, using sentence patterns learned.

4. Practice using sentence patterns like“你叫什么？”(What’s your name?)、“我叫……”(My name is…).

5. The teacher’s role can be replaced by a student.6. This game can be used in other language points

that needs two-person conversation practice.

WORD STUDY: BOUQUET TOSS 抛绣球

2015 nclc - building proficiency through a consistent literacy program and fun, engaging activities

Education

card students

word study rotation

entire word study group

basic level

advanced level

spread cards

seated student

teacher calls time