Word and grammar games

Грамматика для многих учеников — самая скучная часть языка. Но как без нее корректно и красиво говорить? Работа в классе еще сложнее, так как охватить вниманием сразу 30 человек за 45 минут невозможно. В такие моменты на помощь приходят игры. Они делают грамматику увлекательней и вовлекают всех учеников. Я сделала подборку из шести интересных игр для отработки грамматики, которые разработаны для разных уровней. В статье расскажу, для чего они нужны и поделюсь готовыми материалами для скачивания.

Крестики-нолики

Уровень: Beginners

Грамматика: предлоги времени и места

Подготовить заранее:

— таблицы с предлогами;

— наборы карточек;

— конверты;

— карандаши.

Разделите учеников на две команды. Перед началом игры положите перед командами таблицу и набор вырезанных карточек в конверте. Объясните последовательность действий. Участник первой команды:

1. берет конверт и достает карточку со словом;

2. находит в таблице предлог, который сочетается с этим словом;

3. составляет предложение с получившимся словосочетанием;

4. если ученик правильно подобрал предлог и составил предложение, то команда ставит на таблице с предлогами крестик или нолик в поле, где стоял предлог; если нет, то возвращает карточку, и ход переходит другой команде. 

Как в игре крестики-нолики, игра заканчивается, когда ученики смогут зачеркнуть по диагонали, горизонтали или вертикали в ряд свой знак. Чтобы игра не затягивалась, добавьте ограничение по времени. Чем больше участников, тем больше времени выделите на игру.

Самый-самый

Уровень: Elementary

Грамматика: превосходная степень прилагательных

Подготовить заранее: карточки для раздачи

Здесь не нужно делить учеников на команды. Раздайте каждому ученику по карточке с описаниями людей. Учащийся читает описание и находит в классе того, кто больше всего ему соответствует. В это время можно ходить по классу и общаться на английском языке.

Поставьте ограничение времени — 10 минут. За это время ученики должны успеть пообщаться со всеми в классе и вписать в карточку имя самого подходящего под описание ученика. Затем вместе обсудите некоторые результаты.

Робин Гуды и журналисты

Уровень: Pre-Intermediate

Грамматика: конструкция used to и Past Simple

Подготовить заранее: карточки с описанием персонажей

Разделите учеников на две команды. Одни из них будут Робин Гудами, а другие — журналистами. Раздайте каждому ученику карточку в соответствии с ролью и засеките время на подготовку — две-три минуты. Робин Гуды должны заполнить информацию о себе в карточке. Журналисты составляют вопросы для них с конструкцией used to.

После того как ученики будут готовы, разделите их на пары. Задача журналистов — задавать вопросы Робин Гудам и фиксировать ответы. Дайте ученикам 15 минут на общение.

После окончания задания объясните ученикам, что домашнее задание журналистов — написать статью. А Робин Гуды должны написать о том, что делали до того, как их поймали. Для большей интерактивности предложите ученикам определить свою роль с помощью рандомайзера.

Лучшие моменты в жизни

Уровень: Intermediate

Грамматика: степени сравнения прилагательных и Present Perfect

Подготовить заранее:

— игровое поле;

— фишки для перемещения;

— игровой кубик;

— таймер.

Разделите учеников на группы по три-четыре человека. Раздайте каждой группе свой набор. Один человек в команде будет отвечать за время.

Игрок кидает кубик, двигается по клеточкам и выполняет задание на той части, где остановился. Если ему выпадает квадрат с темой, то задача ученика — говорить на эту тему в течение одной минуты. Если ученик говорит меньше минуты, то возвращается на тот квадрат, с которого начинал. Тот, кто первый доходит до финиша, становится победителем.

Домино с инфинитивами

Уровень: Upper-Intermediate

Грамматика: инфинитивные конструкции

Подготовить заранее: набор карточек-домино

Разделите учеников на пары. Раздайте одной паре набор карточек и попросите разделить их поровну. У каждого будет своя стопка. Первый ученик достает любую карточку и кладет на центр стола. Второй смотрит на свои карточки и подкладывает к началу, либо к концу предложения. Если у второго игрока нет подходящей карточки, то он пропускает ход. Первый, кто останется без карточек — выигрывает.

Спроси или расскажи

Уровень: Advanced

Грамматика: утвердительные и вопросительные предложения всех изученных грамматических времен

Подготовить заранее:

— игровое поле;

— карточки «Ask»;

— карточки «Tell»;

— кубик;

— фишки.

Разделите учеников на команды из четырех-пяти человек. Каждой команде дайте свой набор из игрового поля, стопки карточек «Ask» и «Tell», кубика и фишек.

Объясните последовательность ходов:

1. Игрок бросает кубик и двигает по полю фишку.

2. Если ему выпадает клеточка со словом «Ask», то он вытягивает карточку из стопки с этим названием и задает вопрос любому из игроков. Если он задал вопрос неправильно, то кладет карточку в сыгранную колоду и возвращается на клетку, с которой начинал ход.

Если игроку выпадает клеточка «Tell», то тянет карточку из другой колоды и рассказывает историю на указанную там тему. Если ученик допускает три ошибки в рассказе, то возвращается на клетку, с которой начинал ход.

Тот, кто быстрее всех доходит до финиша, — выигрывает. Игра может занять много времени, поэтому поставьте ограничение в 20 минут.

Игры — это очень удобный и увлекательный способ отработать и закрепить любую тему, которую вы уже изучили. Иногда они очень захватывают, что могут поглощать много времени, но если контролировать время при помощи таймера, то вы сможете сделать все, что запланировали. Некоторые из этих игр кажутся энергозатратными, но они стоят того, чтобы создать дружескую и веселую атмосферу на уроке.

А вы используете игры на уроке для отработки грамматики?

Teaching grammar can be loads of fun! There are so many active, hands-on ways to engage your learners while at the same time reinforcing important concepts. Here are a few of our favorite grammar games to play with your elementary students.

1. Conjunctive Adverb Ball Toss

To play the game, one student will toss this conjunctive adverb ball to another student in the group. The person who catches the ball will create a compound sentence using the conjunctive adverb closest to their thumb. The person who tossed the ball will write down the sentence using the appropriate punctuation. The game continues until one group has created and written 20 sentences on their worksheet. The first group to have 20 correctly written sentences wins.

Learn more: Teaching Writing

2. Grammar Headbands

This game will help kids learn to differentiate between the different parts of speech. Without looking, one student will place a word card on their forehead so that their partner can see the word on the card. That student’s job is to describe the word on the card without saying the actual word.

Learn more: 123Homeschool4Me

3. Mystery Word Game

Students play in groups of three and take turns trying to guess the “mystery word” on the card. A few clues are given for each word (whether it is a noun, an adjective, or a verb, how many letters it has, what it starts or ends with, etc.). One student reads while the other students guess. Comes with 50 mystery cards for less than $2.

Learn more: The Teaching Rabbit

4. Roll a Word Vocabulary Practice

Dice games help spice up vocabulary practice, something many kids find dull. Set a list of words, then give each kid a die to roll. Based on the number, they do one of the following activities as seen on the worksheet above.

Learn More: Southern Fried Teachin’

5. Roll a Sentence

If you’re looking for grammar games to give students practice with punctuation, try Roll a Sentence. Students roll the dice to get words that they must then use to complete a sentence with correct grammar and punctuation. The words are divided into five categories: person/thing, adjective, preposition, verb, place. Each category has 11 possible words, numbered from 2 to 12. Students roll once for each column and write down the word they scored. After they have rolled five times, they must put all the words together to form a logical sentence.

Learn more: Busy Teacher

6. Contraction Bingo

This version of Bingo puts a fun twist on learning contractions. Each child receives a Bingo board with contractions on it. The caller calls out the expanded version of the word and the students have to figure out if the contraction is on their board.

Learn more: 123Homeschool4Me

7. Funny Flips

If you’re looking for wordplay grammar games, this silly game is for you. The object is to mix and match words to make simple—and ridiculous—sentences, all the while learning grammar skills, especially the tricky concept of adverbs.

Learn more: What Do We Do All Day?

8. Grandmother’s Cat

This fun ABC game helps kids practice identifying adjectives. The first player completes the sentence “My grandmother’s cat is _____,” using a word that begins with A. The next player repeats the sentence with a word that begins with B, and so on. A variation on this game would be to use the sentence “My grandmother’s cat likes to _____,” with students filling in the blank with verbs.

Learn more: Your Dictionary

9. Parts-of-Speech Bingo

Grammar games are a great way to teach parts of speech. This free downloadable gives you everything you need for another fun version of Bingo. Each card is populated with words that are different parts of speech. The caller calls out a part of speech, for instance “verb,” and the student must find a verb on their card and place a marker there. The game continues in regular Bingo fashion.

Learn more: My Joy-Filled Life

10. Peculiar Paragraph

Divide students into groups of 10, then have each student write a sentence on absolutely any subject. The object of the game is for the group to then arrange all of the sentences together into a “peculiar” paragraph. They’ll need to add conjunctions to help the sentences flow cohesively, but they may not add any other pieces of information. When each group is finished, let them read their paragraph aloud.

Learn more: Bright Hub Education

11. Simple Sentence Smackdown

For this active game, you will need two plastic flyswatters. On a piece of chart paper or on a large white board, write 15 examples of complete sentences and 15 examples of sentence fragments. Divide your class into two lines and for each twosome, call out “simple sentence” or “fragment sentence.” The first player to smack a correct example earns a point for their team. Play continues until everyone has a chance to play.

Learn more: Teaching Writing

12. Grammar Simon Says

Incorporating actions and movement into learning helps kids conceptualize. Before you play this version of Simon Says, establish certain motions for different parts of speech. For example, if you hear a noun, touch your shoes. If you hear a verb, run in place, etc. Let the kids practice a few times, then start calling out actual nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. If the student makes the right motion, they stay in the game. If not, they take a seat.

Learn more: Reading Eggs

13. Write and Draw

This game is a lot like the board game Telestrations. Start with a stack of index cards. The first player will write a grammar concept on the top card then pass the stack to the next player. That player reads the card, puts it on the bottom of the stack, then draws a picture of the concept on their card. They pass it to the next player, who must try to identify the concept, write that word, and pass to the next player, etc. At the end, start with the first card and read through the sequence of cards to see how clearly the concept was communicated, or how convoluted it became.

Learn more: Reading and Writing Haven (Telephone Grammar)

14. Noun Scavenger Hunt

This fun game gives young learners a hands-on way to learn about nouns. Once your students understand the concept of nouns = person-place-thing, set a timer. Then challenge your students to go on a classroom scavenger hunt for nouns that start with each letter of the alphabet. Provide them with a lined worksheet with each letter of the alphabet in the left column and room to write their words on the right.

15. Synonym Scramble

This is a fun small-group card game. Prepare a list of synonym word pairs that are appropriate for your grade level. Next, prepare a deck of index cards. Write one word in blue on one side and the word’s synonym in red on the other. Pass out one card to each student, blue side up. Then, read a word from the red column while the students figure out who has that card. Repeat until all of the cards are claimed.

Learn more: Education World

If you like these grammar games, check out 20 Meaningful Vocabulary Activities for Every Grade.

Plus, find out how other teachers tackle grammar practice  on the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook!

Grammar games can make learning English fun and interesting for ESL students. A variety of games, quizzes, and worksheets are available for students of all ages and skill levels, and these activities can help keep the students’ attention and encourage them to want to learn more about spelling and grammar. Scrabble, for example, allows students to use randomly chosen letters to form words in a crossword puzzle-type configuration. Helpful tools like the Scrabble Word Finder can even show them all the possible words they can play, improving both their vocabulary and score.

Flashcards, quizzes, or worksheets using pictures help students who learn better with visual aids. Grammar and word puzzles encourage critical thinking and help students learn about word order, vocabulary, spelling, and proper word usage. Many of these games can be found online. Words With Friends, for example, is a free-to-play mobile game that offers students the chance to improve their vocabulary while connecting with players from all around the world. It can be very frustrating to build words in a foreign language, but students can utilize the Words With Friends Cheat to keep up with their native-speaker competitors. All types of grammar games can help promote memorization and keep students studying their lessons, while still having fun!

Action Verbs Present Tense ESL Interactive Grammar, Vocabulary Game

This online game is great for young or beginner ESL students. Students can use this game-show-themed activity to answer questions about vocabulary according to the pictures provided with each question. It’s a useful activity for test or quiz preparation or for vocabulary practice.

Active vs. Passive Voice — WordTips Grammar Blog

This article is a compelling resource explaining the usage of active and passive voice and helpful tips on switching sentences between the two voices.

Transition Words — WordTips Grammar Blog

All that ESL students need to know to start using transition words and level up their English speaking and writing.

Breaking Down Parts of Speech

A comprehensive guide about the eight parts of speech with a summary table and lots of relevant examples.

ESL Flashcards: Actions

The flashcards on this site can help ESL students memorize English vocabulary words: Start with these flashcards about actions, then explore the site to find ones on other topics.

ESL Paraphrase and Summary Exercises

This page from the Purdue University website contains a paraphrase exercise and a summary exercise designed for intermediate-level ESL students. Each exercise contains three questions and an answer sheet. Paraphrasing and summarizing sentences, paragraphs, or passages can help ESL students understand proper word usage, vocabulary, and word placement.

Verb Tenses ESL Grammar Game

This interactive game is for ESL students of intermediate to advanced skill levels. The game requires students to match the sentences to the tenses they reflect. The tenses involved with this game include present perfect, present simple, present progressive, past simple, and future simple/progressive.

Plurals Interactive Quiz

Students can take this interactive quiz to help them study singular, plural, and possessive nouns. The quiz involves fill-in-the-blank questions with multiple-choice answers. When students click on a chosen answer, they can immediately see if they got the answer right or wrong. The quiz is ideal for beginner to intermediate ESL students and is repeatable with different questions each time.

Comparative and Superlative Adjectives Activities

Beginner to intermediate ESL students can benefit from the group activities on this page. Teachers can review the activities and use them for classroom or group tutoring lessons. Each unique exercise addresses the proper use of comparative and superlative adjectives.

Commonly Used Irregular Verbs in English

Students of all skill levels can use the listen and repeat videos on this site to learn about and review the proper usage of irregular verbs.

Contractions Card Flip

ESL students who need help learning contractions can use this game to test their skills.

Relative Pronouns Quiz

Beginners can complete this quiz to sharpen their relative pronoun skills. Each question displays a complete sentence with a pronoun in red text. The student answers «yes» if the pronoun in the sentence is correctly used and «no» if it is not. Students can check individual answers as they complete each question or check all answers at the bottom of the quiz.

Advanced Quantifiers Error Correction Quiz

Advanced ESL students can use this grammar quiz to learn about or study the use of quantifiers in the English language. Each question contains a sentence that uses a quantifier correctly or incorrectly. The student clicks on a bubble next to «correct» or «wrong» according to how the quantifier is used in the sentence. Students can check their answers at the end of the quiz.

Falling Clouds Verb Game

The Falling Clouds verb game helps beginner ESL students learn about proper sentence structure and word usage. This interactive game allows students to put scrambled words in order to create a complete sentence. Each sentence scramble includes a picture describing what happens in the sentence. After the student completes the sentence, a voice reads the words back.

Articles Worksheet

This printable worksheet is geared for beginner to intermediate ESL levels. It consists of a paragraph with all articles removed. The student must insert the articles «a,» «and,» or «the» where it is appropriate in each sentence.

Beginning Forming Questions: «Who»

Forming questions with the word «who» helps ESL students understand proper sentence structure. This printable worksheet requires the student to form a question by placing scrambled words in proper order. It is great for lesson supplements and studying.

Fragments Practice

The Henry Ford College Learning Lab website offers a practice worksheet about turning fragments into complete sentences. This exercise is good for beginner or intermediate skill levels. It is also a tool for advanced ESL students to review or practice with. Each sentence on the printable worksheet is missing a verb, clause, or other element that students must enter to form a complete sentence.

Fill in the Blanks

Try out this quiz to test your ability to use articles correctly in English.

Direct and Indirect Speech Lesson

The Cambridge University Press offers a lesson and accompanying activity that teaches intermediate ESL students about direct and indirect speech. Teachers can use this lesson plan and exercise in a classroom setting and allow students to work in groups to complete the activity.

A Short Grammar Lesson About Articles

ESL teachers can use this grammar lesson to teach their students about articles. The lesson helps students review and study beginner or intermediate-level grammar and is perfect for kids or adults learning English. Practice questions and an answer sheet are available at the end of the lesson.

Adverbs Worksheets

Find a two-page printable worksheet with accompanying answer sheet to help beginner ESL students learn about adverbs. The worksheet includes pictures to help students understand the meaning and use of the adverbs in the sentences.

ESL Activities to Promote Interaction and Communication

ESL teachers can print out a document containing grammar lesson plans here to find activities geared toward group or classroom learning. Group ESL activities can help students develop relationship and communication skills while they improve their grammar skills.

12 Fun Speaking Games for English Learners

The Edutopia website provides a list of group game ideas to help ESL students learn English together. They allow students to interact with each other using their English grammar skills; speaking English is a huge part of learning the language.

Running Dictation Activity

ESL teachers with large classes of students can benefit from this activity that allows students to work in pairs and move around the room while they work on their reading and writing skills.

Easy Grammar Lessons

These lessons are a perfect fit for beginner or child ESL students. They include worksheets with pictures to help students learn grammar easily. The exercises are all easily printable.

Adjectives Ending in -ED or -ING Exercise

This worksheet can help ESL students learn about types of adjectives and how to use them in sentences.

Cause and Effect Linking Words Lesson

The University of Victoria website provides a lesson that helps ESL students learn about cause and effect linking words. This lesson is perfect for advanced students and focuses on conjunctions, transitions, and prepositions.

On the Trail Listening Exercise

This listening exercise allows ESL students with an intermediate skill level to listen to English dialogue online while reading the text version of the conversation. After listening and reading the dialogue, students can review vocabulary they heard and read. Afterward, they can take an interactive quiz to test what they learned.

Merriam-Webster Learner’s Dictionary

Merriam-Webster developed this dictionary especially for English learners. ESL students can enter an English word in the search bar to learn how to properly use it in a sentence and confirm the definition of the word.

Types of Sentences Quiz

This quiz geared toward intermediate or advanced ESL students contains 12 questions pertaining to types of sentences. Each question contains a simple, complex, or compound sentence. The student must choose which type each sentence is. They may then check their answers at the bottom of the quiz.

Using Parallel Verbs Quiz

ESL students can use this quiz to learn about the use of parallel verbs. The interactive quiz contains sentences that correctly or incorrectly use parallel verbs, and the student can answer with «correct» or «not correct.» The quiz is ideal for beginner to intermediate skill levels.