Word play with eye

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This game, introducing descriptions of facial features, is kind of an ESL variation of the game Battleship. Players follow pretty much the same rules as in the classic naval game except instead of placing ships of varying lengths, they draw a spy or some symbol (circle, x, etc.) representing a spy on their respective grids.

Here are the front and back sides of the handouts I used in my classes. It’s not so pretty but spying is a pretty ugly business.

The game helps students describe facial features using the target phrase: Does ____ have _______?
First introduce the facial features appearing on the top row of the sheet (the «has» row).

Then combine the names of the suspects from the «Does» column with facial features in the «has» row.
You can use visual images to present and practice (through repetition, etc.) questions and answers like the following that students will later use in the game.

Does Akiko have a mustache?

No, she doesn’t have a mustache.

Does Akiko have a mustache?

Yes, she has a mustache/Yes she does.

Once you’ve glued both sides together, or better yet, printed both sides on a single sheet of paper and distributed enough for everyone in the class, instruct the students to fold the paper as shown below so their playing partner can’t see where their opponents spies have been placed (drawn).

Players first draw five spies on any of the grids (players may draw as many spies on the same row or column as they like). Using the visual cues on the grid’s vertical and horizontal axes, players take turns asking each other questions. The column on the left side of the grid, the «Does column,» has a list of international spy suspects. The top row, the «have row,» features the disguises the spies could be wearing. Players combine one suspect from the have column with one disguise from the have row to form a question that will help them discover the whereabouts of his/her opponents spies.

A player may ask his/her opponent a question like: «Does Akiko have thick eyebrows?»

In this case the opposing player has drawn one of their spies on the grid square just below the picture of thick eyebrows and on Akiko’s row so the spy has been discovered. The player will mark an «X» in that grid and the game will continue until one player has discovered the locations of all five of his/her opponent’s spies.

If a player forgets how to describe any of the facial features depicted at the top row of the grid they can simply lift the flap to reveal a cheat sheet with the same exact pictures accompanied by the new vocabulary terms to spark their memory.

You could end the class by reviewing the same phrase, using «you» and «I» by asking students questions like:
«Do you have short hair?» etc.  If time permits you might also try a 20 questions type game where you think of a student, or write the name of a student in the class and students try to guess who it is by asking questions like: «Does she have long hair?» etc.

One drawback I discovered with this game is that after discovering the third spy, it tends to get monotonous. You could cut the number of spies but it’s still not as exciting as the high seas adventure it’s based on where the varying lengths of the ships add to the suspense. Then again who said learning should be fun.

Related activities: Making Faces

Most common words emphasized in bold.