Showing students a flashcard and getting them to shout out what is shows is already much more stimulating for students than it sounds. These variations make it both more interesting and richer in language.
The ‘classic’ version: The teacher shows a flashcard and the students shout out the name. The student or team who shout out the vocab (or the target sentence including that word) first is given the card. The cards are then counted up at the end.
Okay, it’s true. What I’ve described above is not usually considered to be a game, but a few simple variations can turn a necessary presentation technique into one of the most popular activities in your class:
Variation A: Keep them busy
The main problem with such flashcard revealing games is that one student inevitably already knows all the vocab and gets basically all the cards. You can even things up by giving some of the cards for best pronunciation and/ or loudest shout instead of just for being the first person to say the right thing. Alternatively, you can distract that annoying teacher’s pet by throwing the card in their general direction rather than handing it to them. That should keep them busy for long enough to give someone else a chance on the next card- especially if he or she learnt all that vocab by sitting at home watching Baby Einstein videos rather than playing sport. Alternatively, get the student who won the card to place it somewhere round the room (‘Put it on the door’) for a later running around and slapping game, and reveal the next one while his or her back is turned. Sneaky, I know…
Variation B: Slow reveal
I guess everyone knows this one – put a piece of paper or card in front of the target flashcard and slowly pull it away until someone shouts out what is being revealed. There are several ways of making this more complicated and language intensive. One possibility is moving the piece of card left, right, up or down depending on what the students request (e.g. ‘Down please’). This can be done with teams taking turns requesting and guessing. A more preparation-intensive version of the same thing is having a grid of paper over the card. You then pull back the strip/ square of paper that the students request (e.g. by saying the number or letter of the alphabet that is written on it) and let them guess what is hidden beneath from just the bit that they can now see. In a small class where you all sit on the floor this could be just done by scattering small cards such as the alphabet over a big flashcard or poster (obviously doing the covering somewhere where the kids can’t see), and so practising two language points at once.
Variation C: Fast reveal
This time you whisk the card out so quickly they can hardly see it. Obvious, I know. You can add language by accepting requests such as ‘One more time, please’ and ‘More slowly please’.
Variation D: Revealed there!
Position rather than speed is the challenge this time – reveal the card close to the floor (facing down), ceiling or wall, or behind your back, under the table etc. Students then move around to see the card and shout out the word/ sentence. This can be adapted as good practice for this/ that/ these/ those by whipping out two cards at the same time, e.g. one close to your body and one close to the ceiling, and asking a question about just one of them (e.g. ‘What’s that?’). Students then only answer about that one card. Alternatively, you can take requests from the students about where they want the next card put, e.g. ‘here’, ‘there’, ‘high’, ‘low’ (or ‘tall’ and ‘short’), ‘close’, ‘far’, ‘right wall’, and ‘ceiling’.
Variation E: Wordy reveal
This is a simple one again – describe the card to the students, and give it to the first person who guesses correctly. Perhaps the only surprising thing is how young you can start this game – even some 3 year olds can pick out the relevant words (‘Monkeys eat it. It’s yellow’) and guess.
Variation F: Reveal nothing
Alternatively, you could tell them nothing at all and still make them guess. When the students already know a topic or a pack of flashcards well, you can just let them know the category and get them to shout out guesses about which one you are holding. For more of the frantic stock exchange floor feeling, give them cards if they shout out any of the cards you are holding. You can then maybe switch to Wordy Reveal above for the last couple of cards left (once they’ve shouted themselves hoarse).
Variation G: 3D Reveal
Most of the games above can also be played with realia, e.g. plastic fruit, animals or kitchen utensils. Wordy Reveal works well, especially if you quickly grab the object out of a bag or basket and then try to hide it in your hands or pocket while you describe it. You can also slowly open your hands for Slow Reveal, but what works better is having the object inside a plastic carrier bag and slowly pulling it tight around the object so that it shows more details bit by bit.
An earlier version of this article was first published in the Shane Japan teacher’s newsletter. Published online with the permission of the author (me) and publishers (them).
About twenty more articles on YL games, including the rest of this series, here:
TEFLtastic 