Category Archives: Activities and Games

Quiz, Quiz Trade in the Language Classroom

Quiz, Quiz, Trade is one of those go-to activities that gets students speaking and moving around.  Once they know how it works you can pull it out anytime for speaking practice, idea generation, an opening activity or review of a topic.  The possibilities are endless.

Quiz, Quiz Trade in the Language Classroom, French and Spanish

This highly effective strategy has proven to be a valuable asset for learners of all proficiency levels, from novices to those at the intermediate high level. Let’s look at how to set it up, manage it effectively, and consider follow-up activities that can enhance language proficiency.

Setting up Quiz, Quiz, Trade

Prepare Question Cards: Create question cards with prompts related to your chosen topic. You can tailor these prompts to different proficiency levels. For example:

  • Novice Low: Basic vocabulary with words or pictures
  • Novice Mid: yes/no, either/or questions.
  • Novice Mid: Simple questions about daily routines or preferences.
  • Intermediate Low: Questions about hobbies or school with more detail using questions words to bring out more information.
  • Intermediate Mid: Question in different time frames and questions based on a class reading or video.
  • Intermediate High: Open-ended questions on global issues or cultural comparisons.

Distribute Cards: Hand out one question card to each student.

Managing the Activity

Pairing Up: Have students pair up and stand facing each other, holding their cards.

Questioning: Instruct students to take turns asking and answering the questions on their cards in the target language. Encourage question askers to:

  • Listen actively to their partner’s responses, noting any interesting details.
  • Ask follow-up questions to further the conversation. For example, if the question is about hobbies, they can ask, “Why do you enjoy that hobby?” or “How often do you do it?”

Trading Cards: After both students have asked and answered, they trade cards. This ensures that they interact with different prompts and partners.  Students then seek out a new partner.  You can have “available” students raise their hand so that they can locate each other.  I usually say that you can’t go back to the same person after already speaking so that friends extend their circle.  Students may get the same question back several times as cards rotate.  No problem. More practice with that question.

I also put myself in the mix so that I have some one-on-one time with students and can keep track of any areas that may need additional attention, such inaccurate vern forms or inconsistent use of singular and plural.  Formative information for me.

Repeat: Continue the process for a set amount of time.  I also introduce new cards throughout, usually replacing the cards that I get with a new prompt as I integrate into the activity.  This keeps the prompts fresh so that students don’t get repeat prompts.

Follow-Up Activities

Discussion: Have students share interesting answers they received during Quiz, Quiz ,Trade and facilitate a class discussion on the topic.

Writing Assignment: Assign a writing task based on the same topic. Students can expand on the ideas discussed during Quiz, Quiz ,Trade.

Debate: For intermediate mid/high students, turn the questions into debate topics, encouraging them to argue their viewpoints in the target language.

The key to success with Quiz, Quiz, Trade is providing clear instructions and monitoring the activity (be a part of it) to ensure students stay on track. It’s a versatile tool that can be adapted to suit your specific language teaching goals and proficiency levels.

By incorporating Quiz, Quiz, Trade into your language classroom, you’ll not only see improved language proficiency but also foster a fun and interactive learning environment.

85: Go-To Activities for Your Teacher Toolbox (Vol 4)


This is the fourth teacher toolbox episode.  I hear from listeners all the time that they like the actionable tips and suggestions for activities that they can use with students next week, or even tomorrow. That usually means effective and beneficial, but somewhat minimal prep.  That’s what I bring you on these Teacher Toolbox episodes.  I have another 4 activities to share with you…plus a bonus.

Activities and Blog Posts in this Episode:

Work with Joshua either in person or remotely.

Follow wherever you listen to podcasts.

Teachers want to hear from you and what you are proud of in your classroom.
Join me on the podcast.
We record conversations remotely, so you can be anywhere.

82: Engaging Language Activities With Wendy Mercado & Valérie Greer


Could you use a few new ideas to reinvigorate the energy and productivity in your classroom? In this episode, you will get lots of new ideas and suggestions for authentically engaging your students in their language learning.  I’m joined by 2 teachers in New York. Spanish teacher Wendy Mercado and French teacher Valérie Greer.

Topics in this Episode:

  • the essential benefits of authentic engagement and excitement in the language classroom
  • how“games” or “activities”  address skill development and standards
  • lots of ideas for engaging activities and games
    •  High Tech
    •  Some Tech
    • Low Tech
    • No Tech

Connect with Wendy and Valérie:

Work with Joshua either in person or remotely.

Follow wherever you listen to podcasts.

Teachers want to hear from you and what you are proud of in your classroom.
Join me on the podcast.
We record conversations remotely, so you can be anywhere.

81: Do Nows and Exit Tickets in the Language Classroom

Do Nows and Exit Tickets in the World Language Classroom (French, Spanish) Podcast Episode
What’s the first thing students do when they enter your classroom and the last thing they do before they leave? In this episode we look at Do Nows and Exit Tickets and how they can be very effective ways of setting up the class for the day and providing quick formative assessments and recaps of the class objectives.  Yes, you’ll hear some reasons that support both, but you’ll also get some quick, and in many cases no-prep, ideas to add to your teacher toolbox. 

Topics in this Episode:

  • what Do Nows and Exit Tickets are and why they are useful and effective in the language classroom
  • examples of Do Nows and Exit Tickets at various proficiency levels
  • logistics: where to write the prompts; where and how students record response; what we do with the responses

Blog post with all details and suggestions for using Do Nows and Exit Tickers in the language classroom. 

Work with Joshua either in person or remotely.

Follow wherever you listen to podcasts.

Teachers want to hear from you and what you are proud of in your classroom.
Join me on the podcast.
We record conversations remotely, so you can be anywhere.

Do Nows and Exit Tickets in the World Language Classroom

Are you using Do Nows and/or Exit Tickets in your classroom?  They sometimes have different names, but essentially Do Nows are quick assessments that students complete at the beginning of class to get their brains warmed up and ready to learn.  Exit Tickets are assessments at the end of class that provide teachers with valuable information about what their students have learned and where they may need more practice. Do Nows and Exit Tickets are effective tools for language teachers that help to track student progress, inform lesson planning moving forward, and provide opportunities for immediate feedback to students.

Do Nows and Exit Tickets in the World Language Classroom (French, Spanish)

 

Let’s look at Do Nows first.  

Why are Do Nows useful and what are some ways of using them?

  • Quick Assessment of Previous Class: Do Nows provide teachers with an immediate snapshot of their students’ understanding of a topic. This quick assessment helps teachers tailor instruction to meet the needs of their students right away in that class.  Maybe there needs to be a little more review before moving on to a new topic or perhaps that planned additional review won’t be necessary.
  • Immediate Engagement that Builds Confidence: Do Nows are short, focused activities that engage students and encourage them to be active learners. By starting class with a Do Now, teachers can create a positive and productive learning environment. Students feel successful because the material is not new, but rather reviewing or building on previous content.
  • Practice: Do Nows provide students with the opportunity to practice their language skills in a low-stakes situation. This regular practice helps students build confidence and develop proficiency in the language. Also an opportunity to recycle or review previous topics and content to keep it fresh.
  • Prep for Class Activity: Do Nows can be used as prewriting or to access prior knowledge on a topic. Maybe a new topic will be covered in class, but the Do Now focuses on prior knowledge and builds schemata. They can also be used to spark discussion or as a pre-reading activity.
  • Differentiation: By creating multiple versions of a Do Now, teachers can differentiate the activity to meet the needs of their diverse students. This makes it possible to provide students with a meaningful and challenging learning experience, regardless of their level of proficiency in the language.

Where is the prompt and where/how do students respond?

  • The prompt can be on the board and students record their response on a sheet of paper. Students can also do this in a notebook that they keep, either with them or in the classroom.
  • Instead of writing a prompt on the board, the teachers can hand out individual prompts, such task cards, slips of paper with vocabulary words, pictures, or a a quote.  This will make the Do Now more individualized.  There can also be a prompt on the board instructing students what to do with the information on their card or slip of paper.
  • Do Nows don’t always have to be written responses.  Students can read a short text or even engage in a short speaking activity using similar prompts.

resources for Do NOws:

Now Let’s look at Exit Tickets.  

Why are Exit Tickets useful and what are some ways of using them?

  • Formative Assessment: Exit Tickets provide teachers with an effective and efficient way to assess their students’ understanding of a topic that was covered in class that day. This regular assessment helps teachers identify areas where students need additional support and can adjust instruction accordingly. Not unlike a Do Now, but an Exit Ticket is focused on new content from class. A Do Now is typically more focused on previous material.
  • Reflection: Exit Tickets encourage students to reflect on their learning and think critically about what they’ve learned in class. This reflective practice helps students make connections between new concepts and prior knowledge, deepening their understanding of the language.
  • Practice: By completing Exit Tickets, students have the opportunity to practice their language skills and demonstrate their understanding. This helps students build confidence and develop proficiency. Build in previous content and material into the prompt so that students continue to build on their skills and proficiency levels with new and prior topics.
  • Feedback: Exit Tickets provide teachers with valuable feedback on the effectiveness of their instruction. Teachers can use this feedback to make changes to teaching strategies and improve their students’ learning outcomes the next day.
  • Planning: Exit Tickets can also help teachers plan for future lessons. By analyzing students’ responses, teachers can identify areas where students need individualized additional support and plan lessons that address these needs. This proactive approach to planning can help ensure that all students make meaningful progress.

Where is the prompt and where/how do students respond?

  • The prompt can be on the board and students record their response on a sheet of paper or a notebook, just as they might so with Do Nows. However, these papers or notebooks should remain in the classroom so the teacher can look at them after the class or as students are leaving.
  • Hand out individual prompts, task cards, vocabulary words, pictures, or a quote with a prompt on the card or on the board. Just like a Do Now, but an Exit Ticket is focused on new content from class. A Do Now is more focused on previous material.
  • Students can hand these Exit Tickets to the teacher as they leave.
  • Exit Tickets don’t always have to be written responses.  Students can speak to the teacher at the door as they leave, providing a spoken response.  If there are large numbers of students, mix it up with some doing verbal and others doing written responses.

resources for Exit Tickets:

Make Logic Puzzles in Any Language

I’ve been workshopping how to make logic puzzles so that I can engage students in various vocabulary topics and language structures.  This is yet another way to provide students with opportunities to see and use language in context.  These logic puzzles also require a bit of critical thinking skills as they follow the logic and figure out the answers.

Make Logic Puzzles in Any Language or Topic (French, Spanish)

I spent some time coming up with the “equations” and templates so that I can just add in the topic vocabulary and write the clue sentences.  I decided to create 4 versions that increase in challenge level.

You can download your own templates and get to work creating your own logic puzzles for your students. The link below will make a copy of the Google Slide™ temples in your Google Drive™.  Just follow the equations for the clues and you will soon have logic puzzles using the specific content that pertains to your students.

Make Logic Puzzles in Any Language or Topic (French, Spanish)

How does it work?

  • There are 4 versions of the logic puzzles for increased challenge. The directions are in English, but can be easily changed to any language.
  • Begin by filling in the boxes in the top row and the column on the left. This can be names of people, pictures, anything.

Make Logic Puzzles in Any Language or Topic (French, Spanish)

  • Use the data “equations” to write sentences that lead students to follow the logic and figure out the answers. “=“ means a positive statement and “≠” means a negative statement.
    • 1. C ≠ 2
    • 2. B ≠ 4
    • 3. A = 2
    • 4. D ≠ 3
    • 5. C = 1
  • Using the example above:
    • 1. C ≠ 2 :  Mateo does not have a tablet.
    • 2. B ≠ 4 : Lucía doesn’t have a computer.
    • 3. A = 2 : Laura has a tablet.
    • 4. D ≠ 3 : Julia doesn’t have a pencil.
    • 5. C = 1 : Mateo has a notebook.
  • The checkmarks are there to make sure you are following the equations. When finished, be sure to delete the checkmarks and the letters/numbers above and to the left of the grid.

Make Logic Puzzles in Any Language or Topic (French, Spanish)

  • The last thing to do is to add question below where the students will find the answers in the grid.

Have fun with these and let us all know what you come up with.

Make Logic Puzzles in Any Language or Topic (French, Spanish)

76: Interpersonal Activities with Meredith White


Are you getting the most out of the interpersonal activities that you use in your classroom?   In this episode, THE Meredith White, a Spanish teacher in Georgia, joins me with lots of ideas for interpersonal activities that you can use right away in your classroom.  So many of my guests have mentioned Meredith White and the activities that she shares. I had to get right to the source …So let’s jump in. 

Topics in this episode:

  • Meredith’s  personal journey with interpersonal activities
  • feedback from Thomas Sauer : “But what’s the point?”
  • what makes an activity communicative and what about those partner activities that appear to be interactive and interpersonal, but might not be
  • how prescribed (curriculum) grammar and vocabulary come into play with communicative activities?
  • effective interpersonal (and communicative) activities that we can use in our classrooms

Connect with Meredith White:

Work with Joshua either in person or remotely.

Follow wherever you listen to podcasts.

Teachers want to hear from you and what you are proud of in your classroom.
Join me on the podcast.
We record conversations remotely, so you can be anywhere.

Practice or Review Activity for Any Language Topic

I came across an activity on theteachertoolkit.com called Nothing Ventured.  The wheels started turning right away as I thought of the ways that it could be used in a language classroom.  There are lot of useful ideas on the Teacher Toolkit website, but they are not specific to language teaching.  No fear.  I got you covered.Practice or Review Activity for Any Language Topic from vocabulary to language structures. French, Spanish, English, Italian, German, Portuguese.

I got to work creating a template to use with my students in the target language.  I also put together templates in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German and Italian.  You can download them all here and it also includes the directions for the doing the activity in your classroom.

Practice or Review Activity for Any Language Topic from vocabulary to language structures. French, Spanish, English, Italian, German, Portuguese.

Practice or Review Activity for Any Language Topic from vocabulary to language structures. French, Spanish, English, Italian, German, Portuguese.

Practice or Review Activity for Any Language Topic from vocabulary to language structures. French, Spanish, English, Italian, German, Portuguese.

I chose the title The Die Decides for my take on this activity.  I’m always looking for ways to incorporate different materials and that little die can be used for so much.  I’m happy to have yet another way to put it to use.

The Die Decides is an interactive activity that can be used for almost any topic in your language class, such as:

  • practicing vocabulary themes
  • practicing language structures
  • assessing understanding after reading or listening
  • reviewing before an assessment

The teacher creates the questions based on the topic being covered.

How the activity works

  • Individual students, pairs or small groups each need a six-sided die and a “The Die Decides” sheet.
  • Players (individual, pair or group) roll the die before each question is presented either verbally or in writing. They record the number rolled in the “Die” column of their sheet.
  • The teacher says or shows a question (perhaps projected). Students discuss, if in pairs or groups, and write their answer in the “Answer” column of their sheet.
  • The teacher says or shows the correct answer to the question. It can also be part of the projection slides or simply written on the board. Students check their answer and determine whether they were correct or incorrect. The teacher should be vigilant to make sure answer are not altered.
  • If the answer is correct, players get the points that they rolled prior to the question being asked. If they are incorrect, they lose those points.
  • Students then update their total as they continue on with each question.
  • The player (individual, pair or group) with the most points after all the questions have been asked wins the game.

Students enjoy this activity and use so much language as they discuss possible answers, listen to and read questions and react to their points changing as they progress through the game.  Remember that you can download templates in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German and Italian.

Practice or Review Activity for Any Language Topic from vocabulary to language structures. French, Spanish, English, Italian, German, Portuguese.

69: Go-To Activities for Your Teacher Toolbox (Vol 3)


This is the third teacher toolbox episode.  I hear from listeners all the time that they like the actionable tips and suggestions for activities that they can use with students next week, or even tomorrow. That usually means effective and beneficial, but somewhat minimal prep.  That’s what I bring you on these Teacher Toolbox episodes.  I have another 4 activities to share with you.

Activities Shared in this Episode:

Previous Teacher Toolbox Episodes:

Work with Joshua either in person or remotely.

Follow wherever you listen to podcasts.

Teachers want to hear from you and what you are proud of in your classroom.
Join me on the podcast.
We record conversations remotely, so you can be anywhere.

Use Google Slides™ to Create Interactive Stacks

Once in a while I see a post on or tweet and it sparks a new idea.  Maybe I don’t do it the exact way that it was shown, but it gets the wheels turning.

This happed last week when I saw a tweet from Meredith White, a Spanish teacher in Georgia.  She shared a Google Slide™ tip and I got to thinking right away about all the ways that I could use it to engage students with their language learning.

Use Google Slides™ to Create Interactive Stacks (French, Spanish)

Essentially, Meredith showed that you can pile up text boxes and then have students work through the “stack” and move the boxes around the screen.

Here is the run-down of how to do it:

🖱 Click image
🖱 Duplicate as many times as you want
🖱 To turn those into a stack, select all images
🖱 Click arrange, choose left
🖱 Click arrange, choose top
✨ Now students can drag & drop from a stack.

And here is a quick video that shows how to do this and an idea that I came up with that uses the stack:

I hope this inspired you in the same way it inspired me.