Category Archives: Activities and Games

A Balanced Approach to Fluency and Accuracy in the Foreign Language Classroom

The new wave of communicative language teaching focuses more on fluency, which is a great improvement from the past, but my teaching experience and research have taught me that there is a place for activities that focus on fluency and activities that focus on accuracy in the foreign language classroom.

A Balanced Approach to Fluency and Accuracy in the Foreign (World) Language Classroom (French, Spanish) wlteacher.wordpress.comFrom time to time I like to have students engage in activities and games that focus on language forms, even if the focus is not as communicative as I may want.  I have found that this is an important step in building the skills that students need to communicate.  Some of these activities include Dice GamesCard GamesSpinner Games, Verb Form Games, and Powerpoint Games.

Here is my rational

Fluency is the natural use of language that occurs when a speaker takes part in meaningful interaction that maintains communication despite inaccuracy, and requires negotiation of meaning and addresses misunderstandings.

Accuracy, on the other hand, focuses on correct use of language and structures.

Traditional teaching methods have focused more attention on accuracy of language at the expense of fluency. In the communicative language classroom instruction should provide a balanced approach that gives students opportunities to build fluency, while at the same time tending to the accuracy of their language, so that incorrect (inaccurate) language forms are not fossilized

Foreign Language Vocabulary and Verb Form Scavenger Hunt

Screen Shot 2015-12-31 at 5.21.28 PMThere are two versions of this activity.  In version 1, students begin with a word and find the picture.  In version 2, students begin with a picture and find the word.  This activity can also be done with verb forms, where students begin with a subject/infinitive and find the verb form, or they begin with the verb form and find the subject/infinitive.

Foreign (World) Language Vocabulary and Verb Scavenger Hunt. (French, Spanish) www.wlteacher.wordpress.comForeign (World) Language Vocabulary and Verb Scavenger Hunt. (French, Spanish) www.wlteacher.wordpress.com

Version 1 : Groups choose a word to begin on one of the slips of paper around the room.  Groups can begin with any word because the hunt will make a loop. Students search the slips of paper around the room for the picture that corresponds to the word that they chose.  When they find the picture there is a number under the picture.  They find this number on their sheet and write the word next to the number.  Groups then continue the activity with the word to the right of the picture that they found.  When all of the numbers on the sheet are identified the scavenger hunt is complete.

Foreign (World) Language Vocabulary and Verb Scavenger Hunt. (French, Spanish) www.wlteacher.wordpress.com

Version 2 : This works the same as the version above, but students begin with a picture and find the correspond word.

Foreign (World) Language Vocabulary and Verb Scavenger Hunt. (French, Spanish) www.wlteacher.wordpress.comYou can download full versions of these activities below:

Spanish Vocabulary

Spanish Verb Forms

French  Vocabulary

French Verb Forms

Foreign Language Verb Form Practice with Landmarks and Art

Foreign Language Verb Form Practice with Landmarks and Art (French) wlteacher.wordpress.com

Foreign Language Verb Form Practice with Landmarks and Art (French) wlteacher.wordpress.com

This is an interactive activity for students to practice verb forms in a foreign language.  Download the powerpoint templates:

Begin by typing the infinitives and corresponding verb forms on the powerpoint template.  Be sure to put the verb forms in the opposite direction so that line up when placed on top of each other.   Then, print out the two verb sheets and the the puzzle image that you would like, and photocopy the subject/infinitive sheet onto the back of the image that you chose. Card stock is more durable, but regular paper works as well.  And finally cut out the squares along the lines dividing the subject/infinitive pairs.

Foreign Language Verb Form Practice with Landmarks and Art (French) wlteacher.wordpress.com

The templates have 10 images to choose from (5 famous paintings 5 landmarks). There are also two version of the verb puzzle that can be used with any of the images.

Students match the subject/infinitive to the correct verb form on the puzzle board and place the subject/infinitive on top of the verb form with the image side facing up. They continue until the image is complete.

Foreign Language Speaking Activity with Dice; Vocabulary and Verb Forms

Students can do this activity in groups of 2, 3 or 4. Each player gets their own card.  1 die is needed and bingo chips (or anything that will cover the die on the card). The object of the game is to be the first to cover all 12 dice on the card.

Foreign (World) Language Speaking Activity with Dice; Vocabulary and Verb. (French, Spanish) wlteacher.wordpress.comPlayer 1 rolls the die and chooses one of the two dice with that number on their card and says the word or verb form in the target language.   If correct, they cover the die.  Play continues with the next student.  Once two of the same number are covered on a player’s card play will continue to the next player if the number is rolled again.
The first player to cover all the numbers on their card wins the round.  Students then exchange their card with another player and play the round again.

This can be easily adapted to various proficiency level by having students use one word, a chunked phrase or even full, created sentences.

Download lots of versions of these activities:

Speaking and Writing Activities with Playing Cards

Getting students to actively use language in meaningful ways doesn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes, all it takes is a deck of playing cards and a little structure. In this post, I’m sharing one of my favorite sets of no-prep activities that consistently get students speaking  while having fun and building confidence along the way.

In Cœurs, Carreaux, Trèfles et Piques / Corazones, Diamantes, Tréboles y Picas, students pull one red and one black card to create a subject-verb pair or subject-picture pair. They write complete sentences, flipping new cards each round. It’s quick, simple, and gets students thinking beyond isolated words.

In Le Chemin / El Camino, students lay the whole deck of cards out as a winding path. They roll dice to move their game piece and create sentences based on where they land. I love how this brings energy and movement to the classroom, and students stay motivated to keep communicating.

Match Nul / Partido Empatado is all about quick thinking. Students flip cards, and the highest card wins the chance to create a complete sentence using a subject and verb or picture from the game board. It’s fast-paced and perfect for encouraging spontaneous language production.

Each game also comes with support pages — adverbs, conjunctions, negatives, questions — to help students add complexity to their sentences. I’ve found this really empowers students to push beyond basic structures and communicate more fully.

These activities are no-prep, highly engaging, and a fantastic way to build language confidence in a fun, low-stress way.

You can download French and Spanish of these activities here:

French:

Spanish:

Foreign Language Number and Color Practice Activity

I’m always looking for ways to reinvent materials that I already have in new and interactive ways.  Many times we as teachers don’t need to reinvent the wheel, we just have to find new ways to spin it.   This is a quick set-up activity that requires almost no prep and gives students numerous opportunities to practice saying colors and numbers in the target language.  There is also an opportunity for students to practice some simple math.

Foreign (World) Language Number and Color Practice Activity (French, Spanish) wlteacher.wordpress.comI use a deck of UNO cards minus all the special cards (Reverse, Skip, etc.).  Only the number cards are used in the activity.

  • Students play in groups of 2-4 and lay out the cards with the numbers facing down.
  • Each player takes a turn choosing two cards, they do not have to match in number or color.  The player then says the two colors and the two numbers.
  • Depending on the math level of the students, the play can either add the numbers together and say the total or multiply them.  He/She then puts the cards aside and records the sum.
  • After each player takes a turn, he/she adds to their total.  Once all the cards are used the player with the highest total wins.

Foreign Language Group Speaking Activity : The Group Dynamic

This activity is a great way to get students speaking in pairs or small groups.  They make choices about what they will discuss and offer personal opinions.  There are no right or wrong answers because they are expressing personal opinions.  I typically project a screen like the the ones below or simply show printed versions of the pictures.  Any topic can be used (i.e. movie posters, animals, food items, sports, activities, hobbies, etc.).

Foreign (World) Language Group Speaking Activity: The Group Dynamic (French, Spanish) wlteacher.wordpress.comScreen Shot 2013-08-23 at 8.08.00 PM

These are the steps that I follow to conduct the activity:

  • Find others with similar opinion
  • Discuss opinion in group
  • Be ready to share group consensus
  • Grade/Points for entire group
  • Random person selected to speak
  • Points taken if target language not used during discussion

Foreign Language Instruction Improved With Fun and Games

Researchers from The University of Nottingham have shown that playing simple games using words and pictures can help people to learn a new language with greater ease.

Fun and Games in the Foreign Language Classroom (French, Spanish) wlteacher.wordpress.com“They show that informal exposure can play an important role in foreign language word learning. Through informal exposure, learning can occur without intention, in a more effortless manner. Anyone attempting to learn another language would benefit from activities such as simple games using foreign language words and pictures, or foreign language films with subtitles where they can enjoy the activity without focusing on trying to learn the words. The results of this study suggest that these kinds of informal activities can facilitate language learning, even days afterwards.”

You can read the full article on the Science Daily Website.

Also, be sure to take a look the previous post on this site about creating games in the foreign language classroom.

French and Spanish Vocabulary and Verb Form Puzzles-Great for Do Nows

These vocabulary and verb form puzzles help students to review vocabulary and verb forms in the target language without resorting to the native language.

Foreign Language Vocabulary and Verb Form Puzzles-Great for Do Nows

I begin with a grid with numbers down the and letters across the top.  Students are then given pictures that matched with each letter and the words for the pictures matched up the numbers. To complete the puzzles, students begin with a word from the number column and find the picture in the letter column. They then find the corresponding square in the grid and color it in (example: 1E, 5G, 7B etc.).  This can also be done with subject pronouns and infinitives.

Foreign Language Vocabulary Puzzles-Great for Do Nows (French, Spanish) wlteacher.wordpress.com

Download French Vocabulary and Verb Form Activities

Download Spanish Vocabulary and Verb Form Activities

The most challenging thing when creating these activities is to create patterns that are easily assessed by looking at the grid, keeping in mind that each row and column can only be used once.

Foreign Language Vocabulary Puzzles-Great for Do Nows (French, Spanish) wlteacher.wordpress.com

I use these quick activities several ways :

*Quick review
*Activity for students who finish other activities early
*Do Now (individual puzzles)
*Homework (multiple puzzles)
*Classwork (individual, group, station)
*Substitute lesson plans

I also created verb form versions of these activities.  You can see and download them by clicking on the links below.

Download French Vocabulary and Verb Form Activities

Download Spanish Vocabulary and Verb Form Activities

Interactive Foreign Language Vocabulary Game Using Powerpoint

I call this game A Vos Risques (French) and A Su Riesgo (Spanish). It’s an interactive Powerpoint game with many opportunities for students to practice and review vocabulary in the target language. It is a great way to use the animation options in Powerpoint.  I typically divide the class into teams that play together against the other teams.

Interactive Foreign Language Vocabulary Game Using Powerpoint (French, Spanish) wlteacher.wordpress.comHere’s how it works:

  • –Teams choose a square and say the number. The teacher clicks on the number to reveal a question.  The number is hyperlinked to a slide in the presentation.
  • –The team answers the question on the slide.  A click on that screen  reveals the answer for verification.
  • –This is where the “RISK” comes into play. If the team is correct, they choose a colored question mark on the slide (I put three options.) that will reveal 1, 2 or 3 points, a Zut (French)/Caramba (Spanish)–lose points, a slide with directions to take a point from another team or to give points to another team. I put a home icon on this screen that is hyperlinked back to the gameboard.
  • –The team with the most points once all numbers have been chosen wins the game.
  • –The three different point possibilities on each screen allow for this activity to be used multiple times with the same class.

You can create this activity using powerpoint animation and hyperlinking or you can download complete version of this game below:

French:

Spanish: