[in_nanjing]

Ok, the other night I was playing Kings, the popular drinking game, at my house and I was getting very nicely smashed when I thought to myself, hey this would make an AWESOME teaching game! So the next day I took some asprin, drank some water and got to work. This is what I came up with. Hope you like it!


Kings – A grammar game!

Good for 6 or more students for intermediate level students and up.

Materials needed:

• 1 deck of playing cards with jokers (2 decks can be used for large classes)

Preparation:

• Print out a set of rules for each student or write the rules on the black board before you begin.
  
• Organize the class to sit in a circle with a table in the center for the playing cards.
  
• Print out one point card for each student. (See file attached) Have the students fill in their name and any other information you see fit to put on their point card.
  
• Print out one Card Legend for each student. I would explain each rule as the students pull the cards during the game. If you try to pre-teach all of the card tasks it will take too much time. (See the card legend I made for an intermediate class of adult students in China below.)

Rules:

• Each card represents a different task. Students must pull a card in turn moving in one direction; clockwise or counter-clockwise.
  
• Depending on the card they pull, the students must perform the task given to them. If they perform the task correctly they are given points which they mark down on their point card. If they make a mistake, points are subtracted. (Keep an eye to make sure they don’t cheat! Haha…)
  
• As the teacher, you simply follow the game and make sure everyone follows the rules.

Points:

• Correct answer = Plus five points.
  
• Incorrect answer = Subtract 2 points.

Note:
This all may seem like too much at a glance, but trust me it isn’t. This game is really fun and the students love it! Also, I would suggest giving some sort of prize to the winner. It adds to the competitiveness of the game.



Card Legend:

2’s – Make a sentence using (to be) + (adj.) : all sentences must be 6 words or more

3’s - Make a sentence using (to be) + (adv.)

4’s – Ask a question using a past tense. : for question tasks I made the student ask another student who must answer. Points were given or subtracted for both students.

5’s – Ask a question using a future tense

6’s – Make a sentence using the simple present tense

7’s – Make a sentence using the present perfect continuous tense

8’s – Complete this sentence, “Have you ever...”

At this point it become fun, for 9’s, 10’s and face cards you can add some fun tasks to make the game more enjoyable. Here are some good ones…

9’s – Change direction : Counter clockwise to clockwise or vice versa.

10’s – Mime an animal : for this one, if the other students couldn’t guess the animal, points where subtracted from the mimic.

Jacks – Categories : Here the student who drew the card must name a category. The student next in turn must then name something within that category. Then the next student and so on… The first student who makes a mistake or doesn’t answer for 5 seconds looses points. The game continues on from the loser’s position.

Queens – 7’s : Here the student who drew the card must begin by saying the number 7, the next student in place must then say 14, the next must say 21 and so on. The first student who makes a mistake or doesn’t answer for 5 seconds looses points. The game continues on from the loser’s position.

Kings – Truth : Here the student who drew the card must ask a question to any other player in the game. The student who is asked must then answer truthfully. After the student answers the rest of the players hold a vote on whether or not the player lied. Points are given if they believe her/him, subtracted if not.

Aces – Make a rule : Here the student gets to make a rule. The rules are for any person who gets a wrong answer so not only do you loose points but you must perform some new task. During the last game one student made a rule where any loser had to dance around the table singing, “I am stupid, I am stupid”. It was very funny.

Jokers – Plus or minus 10 points! : Here the student who drew the card gets to either add 10 points to their score or minus 10 points from another players score.

[Eric]

Awesome! That is a great idea! Thanks for posting and thanks for doing all the game research.

[in_nanjing]

No problems...

I hope some people try it out. It really is fun. If you dont use it in class, you can play it at home... With beer... Drunk... HAHA!

[kpan217]

Wow, Kings! I feel like there are a lot of drinking games that can be re-imagined as learning activities. Thanks for taking the time to share these rules-- I think my high schoolers will get a real kick out of this.

Also... the smiling frog is really classic... and a bit terrifying.

[in_nanjing]

You're most welcome...

If you can think of another drinking game adaptation make sure to post it up on the forum.

CB

[mesmark]

BS can be used for any numerical or ordering game (time, months, dates, ordinal numbers)

[in_nanjing]

Quote mesmark

BS can be used for any numerical or ordering game (time, months, dates, ordinal numbers)

Sorry, could you explain what you mean? I'm not sure what you mean.

CB

ps, BS?

[mesmark]

BS is bull sh**

In Japan they call the game 'Bluff'

Say we're studying months and you have a deck of months playing cards.

Students are dealt all the cards. Play starts and the first person must lay down a January card. Next person February... They must continue in order. If you think the person is bluffing you can challenge them.
'You're bluffing!"

If the person is bluffing they must pick up all the cards in the pile and add them to their hand.

If they were telling the truth, then the challenger has to take all the cards.

The goal of the game is to get rid of all your cards.

They can lay down more than one card at a time but they are inferring that they are all the same card, 3 Novembers for example.

[in_nanjing]

Ahh! IC!

Thats awesome, I'll try it today!

CB

ps, I thought you were being insulting when you said BS... Haha, then i remembered there was a card game called BS.

[in_nanjing]

I made a variation of your BS (Bull S**t) game where instead of months or numbers, you use parts of speach...

It was a little hard coming up with 12 different parts of speach, but I did manage it somehow with the following list as I remember it...

Nouns
Compound Nouns
Verbs
Phrasal Verbs
Adjectives
Compound Adjectives
Adverbs
Adverbs of frequency
Conjunctions
Prepositions
Postpositions
Aces I made wild, the could be anything...

During game play I had them call out an example of the word under the number that they wanted to call BS on. So, for 2's (nouns), instead of calling out BULL SH*T, the called out, "Chair!" or some other noun.

I started the class by pre-teaching all of the terms, then I played the game for the rest of the time. It took just over an hour to get through the game because there were about 13 people. Less people, less time.

It worked great for me, hope it works as well for you!

[michèle 2]

[quote=in_nanjing]I made a variation of your BS (Bull S**t) game where instead of months or numbers, you use parts of speach...

I'll call this game "bluff game" in French. It's hilarious we don't have games with such names in French! I wish we had!!!

[cabst90]

Because I don't know where else to put this suggestion...
"Never have I ever" can be adapted to practice present perfect in the classroom. It is a drinking game in which on person says (truthfully), "never have I ever..." People who have done such activity must drink. The idea is to make other people drink.

Since we can't have students drinking, I give them points to start with. If they have done the activity mentioned, they lose one point. The object is to make other students lose their points.

[in_nanjing]

Awesome idea...

Haha... Drinking games are awesome. *Thanks god for beerfest!*
"DAS BOOT!"

[leohead]

this game would be fun.

[Aisling1980]

This looks great! Thank you so much for putting all this together. I am going to try it today with my most apathetic (but high level) students. Thanks again.

[emile]

Good idea. Kudos 2 u.

[cadllmn]

Great idea, I adapted it for a group of elementary level and they loved it!

[teashirt]

From the iLearn Technology blog comes this:

What it is: The British Council has created an A-Z website of 69 Grammar Games to help students learn and practice English grammar rules. I wouldn’t characterize many of the activities “games” but instead interactive practice. The Grammar Game website provides students with a quality explanation of each grammar rule and then gives them an activity where they can practice applying those rules. I think you will be hard pressed to find a grammar rule that was left off this site. As I was browsing through the Grammar Games site, I found many rules that I don’t recall being taught but knowing them would have been (is) helpful!

How to integrate Grammar Games into the classroom: Use the Grammar Game website as a place for your students to practice grammar rules they are learning in the classroom. You could also assign each student in your class a different grammar rule. Students can use Grammar Games to learn about the rule, practice the rule, and then teach the rule to other students. This is a great place for students to explore and interact with. Use a projector to introduce a new grammar rule to your students each day or at the beginning of each week. Students can practice the grammar rule with the activity that accompanies that rule on the classroom computers throughout the week.
Tips: Bookmark this page on your classroom and library computers so students can use it as reference during writing.

[phcn08]

Hello,

Any idea for younger kids? One-on-one.

[danie.w91]

Looking forward to playing this in class tomorrow! Thanks so much for the great idea