The Sentence Relay Game
 

Here is another great game for review at the end of the unit. I like it because it involves reading, speaking, listening AND writing and activates lots of students at the same time. Beware, though, it gets noisy and for best results requires upwards of 15 minutes to play.

This game is much more complicated to explain than it is to play. Bear with me, please :o

Objective:
Be the first team to get a correctly spelled and punctuated sentence onto a paper and returned to the teacher.

Materials and Preparation:
-Scrap paper and pencils
-Pre-written words or sentences on cue cards (preferably with increasing level of difficulty)
-Space for at least 2 teams of 3 students to form separate line ups.

How To Play:
-Divide the class into 2 or more teams of equal number of players.
-Line up the students into neat rows. Good luck with that.
-Provide a table and chair for the FIRST student of each row (one per team). These students will be the WRITERS.
-Put a pencil and paper on their desks.
-Other students may stand or be seated (lined up chairs work well for managing chaos)
-Go to the end of the lines and put a comfy chair there for you to sit.
-Call one student from the end of each row to you. These students will be the READERS.
-Let those students (one reader per team) read your card with the pre-written review sentence.
-Count down. 3-2-1 GO!
-Students return to their team and whisper the sentence to the next kid on their team.
-They pass the sentence along by whispering until the student at the table writes it down.
-When the writer is finished she/he runs to the teacher with the paper.
-If the sentence is perfect they get a point.
-If the sentence is not perfect, they return to the table.
-Recall the READER, point out the error, let them whisper the sentence all over again.
-The first team to reproduce your sentence perfectly gets the point.

Tips
-Start with a really easy sentence so they get the idea. I like to start with a single word for one point. Then two words for two points, etc.
-Deduct points for teams who step out of line, stand up, shout, cheat or otherwise try to give you a headache.
-The first time you play with the class it's much easier to get the students to hover in the corner while you set up the desks and chairs. The next time you can simply say "Relay Game" and make them arrange the class themselves.
-If you have an odd group with one less student, let the group(s) with more team members start first.
-Let the readers of each time return to read your card as often as necessary.
-Make sure to mix weak and strong students into each team.

Enjoy! Once you have this game set up, the kids take over and it really produces a lot of language. I love it.

I play a game similar to this, although I call it "The Telephone Game". Same setup, 2 lines of kids sitting in chairs, but I don't use writing. I take the two students at the end of the line out into the hallway and either tell them a sentence or show it to them from a book. When I say "go!" they pass it on down the line, and the last person has to stand up and say the sentence. If it's not perfect the first person has to pass the sentence down again. And again....and again. No one gets a point until one of the teams gets it perfect. :D

Re: The Sentence Relay Game
 

This game is a great way to practice speaking and listening, and can be fun for all ages!

Since I primarily teach adults and it can be a bit over-simple for them, I sometimes play it with the following modifications in order to use it as a grammar / vocab / sentence structure review as well as speaking practice:

1. Divide students into two teams (or, for smaller classes, one large team is fine)
2. Choose a student from each team, or have someone volunteer, to be first. Give this student a card with a sentence printed on it. *Note - The sentence can be as hard or as difficult as you like, and it's a great idea to include grammar structures you've covered in class - this way, the students are intrinsically reviewing the grammar as they hear / say / write the sentence down.*
3. The first student reads the sentence out loud, and the next student in line must write the sentence down.
4. Once the sentence is written, it is passed to the next student in line. That student must correct the sentence for errors in spelling / grammar / missed words, etc.
5. Each student passes the "corrected" sentence down the line until it reaches the last person on the team. That student brings the corrected sentence to the teacher who evaluates how correct it is. A correct sentence gets a point for the team. Incorrect sentences do not get a point. If there is only one team, pass it back to them and have them try a second time as a group, giving hints.
6. Repeat the game, but have another student be "first" and read/dictate the sentence to their group. This way, more than one student gets to read aloud, and the order of "correcting" gets changed up a bit.

:)

Re: The Sentence Relay Game
 

You people are uber. Great posts. thanks :)