“Mos u nxeh” in the English Classroom

This activity used by a Lincoln instructor to practice the present tense with children was the winner for December’s lesson plan contest. Here is the teacher’s description:

First, I draw the game on a big cardboard, I sometimes ask the students to decide upon the obstacles of the game. It depends on the group.

Second, I buy dice.

Third, I prepare cards with numbers and write on them different exercises. I usually do this game at the end of each class and I include the vocabulary and grammar explained. Children know that I’m going to include in the exercises the newly explained lesson so they tend to be more attentive during the explanation because they want to win.

What do I write on a card? If I have just explained the present tense:

1. I may write a sentence with a verb in brackets and ask the student to form the present tense of that verb

2. I may ask the student to form a sentence in the present simple.

3. Sometimes I just take the teacher’s resource pack and take exercises from there

4. I may write down a new word and ask the student to translate it or to make a sentence with it.

If the student does the exercise correctly he/she has the right to jump over squares. The one who has gone farther is the one who wins the game.

One last thing, I usually divide students into groups, although each of them has the right to throw the dice and to answer to the question that has the number of the thrown dice.