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Typhoon Game

author:  Dan Pallmann
level:  Elem to Junior High
target_English:  Any questions or vocabulary


Many of you may already know this game.  It is great for large classes and you can adapt it for any level.  My 4th - 6th grade classes really enjoy it. 

What you do first is make some teams -- I use the 6 rows.  You'll want to have at least 4 teams.

On the chalkboard you put many cards in rows (I use a 6x6 grid).  On the back side will be point values, the front can be blank.  You also need to label the rows and column with letters and numbers (think battleship).  I use A-F and 1-6.  Each card has a number and letter (A-1, A-2, etc.)

Now for the game: You ask any review question and have students raise their hands to answer.  If correct, they pick which card they want ("I want C-3").  The point value on the back is the number of points they get.  But here's the twist: a few cards will have a "T" instead of points.  A "T" means they receive 0 points for their team, but they can also wipe out another team's points from the board (it's a typhoon). 

This game gets quite competitive, which is great!  I add to the fun by making little houses to tally points (a 5-sided house is 5 points, and all my points are derivatives of 5: 5, 10, 15, 25).

Variations: I sometimes replace the letters and numbers with vocab (occupations, places, sports, whatever).  That way they can practice sentences like "I want to be a OO." 

This game is usually good for at least 20 minutes.  Happy Teaching!



Dan Pallmann





Readers' Comments

I just wanted to say that this point system works great!  My schools now request it!  It's nice because the game works well with 5th and 6th graders, who are sometimes hard to teach and get them excited about English.  Thanks!!!


I have played this game twice now.  The first time I played it was with the 3rd year JR High Students and it didn't go over well!  I made a few revisions and then tried it with the 2nd year JR High Students the next day.  It went great!  Two revisions I made were, when a Typhoon comes up on the board, the points are still taken away but the team that answered the question now receives those points.  Also to make the game go faster, when a student sits down after answering the question, they can pick any student from another team to also sit down.  I will be trying the revised game again with the 3rd years!

Erin




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