Conversation Card Matching Game

Print out enough conversation cards for the class. I made some conversation cards for my JHS First year class, but you can make your own. All you need to do is pick 3/4 different sentence topics as the base and create the number of pairs equal to your class size. Each should have similar information, but only one that they match with completely. I like to laminate mine and store them in pairs.

Count how many students are in your class, then shuffle that number of pairs. If thereis an odd number of students, join in yourself so everyone has a pair.

Model the game with your JTE. Pick two similar but different cards from the pack and ask each other some questions. When you find the element that is different, roleplay going to talk to someone else. Usually this is enough for students to understand the game, but you may want to practise the questions and answers a little before you start.

Distribute the cards face down. I like to give them to students individually to avoid anyone looking at each others cards and finding a match before the game has started.

Ask students to walk around the room asking questions. When they have found their pair, ask them to return to their seats. I like to set a 5 minute timer, and most classes are done within that time, but if anyone is left we ask them at random to read out their card to find their match.

If students have done this game before, you can change up what the cards say or ask them to do it under a tighter time limit if you like.