PREP:
varying levels of writing worksheets or prompts (I will attach the ones I used)
a big monitor that allows the T to write with different color pens
OR
a large printed grid or hand drawn grid on the blackboard
ACTIVITY:
For this activity you will need to split the class into two teams, for example, purple and orange team.
I recommend doing two rounds. One round for ~5 minutes as a practice. And then a second round for ~10 minutes.
Each student will receive a worksheet. The teacher can decide if the worksheet needs to be completed in it entirety to receive ink or if it can be completed in section. If there are mistakes in the student's writing send them back to their seat again before they can get ink from the teacher.
When the students receive 'ink' they can color in a square with their team's color on the grid. The goal is to see how many squares your team can make your color before the timer runs out. Students can also steal each other's squares. However, if you think your students will get easily upset by the steal rule the game is still fun without it!
Ideally, one teacher will check the students worksheets and one teacher will help the students with coloring in the grid.
This activity is a great way to make boring writing drills more interesting! Please give it a try.
*I was inspired to make these slides after a recent Skills Development Conference! I got the idea from one of the ALT presenters
Hi, what kind of class size have you run this activity in? I would love to try and run this activity with my first year middle school kids but there is about 40 kids in the class. Have you ever had issues with having all the kids coming up at the same time to get ink?
I know that this is irrelevant to the activity, but what is that animal next to the letter x on the ABC worksheets?
@Nisemono It's a Xantus hummingbird I believe.
@Scott My class sizes are about ～30 kids. It's hard to keep the game organized by myself. I can't play this game without the JTE helping me with classroom management. I think having the kids make a single file line in front of the ALT/JTE to have their work checked is a good way to keep thinks a little more manageable. Without the lines it's also hard to tell which students came up to the ALT/JTE first so it's less fair. I'm still very new to using this activity in my own classes so I am open to any suggestions people might have after trying the game with their own students! I think this game is very fun but classroom management makes it difficult to play at times．