Practices: grammar and syntax
Levels: All levels, though better for more advanced students, because the game is more fun at a quick pace.
Method: One student begins a sentence by saying only one word. A second student must say a word which continues the sentence. A third must continue, and so on, until someone says a word that does not fit syntactically or grammatically. If the sentence comes to a logical end without error, the next student may say “period” and begin a new sentence with a new word.
The teacher may suggest a topic to get things started. What the students say may also be recorded and played back, so the class can discuss the error that stopped the sentence.
Example:
Teacher: The topic is ‘pets’.
First student: “My . . .”
Second student: “. . . dog”
Third student: “. . . has . . .”
Fourth student: “. . . spots . . .”
Fifth student: “. . . brown . . .”
The sentence would stop here. The teacher would ask the students why, hoping someone explains that the adjective ‘brown’ normally comes before and not after the noun ‘spots’.
Submitted by Stephen MacDonald