GIVE ME A LETTER!!!: A GAME FOR COOPERATIVE LEARNING

GIVE ME A LETTER!

Learning through games is always funny and interesting for our students. This game is an adaptation of a game that most of us used to play as children or teenagers.

OBJECTIVE

Its main goal is to work on students' cooperation. It can be played with any subject at school and students' age is not determining.

WHAT DO YOU NEED?:

• A DIN-A3 sheet for each group of 4 students. 

• A blue pen.
• A red pen. 

TIME:

• A lesson: 50′-55′ min.

STEPS:

1. Divide the students into groups of 4.

2. Each student has a task to do. Students have to decide which task is better for each member of the group according to their talents. They must to agree on them. Their functions are:

• A student writes with the blue pen the answers on each box according to what he/she knows and what the other mates say.
• A student reads aloud the answers.
• A student marks with the red pen each answer on each box.
• A student is the responsible for the individual and global score.

3. The teacher hands out a DIN-A3 sheet to each group. Students can only have this sheet and the blue and the red pens on the table.

4. Each group will write at the top of the sheet the name of the team. 

5. The teacher screen on the digital board the sheet which has been given out and explain the rules.

6. One of the students says a number which stands for a letter in the alphabet.

7. At the top of each column there will be the name of a concept. The game can be played on grammar concepts or vocabulary. For instance, it's a good way of reviewing vocabulary students have studied previously.

8. Students have to fill in all the rows with a concept starting with the choosen letter. They'll use the blue pen. The first team that finishes completing the row says aloud STOP!, and the rest of the teams will stop writing. 

9. Each group says the word they have written in each box. The teacher decides and explains if the word is right or wrong.

10. Students write down the points they get in red. And once they have finished, they add all the points and write them down in the right row.

SCORE:

• If the box is empty or the word is wrong: 0 points.
• If the word is right and it isn't repeated by any group: 10 points.
• If the same concept is repeated in one or more groups, each group gets: 5 points.
• The score has to be written in red to avoid cheating.
• They have to add the total of the score of each row, and finally they add all the rows to get the total score.

• Students play an active role in the teaching-learning process. 
• All the students in each group participate actively, since all of them have a task to fulfil.
• Agreement is promoted since they have to agree to the correct answer.
• Oral and written expression is worked on through questions and answers.
• They can review different topics in a new and attractive way.
• The teacher is able to check the students' level from questions and answers, clarifying  unclear aspects at the same time.
• Students assess themselves and the teacher only supervises and explains.

It can be done:

• (Individual mark) Attitude and cooperation mark. The teacher writes on his/her notebook:
• If the student fulfils his/her task correctly.
• If the group respects the game rules.
• (Group mark) Question mark. The teacher writes down on his/her notebook:
• The same numerical mark (according to the teacher) for each member in the groups depending on the results and the place the group have got.

This cooperative/collaborative game is an ideal way of promoting different values among our students, and reviewing concepts they have gone through at previous moments.