The big "if"

Here's another card game that your class can play once you have built up a collection from several issues. The game itself doesn't focus on the language of the cards, but some time can be set aside for this at the end of the activity.

The game works very well for practising first and/or second conditional clauses. It can also be used as a warm-up activity for a lesson on negotiating skills.

Who it's for:
All levels

What it's for:
practising if-clauses, practising negotiating

What you need:
Four cards of different types from several issues of Spotlight, well shuffled. In a class of three or four, you will need enough cards to have four per student. In a bigger class, you'll need two per student.

What you do:
Hand the cards out to the students, telling them to keep them hidden from view.

Depending on the size of your class, divide the students into three or more groups of two or, ideally, three students. If you have fewer than five students, each will work on his or her own.

Explain that the aim of the activity is for groups to collect "hands" of cards of the same type. A hand means, for example, four Global English cards. The groups of students should first look at the cards that they have between them and decide which types of card they would like to collect. Their other cards will then be used for bargaining with the other groups. Each student will be able to go and negotiate with others, swapping cards, and meeting up with his or her own group to check on progress.

Give the groups a couple of minutes to look at their cards. Individual students will need less time.

Now explain to the students that they can negotiate with other students, getting rid of their unwanted cards in exchange for cards that they need in order to put together their hands. You can specify the language that they should use, such as if-clauses. For example: "I'll give you a Global English card if you give me a Translation card."

Start the activity. You can set a time limit if you like. A one-minute limit makes for a fast and furious activity; a longer time gives students a chance to build negotiating relationships and to check back with their groups. If you are listening for specific language, go round and monitor what is going on.

When you think that a couple of groups have been successful in collecting their cards, stop the activity and see how many hands have been collected. Give feedback on the target language if you had established some.

Give students in their groups a few more minutes to look at the cards they have collected, teaching and testing each other on the content; then carry on with your lesson.