Can you concentrate like a cougar? TINAWS Vocabulary Builder

I’ve been teaching French for almost 20 years now, and last year I started using this 3 part version of Concentration.  Here’s the pdf : TINAWS Concentration. If a pdf is too much of a comittment for you (or if like me you save everything you downloand or create to a folder called “Everything”) then here it is below :

CONCENTRATION

This is a 3-part game that can take 10 minutes or 30, depending on how much time you have. You could also play it on successive days.  Ten vocabulary words and their definitions seem to be ideal. 

Who does this activity help? Kinesthetic, visual, and auditory learners. 

When should you do this activity? Any time in the chapter, but if you use it as a pre-reading activity, you could build on it by asking students to imagine what the chapter is going to be about based on these words.  If you do it after the chapter, you could incorporate a race between teams or partners to see who can find the word on the page the fastest.

What do you need? One vocabulary list and 5 index cards per pair.  I cut plain (unlined) index cards into 4 cards so that the game fits on the desks better and in order to reduce paper waste.   You need a card for each word and for each definition. So if you have 10 new words, you need 20 cards.  Except for creating and photocopying the list, students do the prep work.  Let them familiarize themselves with the words by doing the work themselves.

PART 1

In pairs, students write a word on one card and its definition on another.  Have them divide the list in half, but don’t let one student write all the definitions and the other write all the new vocabulary words. 

This is a great place to stop if you run out of time! Give each pair an envelope, have them write their names on it, and then collect the envelopes since otherwise they will get lost or the partner who took the envelope will be absent…

Have pairs flip all the cards face down.  Students decide who goes first based on…

              alphabetical order by first name

              birthday (oldest or youngest)

              whichever partner gets closest to the number between 1 and 10  in your head

The first student flips two cards. If they match, the student keeps the cards and goes again. If they don’t match, the student turns them back over, and play passes to the other student.

PART 2

When students have played a few times or have finished or you see interest flag, then have them turn the cards face up.  You can collect their vocabulary sheets to make this more difficult.

Take a vocabulary sheet. When you call out a definition, the student who grabs the vocabulary word gets to keep it.  When you call out a vocabulary word, the student who takes the definition gets to keep it.

Mark off what you’ve called out as you go. Read the words/definitions more and more quickly as you near the end of the list. 

PART 3

When all the cards have been won, have students use them to make two sets of flashcards!  If they have the word, have them write the definition on the back. If they have the definition, write the word.

Vocabulary lists for Chapters 1 to 3 are below.  If you make up more lists, please don’t hesitate to email them to me (sandy@sandra-evans.com) and I’ll share your wonderful work on my website so others can have that jaw dropping, rare sensation of I can actually use this? I can go home and spend time with my family tonight instead of perching on the couch with all my papers spread around me and telling my children (in an angry voice I’d never use with my students) ‘Give me 10 more minutes, would you? I’m almost done here. Can’t anyone do anything in this house without me being involved?’  

Chapter 1 Vocabulary list

Chapter 2 Vocabulary list

Chapter 3 Vocabulary list