Go Fish is originally a children's card game. It is very useful in the language classroom to have students work on producing and understanding numbers.
Required Materials:
Deck of cards (remove J-K, or assign those values of 11-13) for every 4-6 students
Instructions:
Divide students into groups of 4-6, one deck of cards for group.
The goal of the game is to make sets of 4 cards of the same number. The game ends when a player either gets rid of all of their cards, or they run out of cards to play with. Whoever has the most sets of 4 cards wins at the end of the game.
Each player is dealt 5 cards. The remaining cards are placed face down. Each round consists of the player asking another player to give them a particular card - for example, player A asks: "Player B, please give me your 9's." Player A can only ask for a card he already has in his hand. If player B has any 9's, she must give all of them to Player A. If she does not, she says, "Go Fish" and Player A draws a card from the deck. The turn then moves to the next player. When a player has assembled all 4 of a single card, they place them down in front of them. The goal is to get rid of all their cards, or to assemble the largest number of groups of 4 before the deck runs out.
This game is very helpful for activating number vocabulary, especially the numbers 1-10 (Ace should count as '1'). You can also use it to activate words for 'I want' or 'give me', as well as the vocative if this is a form in the language, 'Oh, Player B'. You can teach the students the literal translation of 'Go Fish' or some other culturally appropriate phrase.
Required Materials:
Deck of cards (remove J-K, or assign those values of 11-13) for every 4-6 students
Instructions:
Divide students into groups of 4-6, one deck of cards for group.
The goal of the game is to make sets of 4 cards of the same number. The game ends when a player either gets rid of all of their cards, or they run out of cards to play with. Whoever has the most sets of 4 cards wins at the end of the game.
Each player is dealt 5 cards. The remaining cards are placed face down. Each round consists of the player asking another player to give them a particular card - for example, player A asks: "Player B, please give me your 9's." Player A can only ask for a card he already has in his hand. If player B has any 9's, she must give all of them to Player A. If she does not, she says, "Go Fish" and Player A draws a card from the deck. The turn then moves to the next player. When a player has assembled all 4 of a single card, they place them down in front of them. The goal is to get rid of all their cards, or to assemble the largest number of groups of 4 before the deck runs out.
This game is very helpful for activating number vocabulary, especially the numbers 1-10 (Ace should count as '1'). You can also use it to activate words for 'I want' or 'give me', as well as the vocative if this is a form in the language, 'Oh, Player B'. You can teach the students the literal translation of 'Go Fish' or some other culturally appropriate phrase.
