{"id":92,"date":"2014-08-17T01:00:35","date_gmt":"2014-08-17T01:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madameshepard.com\/?p=92"},"modified":"2014-08-17T01:00:35","modified_gmt":"2014-08-17T01:00:35","slug":"4-games-develop-interpersonal-communication-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madameshepard.com\/?p=92","title":{"rendered":"4 Games to Develop Interpersonal Communication Skills"},"content":{"rendered":"

Games are a great tool to develop students\u2019 interpersonal skills.\u00a0 While I\u2019ve always used games in my classroom, the types of games have changed as I became more focused on proficiency.\u00a0 The following games, which I\u2019ve \u201cborrowed\u201d from colleagues over the years, are popular with my students and can be used for a variety of communicative goals.\u00a0 In addition, these games can become formative assessments as the teacher circulates around the room providing feedback.<\/p>\n

Pair Crossword Puzzles<\/p>\n

This is one of my students\u2019 favorite games, and it can be used for students at many different proficiency levels, and in many different contexts. This game takes awhile to prepare, but I think it\u2019s worth the effort!<\/p>\n

How to play<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Students are divided into pairs and each is given a partially completed crossword puzzle.\u00a0 Partner A has the vertical responses filled in, Partner B has the horizontal responses filled in.\u00a0 There are no clues on the puzzle, just the partially completed puzzle<\/p>\n

2. The students take turns asking their partner to give them oral clues for the words that are not filled in on their puzzles.<\/p>\n

Partner A: Quelle est la r\u00e9ponse pour num\u00e9ro deux?<\/em><\/p>\n

Partner B\u00a0: C\u2019est une l\u00e9gume orange.<\/em><\/p>\n

Partner A\u00a0: C\u2019est une carotte\u00a0?<\/em><\/p>\n

Partner B\u00a0: Non, elle est ronde.<\/em><\/p>\n

Partner A\u00a0: C\u2019est une citrouille\u00a0?<\/em><\/p>\n

Partner B\u00a0: Oui, c\u2019est une citrouille.<\/em><\/p>\n

How to prepare (using puzzlemaker.com)<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Make a list of words that will appear in the puzzle. \u00a0The clue isn\u2019t important, so I just use 1, 2, 3 as the clues, because it\u2019s quick. You need to press enter after each item.\u00a0 I type this in a Word document, rather than in puzzlemaker.com program so that I\u2019ll have it in my files.\u00a0 Here\u2019s an example of a word list (but you\u2019ll probably want to have at least 20 words):<\/p>\n

carotte 1<\/em><\/p>\n

citrouille 2<\/em><\/p>\n

banane 3<\/em><\/p>\n

chou 4<\/em><\/p>\n

2. Go to puzzlemaker.com and choose Criss-Cross.<\/p>\n

3. Type a title for your puzzle, and then go to Step 4 (I usually use the default settings for Steps 2 & 3). Copy and paste your word list in Step 4 and click Create my Puzzle.<\/p>\n

4. Print 2 copies of the puzzle, as well as a copy of the word list.<\/p>\n

5. Fill in the horizontal answers on one copy and the vertical answers on the other. This is the trickiest part, because the computer randomly places your words in the puzzle.\u00a0 So the clue for 1 Across might be \u201c3.\u201d\u00a0 You will have to look back at your word list to see which word was 3 (banane).\u00a0 This will not be confusing to the kids, because they will never see the clues (see below).<\/p>\n

6. Depending on the size of your puzzle, the clues (1, 2, 3, etc.) might be on the bottom of the paper (or it might be on the second page).\u00a0 Make sure to white them out\/cut them off before copying the puzzles to distribute to the students.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here are some ideas for contexts that work well for this game:<\/p>\n

French 1<\/strong>: Family vocabulary (C\u2019est la soeur de ta m\u00e8re, c\u2019est le p\u00e8re de ton p\u00e8re, etc<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

French 2:<\/strong> Most concrete thematic vocabulary works well (food\/house\/clothes\/school supplies\/classes\/sports\/etc.)<\/p>\n

French 3:<\/strong> I use it for thematic vocabulary, but also for stories. (We read a lot of Petit Nicolas in French 3.)\u00a0 In this case, I don\u2019t necessarily choose new words, but instead focus on key words from the story.\u00a0 This makes it a great way to practice story-telling skills.\u00a0 If you had read Little Red Riding Hood, some clues might be C\u2019est ce que la m\u00e8re a pr\u00e9par\u00e9 \u00a0pour la grand-m\u00e8re,<\/em> C\u2019est le personnage qui a tu\u00e9 le loup<\/em>, C\u2019est ce que la fille aimait porter, etc.<\/em> The ability to use the language needed for these clues, such as relative pronouns, is a key component in increasing proficiency.<\/p>\n

AP French (4\/5) I\u2019ve used this game for complex thematic vocabulary, such as in a unit on the environment, as well as to review literature and films.<\/p>\n

Jeu de Pyramide<\/p>\n

I call the Pyramid game, because it\u2019s based on the game show, $100,000 Pyramid. If you\u2019re old enough to remember this game, you\u2019ll know that the game is based on the first part of the game, not the Big Money (?) part at the end.\u00a0 Like the pair crossword game, this one involves using circumlocution.\u00a0 However, it\u2019s played as a whole class activity, rather than in pairs.\u00a0 I often use this game the day after a pair crossword, because the students will have already practiced describing the words.\u00a0 Fortunately, this one only takes a few minutes to prepare.<\/p>\n

How to play<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. The class is divided into two teams.\u00a0 The first 2 players on Team A come to the front of the room.\u00a0 One of them is seated in a chair facing the Smartboard\/screen\/chalkboard, etc.\u00a0 The other student has his\/her back to the Smartboard\/screen\/chalkboard.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The student who is facing the screen\/board begins by describing the first word on the list\u00a0 to his\/her partner who keeps guessing until s\/he has guessed all 5 words or time runs out.\u00a0 (I think I give them 90 seconds?, but you could experiment to find the amount of time that works best, depending on your group.)<\/li>\n
  2. Next, the first 2 players on Team B will come up.\u00a0 The game continues until every student has had a chance to play.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    How to prepare<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1. Because I have a projector, I create a powerpoint with a slide for each word list.\u00a0 In the past, I put them on an overhead.\u00a0 You could also jot them on the board, if that\u2019s all you have.<\/p>\n

    Devinez Qui<\/p>\n

    While the board game Guess Who is a great way to increase students\u2019 ability to describe people, I\u2019ve created paper versions that help students practice a variety of other communicative tasks.<\/p>\n

    How to play<\/strong><\/p>\n

    It\u2019s much easier to show you than explain, so here\u2019s an example for a French I unit on school supplies. \u00a0Devinez qui<\/a><\/p>\n

    How to prepare<\/strong><\/p>\n

    1. Find 15-20 clip art pictures that represent images related to the theme you are studying and paste them in a Word document.<\/p>\n

    2. Type a name and then insert a table (I use 1 row, 10 columns) below the name.<\/p>\n

    3. Copy and paste 10 of the pictures you have selected in the table.<\/p>\n

    4. Repeat step 2, but vary the pictures. \u00a0Ideally, each name will have most of the same pictures because this requires more communication to guess the name. However, you have to make sure that no two names have the exact same pictures. \u00a0I\u2019m sure there\u2019s a mathematical way to create a template for this, but I just play with it.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    One reason I like this game is that it can be used to develop both vocabulary and grammatical structures. For example:<\/p>\n

    Vocabulary Items<\/strong>: in a backpack, in a refrigerator, in a bedroom, leisure activities, daily routine, etc.<\/p>\n

    Grammatical Structures<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

    1. Students can be directed to ask whether the person will do<\/strong> pictured activities (pictures represent various professions, travel destinations, getting married, different colleges, winning the lottery, buying a house, buying a car, etc.)<\/p>\n

    2. Students can be directed to ask whether the person did<\/strong> the pictured activities. \u00a0I\u2019ve used this with a unit on vacation, so the pictures showed people flying on an airplane, swimming, sailing, picking up shells, etc.<\/p>\n

    3. Students can be directed to ask whether the person would do<\/strong> the pictured activities if they won the lottery (pictures represent things that could be purchased, vacation destinations, etc.)<\/p>\n

    Note:<\/strong> When there is doubt as to what the pictures might represent, I include a copy of all of the pictures and phrase explaining what the pictures represents at the top of the handout.<\/p>\n

    Qui suis-je\/Qu\u2019est-ce que je suis?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    How to play\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The teacher groups the students in pairs and attaches a paper with a word or picture on one student in each pair. \u00a0This student must ask his\/her partner questions in order to guess what is written\/shown on his back.<\/p>\n

    How to prepare<\/strong><\/p>\n

    As it is traditionally described, this game involves taping the papers to the students\u2019 backs. \u00a0As a result, I never used this game because of the amount of transition time required to make the papers, add tape to the pictures, and attach the papers to the students, none of which could be done in advance because there was no way to store 30 pieces of paper with tape on them. \u00a0Recently I saw someone describe the same game, but instead of tape, the paper was placed in a blank ID badge holder (see below), that the kids wore so that it hung on their back. \u00a0I was able to get a class set of these for only a few dollars, and I\u2019ll use yarn to hang them rather than a lanyard, to save money.<\/p>\n

    \"badge\"<\/a><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    In addition to typical novice vocabulary themes, I thought this game might work well for more content-based units that I use with my French 3 classes such as artists (or paintings), endangered animals, historical figures, Fairy Tales, etc.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    What games do you use to develop your students\u2019 interpersonal communication?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Games are a great tool to develop students\u2019 interpersonal skills.\u00a0 While I\u2019ve always used games in my classroom, the types of games have changed as I became more focused on proficiency.\u00a0 The following games, which I\u2019ve \u201cborrowed\u201d from colleagues over the years, are popular with my students and can be used for a variety of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"0","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[12],"class_list":["post-92","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-speaking-activities","tag-games"],"yoast_head":"\n4 Games to Develop Interpersonal Communication Skills - 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