During winter break, I played some games with my niece and nephew. “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Cheese Touch Game” had several parts to it. Here is one set of the original cards.

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Here’s a game I’ve adapted for class and I call it “Great Minds (think alike)”. This practices the vocabulary in context and models questions. They loved it so much, they asked to make a set of their own cards for a Real World stamp. They do all the work?? Sure!

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Prep work:
* I made a Keynote that had a question and picture on each slide. I used opinion questions like “What is the best/worst/most fun/most boring/fastest/most expensive…?”
* I printed them as 6 slides on a page on card stock. Finally I cut them apart.

Setup:
* I put the students in small groups. Each person has a dry erase board (or paper) to put their answers and keep track of their points.
* I gave them the cards. (For the first time, I only used the “what’s the best…” cards about places they hang out at. Next time I mixed in more.

Play:
* One person turns over a card and reads it to the group.
* He/she writes down his/her answer to the question.
* The other players try to guess what he/she wrote down and write that answer on their board. (This is why it’s called Great Minds Think Alike)
* Then everyone reveals their answers. Each person that matches their answer gets 1 point.
* Now the next person turns over a card, reads it and the game continues until you call time.

After playing, I gave them an exit slip. I asked how many places can you list in Spanish? This was the first day we started the unit. I was pleased that most of them learned 5 new places WITHOUT studying. All this learning and it was fun. Bonus!!

What game gets your students talking in class?