About a week ago, I was scrolling instagram and saw a reel that I really liked. In about 10 minutes, my friend Meredith White (follow her, she’s amazing) sent me the SAME reel… it was fate, I needed to bring it to my classroom. The original reel was from Edyta Pikulska!

I think it is GREAT for reviewing vocabulary just as she did in her video. In fact, I created some level 1-2 Spanish, French, and German game cards with common vocabulary to make your life easier!

But I knew that it could be a vocabulary review AND MORE!

I took 18 illustrations from our reader and created three different sets. Each set had 12 illustrations, but I varied which illustrations were on each set so students couldn’t cheat by looking at another team’s answers. Table A had illustrations 1-12, Table B had illustrations 1-6 and 13-18, and Table C had illustrations 7-18.

We tried a LOT of different variations today because it was our first time playing. In first hour, I put the tables on the back of the chairs and had my teams stand between the chairs and the board, where they couldn’t see the illustrations. It was great because the runner had to run around to see the illustrations, but it was also a pain because the whole team was in the way going to the chalkboard!

In 2nd-7th hours, I played with the illustrations hanging on the back of the chairs and all the students standing back there too. It worked, but they were planning ahead instead of thinking as much on the spot.

In 7th hour, a student said, “Why don’t you have us stand back here but hang the illustrations on the FRONT of the chair?” WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF THAT?! 8th hour was amazing! We finally got it right! Now you don’t have to experiment!

How to Set Up the Game:

You will need three teams, three chairs, and either a set of vocabulary cards or a set of illustrations. You can use my ready-to-go vocabulary games for language classrooms, or check out the editable template free here if you’d like to make your own! In the freebie folder, you’ll also find the games I made for Chapter 8 of my reader Papálotl, Chapter 7 of my reader Vector, and Chapter 7 of Kristy Placido’s reader Robo en la noche.

Draw three tables on your board. I did 3×4 tables, giving each team 12 spaces to fill in.

Attach one set of illustrations to the FRONT of each chair. Make sure the layout of the grid is the same as the layout you drew on the board ex. 3×4 not 4×3. Put the chairs a short distance from the board, with the illustrations facing the students who will be looking at them.

Have each team stand behind its chair. The person writing should be able to get from the chair to the board without running through the rest of the team! The goal is to fill in the team’s grid with the correct answers in the fastest time!

One student comes around the chair, looks at the illustrations on the chair, and selects one they think they can describe. The student remembers what it shows and where it is located, then moves to the board to write the answer in the corresponding square. The position of the illustration on the chair matches the position of the square on the board, so students have to pay attention to both the image and its location.

For vocabulary review, students can translate the vocabulary word or identify the word represented by an image, depending on how you prepare your materials.

For an illustration activity, students describe what they see in the target language. You might ask for a complete sentence, several details, or specific vocabulary you’ve been studying. You could even require them to include a particular structure or piece of information!

After writing an answer, the student returns to the team and the next person takes a turn. Teammates can coach the person writing, helping them remember vocabulary, correct mistakes, or figure out how to say more. Decide ahead of time whether students can revisit the illustrations, and how much help teammates can give.

Teams continue until their grids are complete or time runs out. You can check answers together at the end and award points for correct answers, or simply use the activity as a collaborative review. The rules are yours to make!

My teams had a GREAT time coaching the person writing on what more they could say (or even what they had wrong). It kept everyone involved throughout! And they LOVED trying to cheat. 😂

While my students were describing illustrations from our reader, I started thinking about all the other ways you could use this game. You could have students:

*Answer questions or provide the missing information in a response.

*Translate vocabulary words or identify images.

*Describe illustrations from a class reader.

*Label things you’ve been studying in class.

*Draw a picture that matches a sentence they read.

*Complete unfinished sentences about your current content.

*My friend Nelly Hughes suggested that this would be great with questions and answers too! While my classes are using it for world language, I think it is 100% applicable no matter your course content because it is so versatile what you put in the table/on the board!

While my classes are using it for world language, I think it is 100% applicable no matter your course content because it is so versatile in what you put on the chairs and what you ask students to write on the board!

You could use it for science vocabulary, historical events, math problems, parts of a diagram, or just about anything your students need to recall and explain. You can make the task as simple or challenging as your students and your content require. And the best part is that you don’t have to create a whole new activity every time. Change the cards, illustrations, questions, or prompts, and you’ve got a new game!

Let me know if you try it out and how you edit your editable templates! I can’t wait to hear what you come up with!