It’s always exciting for me to announce a resource release! Today on the blog and on my Teachers Pay Teachers store I’m releasing a new FREE resource as I explore developing communicative games.
My students enjoyed using a Battleship game format to practice accurate repetitions of forms of ser and estar, so I decided to develop the game into a prettied-up Battleship gameboard starring none other than Jeffrey the Musicuentos penguin as Captain and Commander of the World (or at least of his own battleship).
Please note that this game is not intended to teach ser vs. estar but rather to practice accuracy with when they are normally used. Students do not choose which one is appropriate for a particular situation in this game. Here’s how it works:
- Students choose four squares in the top “battle grid” and mark them with an X or a battleship sketch, if they’re feeling artsy.
- Next they draw a small (really small?) illustration of what it means, to demonstrate comprehension. Explore other ways for students to demonstrate comprehension – have them act out all the squares before you begin playing, perhaps in a sort of round of “charades,” for example.
- Pairs of students play together, and each uses the questions in the bottom grid to try to guess where the partner’s buques de guerra are. If the asker “hit” a buque de guerra, the partner answers, “Claro que sí.” If the asker missed, the partner answers, “Claro que no.”
Here’s an example:
Morgan: Tu amigo Luis, ¿está triste?
Stephen: ¡Claro que no! Tu amigo Luis, ¿es rubio?
Morgan: ¡Claro que sí!
This takes a bit of explaining the first time, but after the first time students have the hang of it and enjoy a game without realizing how many times they’re hearing accurate pairings of es and está. Try it out and let me know how it goes. The game is easily adaptable to almost any concept – vocabulary, actions, likes and dislikes, and so on. Try making your own. Meanwhile, I’ll be working on developing a ser vs. estar pack that includes this game and also a buque de guerra pack that has several variations of the game.
Download it now
and it will always be available on the handouts page.
I love this! Thank you Sara for sharing with us!
You’re welcome – I’d love to hear how your students like it!
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