Play your cards right: card
games for language learning.
Children love playing cards and therefore we should be interested in their potential for teaching English. Most children know at least one game and so are familiar with the basic materials. Card games are sociable. Children sit face-to-face, watching each other's expressions, exchanging cards which become a kind of sociable currency between them. Cards are also nicely tactile. Children like to show their skill at dealing and shuffling them. There is competition, bounded by clear rules, which they enjoy. Depending on the game, there are varying degrees of skill and chance, so everyone has an opportunity to win.
The following activities describe some ways of using playing cards to teach English.
Activities
using ordinary playing cards
Memory game
Have
you got?..
Rules
of the Game
Activities
using ordinary playing cards
Recognition
Level: Beginner
Aim: Recognition of playing cards
You will need: One set of ordinary playing cards.
Language: Numbers 1 - 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace, Hearts, Diamonds,
Clubs, Spades.
Organisation: whole class.
Procedure
a) Remove all Jacks, Queens, Kings and Aces from
the pack, to leave only the 'number' cards. Lay out approximately 20 of
these cards, face up. So that all the student can see them. Point to a
card and say the number. Get the students to do the same.
b) Introduce the suits. Write 'Clubs, Hearts, Diamonds, Spades' on the board. Point to a card and say what it is, eg. "Seven of Hearts". Get the students to do the same.
c) Introduce the remaining cards. Write 'Jack, Queen, King, Ace' on the board and add these to the cards on the table. Point to a card and say what it is, eg. "Queen of Diamonds". Get students to do the same.
d) Once everyone is familiar with the names of cards, try flashing them. Hold each card up for a moment and see if your students can tell you what they saw. If they need further practise, they can continue this in pairs.
Memory
Game
Level: Beginner / Elementary
You will need: one pack of ordinary playing cards per 4 students
Aims: revision of card names, memory building
Organisation: whole class and groups of 4
Object: to collect as many cards as possible.
Procedure
a) Choose eight cards at random and lay them
face up on the table. Allow 1 minute for your students to study them. Then
turn them over. Students now take it in turns to point to a card, say what
they think it is, and turn it over for all to see. If they are correct,
they keep the card and have another go. If incorrect, the card is replaced
face down and the turn passes to the next player, who may begin with the
card which has just been replaced. The aim is to collect the most cards.
b) Once everyone understands the game, students can play it in groups. Lay down more cards for a harder game, less for an easier one. Students can play in competing pairs: this encourages them to talk about the position of cards together before they attempt to name them.
Comment: played often enough, with an increasing number of cards, this is a good way of strengthening memory.
Have
you got?..
Level: Beginner / Elementary
Language: Have you got? / names of cards
Organisation: groups of 4
Object: to collect as many card sets as possible.
Procedure:
a) In groups of four, one child, the dealer,
shuffles and deals all the cards, face down, to each player.
b) All players look at their cards and the dealer starts to play. If s/he holds a set of 4 cards (ie. four cards of the same value) these are laid down face up on the table.
c) Then the dealer asks any other player for a particular card to help make another complete set, eg. "Have you got a seven of hearts?" If the player has the card, it must be handed over. Players may only ask for a card that matches the value of a card they already have.
d) The dealer continues to ask any player for any card until s/he completes a set, at which point the set is laid face up on the table.
e) If the dealer asks a player for a particular card, but the player does not have the particular card, play passes to that player.
f) When a player has no cards left, s/he drops out of the game.
g) When all the sets have been collected, the winner of the game is the player with the most word sets.
h) Each player should take a turn at being the dealer. The overall winner is the player who wins the most games in the round.
Rules
of the Game
Level: Intermediate / Advanced
Language: rules & instructions
Skills: reading, speaking, (writing)
Organisation: groups
a) Divide the students into groups of about 4 or 5 people. Provide each group with a set of playing cards and a different set of card game rules (see box 1). Their task is to read the rules together and follow the instructions to play the game.
b) When everyone has played their game for a while, give each person in each group a letter, "a, b, c, d, e, etc". Then ask all the 'a's to form a new group, all the 'b's another new group, likewise the 'c's and 'd's, etc. The new groups should ideally contain one person from each of the original groups. Students in the new groups now explain their card games to each other and play the games.
Comments: Depending on the level of the students, you could ask them to explain how to play the games in part (b) above without referring to the written rules. Part (b) lasts for a long time if each student describes and the group then plays each game. You might like to reconvene groups in later lessons - eg. when you have 30 minutes to spare - to continue. You could also ask students to describe, play and write the rules for a card game they already know.