Was-Were Board Game. A Dynamic Board Game Activity to Learn and Practice English Simple Past – Free Downloadable and printable PDF Included
Was-Were Board Game
Activity Type:  Reading and speaking activity, group work
Language Focus: Past simple – verb to be was/were
Aim: To review the verb to be in the past simple by playing a board game where you give true or false answers to questions. Level: Pre-intermediate Time: 30 minutes
Introduction
In this fun was/were teaching activity, students review the verb to be in the past simple by playing a board game where they give true or false answers to questions.
Preparation
Make one copy of the game board and cards for each group of three or four and cut the cards out as indicated. Enlarge the game board to A3 if possible. Also, provide a dice and counters for each group.
How to Play
- Divide the students into groups of three or four.
- Give each group a copy of the game board, a set of true or false cards, a dice and counters.
- Ask the students to shuffle the cards and place them face down in a pile next to the game board. Nominate one student in each group to keep score.
- The players place their counters on the start square. The players then take it in turns to roll the dice and move their counter along the board.
- When a player lands on a square, they pick up a true or false card from the pile and look at it, without showing anyone.
- The player then answers the question on the square using ‘was’ or ‘were’ by giving either true or false information as indicated on the card.
- When the player has answered the question, the other students ask follow-up questions to determine if the player is lying or telling the truth.
- After a few questions have been answered, the other students guess whether the player’s answer is true or false.
- The player then reveals the answer. The students who guessed correctly each score one point.
- The next player then rolls the dice and so on.
- When a player reaches the finish, the game ends and the points
- are added up. The student with the most points wins the game.
- This game can also be played without the true or false element. In this version, when a player lands on a square, they answer the question and talk about their answer for one minute without stopping. If a player can’t think of anything to say, makes a grammar mistake or stops talking before the time is up, they move back to their previous square or miss a turn. The first student to reach the finish wins the game.
Download the free PDF and introduce this dynamic board game into your ESL classroom today!
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