The Sentence Game

A game with sentence scaffolds to help students create!

Like most things in teaching, I can’t take credit for making up this game.  I learned it when I was doing my practicum and have adapted it over the years.  It’s a low-prep, easy game to help students form sentences, practice Spanish adjective agreement, conjugations, vocab, get repetitions of vocab, the list goes on and on. Once you have the basic structure you can adapt it as needed!

The Setup

I like to use small white boards for this (if you don’t have small white boards, I’ll talk about alternatives in a bit).  Divide the white board into four sections. 

• In the first section, list subjects of a sentence. How many subjects? That’s up to you and how difficult you want the game to be.
• Second section: list verbs infinitives in Spanish or English. Again, you decide based on what you want to practice.
• Third section: Can be extra words like “con”, “en”, “para”, “porque”, “cuando” depending on your students’ level.
• Fourth section: Something to end the sentence, usually a noun or time such as, “los lunes”, “en la casa”, etc.

Don’t have small white boards? If you work in a 1:1 environment, this is easy for students to create on iPads or in Google Docs.  Technology not available? No worries, have students create the set up on paper and put them in sheet protectors.  They can then use dry erase markers to circle and cross out words.  You can even pre-make boards and put them in sheet protectors! 

How To Play

Students look at their boards and think of a sentence choosing one element from each section of the board.  My secret sentence in the picture above was, “Tú cenas con el reloj” or “You eat dinner with the clock.” Sentences do not have to be logical.  Students keep their sentence a secret.  I like to put students in groups of 3 and they take turns guessing each others sentences.  Students must conjugate the verbs as needed AND state what the sentence means in English before it is revealed whether or not their guesses are correct.  If they are correct, circle the word, if they are wrong, cross it out.  Continue until the sentence has been discovered!

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Variations & Why I Love It

• You can play this in small groups, partners or as a whole class.  It’s a great time filler if you only have a few minutes left.
• Working on a novel/story? Use this format to brainstorm what will happen next (Ir a + infinitve structure or future tense!) OR what happened that caused characters to end up in their current situation (preterite and imperfect practice).
• I’ve used this to practice adjective matching. Just make sure you have a variety of subjects when it comes to number and gender. Great for “ser” practice.
• Setup is adaptable: Use small white boards, overhead projector, iPads, plain paper, paper with sheet protectors, or project it from a computer and mark on the computer.  Easy to make work for your classroom.

• It’s a great way to recycle previous vocab
• Need a quick game? Only put three things in each section. Want to make it more difficult? Write 5 in each section!
• You don’t always have to use 4 sections. Maybe you only need to use three sections of the board.
• Once students know how to play, it’s super fast for them to come up with their own boards and get playing! 
• A group is done early? Make a new board and play again!

This is not a revolutionary game nor is it very complicated but students love it! The competition to be the first to figure out the sentence, the logic element of eliminating options, the silly sentences that often result, there is something in it that most students enjoy.

Want some ready-to-go, no-prep-just-print sentence games of your own?
Here are some with family & descriptions using ser and tener.

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