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Flashcard Police
SUGGESTED TOPIC: General Games SUBMITTED BY: Kirsten Phillips INSPIRED BY: Original DATE ADDED: Feb 7, 2008 EDITED BY: Mooloo
 Ò Ó  è 5-15 min. 6 votes: 4 stars If you're going to give this activity a low-rating, please post a useful comment to help make it better. SearchESActivity 
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Brief Outline: An engaging strategy for practicing tedious memorization. As an alternative to the “read-and-repeat”, it works best with younger students but can be altered for older students.
Detailed Explanation:
- It is best to go over each flashcard with the class first to ensure students know the correct pronunciation. I like to practice the words using various funny voices to keep the class amused. It’s a bit boring but the quicker it gets done, the quicker you can move on to the game.
- After the review, I tell the class that now they are all policemen. At least one student should know what that means but if not, have the HRT translate. Then, put on an evil face, rub your hands deviously and proclaim that you are a robber. Even 1st graders will understand this if you ham it up right.
- Place all the flashcards on the blackboard with magnets and tell the students to either close their eyes or face the opposite direction. For some classes, I have them do both. Have the JTE on hand to look for cheats. Announce in an evil voice that a robber is in the room. This’ll really get the students in a lather; with some of the girls even exclaiming ‘Kowai!’ Cackling fiendishly, remove two or three cards from the board (I try to filch two easy cards and one hard). Place these “stolen” cards on the floor.
- Shuffle the remaining cards on the blackboard to addle the sharp students who remember cards by place order. Then start wailing and moaning dramatically, arms flailing. “Help! Help! Police! Help me!” and this will be the signal for the students to turn around. Have the “cops” raise their hands individually to “find” the missing cards. When a student says a word, stick that card back on the board and make a big show of relief and thanks to the mini copper for saving the day. Play three or four rounds like this; removing more cards each time to ensure all students get a chance to answer. After three rounds, you can select two volunteer “robbers” from the class by calling out random numbers. Try to get at least two boy robbers and two girl robbers to play fair. My classes were so into it, I had to calm the students down between rounds. This game catches on lightening quick and shouldn’t take longer than 15 minutes for everyone to get a chance to answer.
Variations:
For junior high school students, you can make flashcards to build sentences and then remove sections of the sentence.
For older students, add more cards to up the ante.
Teaching Suggestions:
Tips/Cautions:
Try to use as much simple English as possible when playing this game! It’s so simple that I also use it to get kids accustomed to game instructions like “close your eyes”, “help me” or “face the back”. If they really don’t get it, your JTE should be ready to explain. I tried this game with 2nd graders and didn’t need a word of Japanese.
This game can get very loud and genki, especially if you ham things up. Use whatever improvisation skills you have to make the tension high and the rounds more exciting. Unless they’re exhausted, your students should eat it up!
Comments:
(Sept 15, 2011) Kristen said: I did this with my 5th graders today and they went wild! So much more fun than making them repeat the words over and over again. I will definitely try this at my other school.
(Nov 4, 2010) Rachel said: The kids love this activity! I've used it for several 2nd and 3rd grade elementary classes and it's been a hit every time. It's a great way to get normally shy/reluctant students to use English.