Horizontally Challenged
Submitted by: Natasha Anders Borrowed or inspired from: Here, there and wherever Date added: 11-07-07
Brief Outline: Students race their teams’ animals horizontally across the chalkboard by answering questions asked by you. However, the added excitement comes from the mysterious bonus and pitfall cards. 
Materials Needed:
- Cutouts of animals – one cutout for each group. You will need to create them.
- 20 magnetized numbered cards
- 5 magnetized question mark cards, each one a different colour.
Preparation Needed:
Draw horizontal lines on the board (one for each group) and notch them off 1-20.
Stick the numbered cards and question marks up on the other side of the board.
Prepare a question for each card (whatever subject/grammar point you’re reviewing. Throw in a few general knowledge questions as well. Allocate points to each question (1-3).
Question mark cards are “Mystery” cards – each colour represents a bonus or pitfall (examples of stuff I used: 3 moves forward, give 2 moves to any other group, gain three moves if the entire group says “she sells seashells…” 3 times, lose 3 moves, etc).
Scatter a few bonuses and pitfalls in amongst the regular numbered cards too – to keep it interesting and tense.
Detailed Explanation:
Have a representative from each group play janken to determine which group gets first pick on the animals!
Once each group has chosen an animal picture, place them at the beginning of their respected horizontal line.
Have the JTE choose the first number and you ask the question that corresponds with that number.
The group that correctly answers the question will have their animal advance by however many points the question is worth.
That group gets to choose the next number.
The winner of the game is the group whose animal is the furthest along the line by the time you run out of questions or time.
Variations and Options:
- You could turn it into a command game, with each number being an instruction for students to do something. For example, “Bring me 3 things that start with the letter P,” or “Count how many windows are in the room and write the answer – in ENGLISH – on the board,” etc.
- The group which completes the task first receives the point/s.
Cautions:
- I know it’s a lot of work – but you can use the numbered cards for anything afterwards. Don’t put your questions on the back of the numbered cards; instead type a list of questions/bonuses/pitfalls to correspond with the numbers or Mystery cards.
- It’s a bit like jeopardy but the kids get a huge kick out of watching their animals progressing across the board.
- If you do decide to turn it into a command game, it’s best to have the kids play janken within their groups to decide the order in which each member will play. That way everybody has the opportunity to participate (this also eliminates the possibility of having the same kid answering every single question).