Do your students beg to play games in Spanish class? Mine do. I love having fun with them but I’m always mindful of how to make Spanish the key ingredient in the game. Once we started playing Mystery Student I don’t know who had more fun – my students or me!
How to start the game :
I pass out a half sheet of paper with 5 questions in Spanish that students answer. The questions can include high frequency verbs and cognates or be tied to the chapter you’re teaching in your textbook. You can make the questions about anything as long as they are about the students. For example, what’s your favorite food, what sport do you play, what color hair do you have, etc. Then I collect the papers and pick 3-5 of the papers to select my “mystery students”. Don’t tell the class who you picked!
The rules
I tell the class to write numbers 1-5 on a scrap piece of paper. I say “nĂºmero uno” and start describing the first student based on their answers on the paper. I give the class the clues out loud and they have to guess which student I’m describing.
They LOVE it. They usually beg me to describe extra students. They think it’s a guessing game but in reality they’re hearing so much Spanish! And it’s easy for them to follow along /comprehend because they’ve already seen the questions and thus have some context. Even my students that struggle can follow along.
After I’ve read all 5 descriptions I reveal the true students. They all “oooo and ahhh.” The 5 mystery students feel special and their classmates get to learn a little more about them.
Bonus teacher tip:
Forget to print the half sheets? Or trying to save paper? Project the questions and have the students write down their answers on a half sheet of paper or submit them electronically through Google form.
Ready to try this game in your class? Check out this example that uses tons of cognates. The best part is that you can use it at any time during the year.
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