verb "to be"

MES-Member Joined: 31 May 2008 Posts: 1

Hi everyone! Does anyone know a good game for practising the use of "to be" verb? Or a game that will practise vocabulary relating to jobs and occupations??

Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 7:53 am

How big is your class? What age are they?

I generally play bingo with the students. I use the guessing game version with the [http://www.mes-english.com/flashcards/people.php]people set[/url]. One students takes a card and asks the other students 'What's he?' The other students guess 'Is he a mailman?' 'Yes. He's a mailman. / No. He's not a mailman.'

I also use the feelings flashcard set for similar practice. I have a students take a card and 'pretend' to be in that mood (but not act it out.) Then the other students ask them "Are you sleepy?" "Yes, I'm sleepy." / "No, I'm not sleepy."

And just play regular old bingo as is. The person who guessed correctly gets to take the next card. They like to take a card because they feel they have some control over the outcome of the game.

for Is this ...? Yes, it's a ..., just use any noun set of flashcards. Animals work best because they are all singular.

You could also play the Paper Game. Put some occupations across the top and things describing those jobs down the side, like "wears a uniform," "goes to work early," "makes a lot of money," ...

Have the students take on one of occupations. Their partner would ask 2 questions:
"Do you make a lot of money?"
"Do you wear a uniform?"

And the the partner tries to guess what occupation their partner chose to win the game:
"Are you a nurse?"

If they haven't covered 'do' verbs (for Do you ~?) then use adjectives down the side, like "busy".
2 questions:
"Are you busy?"
"Are you kind?"

If you're interested in that, there's a full write up on how to play the game here: the Paper Game