Sentence Shuffle

Sentence Shuffle (The Disagreement)

In this activity, students work with cards that have preselected words written on them and practice word order for statements (positive and negative) as well as questions. Each card is held by a student, and the students must arrange themselves in the correct order as directed by the instructor or their classmate. This activity provides a good visual for word order change in English and also helps tap into the kinesthetic learning style.

Preparation

Prepare the cards ahead of time. Four inches by seven inches (about ten centimeters by twenty centimeters) is a good size. Letters should be visible from the back of the classroom (red is not suggested as a color — it can be difficult to read from far away). Set the scene of a disagreement between a couple or mixed-gender (girl and boy) friendship. E.g., Imagine two friends are having a disagreement about what to eat for lunch, what to watch on TV, or where to go on a Friday night. Elicit from the students something that the girl/ woman would want and something that the boy/man would want. Fill in that card last, writing each of the things on opposite sides of the card so it will need to be flipped during the activity. Write one word on each index card. There should be enough words to form an affirmative sentence, a negative sentence, and a yes/no question.

When to Use It

• To introduce and practice sentence formation • To practice affirmative and negative sentence formation • To provide activity for all learning styles

Level

Skills

Practice

Materials

Index cards: Does(n’t), S(h)e, Like(s), Vacation Markers

Preparation Time

15 minutes

Activity Time

15 minutes

Procedure

1. Ask for volunteers to come to the front of the room. 2. Elicit the word that he/she likes from the students. 3. Each volunteer should hold one card. 4. Call out “affirmative,” “question,” and “negative” and have the group get in order to form the type of sentence you have called out. 5. Repeat this many times, faster and faster. 6. The rest of the class will have a nice visual of what changes need to be made to form each type of sentence.

Variation

Add other grammar items: adjectives (ordering of size, color, etc.); modals (could, should, would, etc.).

Contributors: Julie Holaway, Assessment Specialist and ESL Instructor, has taught in various learning institutions around the world and was an English Language Fellow in Brazil from 2009 to 2011; Cristiane Tinoco, English teacher, Belo Horizonte, Brazil; Maria Snarski, Regional English Language Officer