Domino: Indefinite articles A / An

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Pictures up to down: ant, alligator, apple, arrow, apron, egg, envelope, owl,
orange, octopus, umbrella, igloo, ice cream, elephant, icicle, frog, girl, kite,
lemon, mask, nest, cap, tomato, tiger, watch, window, fox, yo-yo, zebra, ball
The aim of the game: To practice the use of the indefinite articles.
Rationale: When doing written exercises it is usually easier to add an article (if students
know the rule well), because students see the starting letter of the word. This game will make
them think, because instead of written words there are pictures. They have to pronounce the
word in order to decide on whether it starts with a vowel or a consonant.
Note: 1) Make sure your students know the items in the pictures. If not, either pre-teach
them OR substitute with the ones your students know.
2) There are 15 words that start with a vowel and 15 that start with a consonant. There are 15
cards with the article a and 15 with the article an. So, there are 30 dominoes altogether.
How to play:
Print and cut out domino cards. Give out equal amount of dominoes to each student (up to 5
students per group if you use one set for each group). Ss mustnt show their dominoes to
each other. Ss choose who will be first, second, etc. to play. The first student puts his domino
on the table. The second student may choose to which part of it to add his domino. He must
either add a picture to a/an part or a/an part to a picture. For example, if a domino has parts
ant/a and he wants to add card with an/tiger, he can join an and ant or tiger and a (look at
the picture below). If a student adds tiger to a, then the third student (or the first student, if
there are two players) must add a card with a picture which shows a word that starts with a
vowel, for example, apple, etc. Dont forget: students must much articles and pictures. When
they do so, they have to say, for example, a tiger. If a student whose turn is to play does not
have a card to add, i.e., he has to add a picture to the article an, but he hasnt got a domino
with a picture that starts with a vowel, he misses a turn. The winner is the student who has no
dominoes left.
Monitor students as they play the game and help. Make sure they do not match articles with
articles or pictures with pictures OR match a wrong article with wrong picture.
When I asked my student (I do private lessons) if she liked the game, she answered:
Perfect! I hope your students will enjoy this game as well.

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