Cube of Fortune
Minefields
| Level | Aims | Grammar | Time | Materials |
| junior high school to Adult | Review grammar patterns and new words. | any | 30 mins | A Cube (the bigger and brighter the better), and timer. |
This is an adaptation of the TV game show 'Wheel of Fortune'. Make a large colourful cube (template here) and write monetary amounts on four sides (e.g., $100, $150, $200, and $300), two sides should read, "LOSE A TURN" and "BANKRUPT". On the blackboard draw a scorecard for each team with spaces for current round and game total. Also draw boxes, or lines, representing the letters of the word, or the words of the phrase/sentence, to be guessed. Giving students a hint in English adds to the fun.
Students are divided into lunch groups, and the first team rolls the die. If they roll a monetary amount they may guess a letter (consonants only). If the letter is in the word or phrase, they get to keep the monetary amount multiplied by the number of times the letter is in the puzzle. If the letter is not in the puzzle, they lose the money and it is the next team's turn. If the team rolls 'LOSE A TURN", then they must pass to the next team. If they roll "BANKRUPT", they lose all their money from the current round AND lose their turn. To guess a vowel, teams must have at least $50, as it costs $50 to buy an A, E, I, O, or U (no matter how many occur in the puzzle) A bonus $ amount (equal to the highest amount on the die) is given to the team who solves the puzzle. Students' $ balances carry over to each new round, and the team with the most money at the end of the game is the winner. Reward as you see fit.
Variation:
Make two dice for each group of students. Have the students use the dice to make sentences. This is good for relative pronouns, subject/verb work, or any other grammar, such as "...likes/doesn't like...", "...like/don't like...". For example:
| Die #1 | Relative pronouns | Die #2 |
|---|---|---|
| I have a friend | (The students must figure out...) | very large |
| She has a dog | interesting | |
| I see a penguin | wonderful | |
| They have a pet | "Which/who is" | very noisy |
| He has a girlfriend | very beautiful | |
| We know a teacher | quite strange |
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