You know the activity. The one that students see on the agenda and start jumping up and down about because they are SO EXCITED to play. That’s this review game that combines Spanish with basketball! 🏀 It is so. much. fun. Guaranteed to make kids laugh and work together!
Need some task cards to do this activity? Click HERE for a FREE set of task cards for SER and adjectives!
HOW TO PLAY THIS SPANISH REVIEW GAME:
a. Before students come to class, you have some prep work to do. I promise it is worth it! You need three piles of 8-10 task cards, one pile for each team. Like with the relay race game in this blog post, you want to make them as even as possible. If using preterite vs. imperfect task cards, don’t give one team only preterite cards and another team only imperfect cards. Mix it up so they get a well-rounded review!
Once you have your task cards ready, you will need to make room for the two playing areas (see pink diagram below). You’ll need a kid’s basketball hoop, the kind that hangs on the back of a door like this one, a basket or box with small plastic ball pit balls, a line on the floor for the shooting team to stand behind (I use masking tape), whiteboard, and dry erase markers. Hang the hoop and put the balls on a desk right in front of the line on the floor so they are easy for students to grab. Task cards need to get hung up on the whiteboard like in the picture below, spread out so multiple students can be working at a time. Make sure you have lots of markers available so all members of a team can be working at the same time.
b. When you are ready to play the game, divide students into three even teams. Give them 15 seconds to come up with a team name. (If they can’t come up with one quickly, I give them a name and it’s always something awesome like Justin Bieber Fan Club. They’ve learned to quickly pick names.) Write the names in a small spot on the board. Give yourself room to write points underneath or next to each team. Send each group to their designated spot. Explain what each group will be doing.
Group 1: Working as a team to complete all the task cards on the whiteboard as fast as they can. The faster they go, the less time Group 3 will have to shoot and earn points. They need to write the answers underneath each card. If a task is fill in the blank, they need to write out the whole sentence (1. It’s good practice and 2. It’s easier for you to check that way.). Tell them you will be checking answers as they work and you’ll put a star next to each answer when it is correct. They need to keep working until all cards have a star. No star means something is wrong with the answer and they need to fix it!
Group 2: Rebounding and counting baskets. This group needs to designate two people to keep track of how many baskets are made (two just to be sure the number is correct). Everyone else is rebounding balls and either handing them to people shooting or placing them in the basket. It will be fast and furious. They need to hustle! Group 3 should never be waiting for balls. If you have a TA, it’s a good idea to have them hang out over in this area and keep an eye on it while you are busy checking answers at the whiteboard.
Group 3: Shooting balls into the basket as fast as they can! They earn one point for each made basket. We always play two rounds and the team with the highest combined total from their two rounds wins! Toes need to stay behind the line and no leaning over, either!
c. During play, you will be busy keeping one eye on the whiteboard so you can check answers off as soon as they are correct and one eye on the groups by the hoop. As Group 1 gets answers correct, put a star above the correct answers so students know to move on to a different card. As soon as all answers are starred, yell ¡Paran! Group 3 needs to stop shooting and Group 2 needs to report the numbers of baskets made to you. Write the number next to or under Group 3’s team name. Once done, have students help you take down the task cards and erase the answers. Hang up the new pile.
d. Have teams rotate one position (see diagram below). Repeat until all teams go through each station twice. My original plan for this game was for one round. That quickly went out the window when students BEGGED me to go another round. They were totally strategizing how to do better the second time around which melted my teacher heart so I relented and a game with two rounds it became. You will have to use a different set of cards for Round 2. Group 1 can use Group 2’s cards, Group 2 can use Group 3’s, etc.
e. Team with the most points at the end of two rounds wins!
Here is how I set up my room to play the basketball game:
Want another fun idea for using task cards in Spanish class? Click HERE to learn about one of my favorites!
I hope this idea helps! If you enjoyed this post, I would love it if you would pin it so others can enjoy it, too! 👇🏻 Thanks and have a great day!
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