Go Fish

Time: 20 minutes

Overview

A deck of cards is required for every 4-6 students in the class. The language teacher may also create a handout with useful phrases such as ‘It’s my turn’, ‘You win’ etc.

Preparation

A deck of cards is required for every 4-6 students in the class. The language teacher may also create a handout with useful phrases such as ‘It’s my turn’, ‘You win’ etc.

Grammar Points

This game encourages students to use the numbers in the target language and use common commands that are used in card games.

Method

1. Using a standard 52 card deck, seven cards are dealt to each player, or nine if there are four or fewer. The remaining cards are put in the centre of the table, and is called the ‘ocean’ or ‘pool.’
2. The first player asks another player for their cards of a particular rank, for eg. ‘Steve, do you have any threes?’ Players can not ask for a card they are not holding.
3. The recipient of the request must then hand over all cards of that rank. If the call was successful, the same player has another turn.
4. If the player who was asked has no cards of that rank, they say ‘Go fish’, and the asking player draws a card from the ‘ocean.’ The turn then passes to the player who was asked.
5. When one player has four of the same cards of a given rank, they form a ‘book’, and the cards are placed face up on the table. (Alternatively, if time is an issue, a ‘book’ can contain 2 cards.)
6. The game is not over when a player runs out of cards. That player simply draws a card from the ocean, and the turn passes to the next player in the rotation. The game ends when all cards have been used, and all books have been obtained. Whoever has the most ‘books’ wins.

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