How to play the game called EL JUEGO for Spanish classes

This one is the all the Spanish teachers out there that teach in high school or junior high, although it could be modified for the lower grades or for different foreign languages. It is a game called, EL JUEGO, or the game. What I mainly used it for was for review of all the things that I had taught such as grammar, culture and pronunciation. I used a grid placing each student's name or you could use the grade book as well. I, then, would conjure up all the items that I had taught to ask and would ask the class as a whole specific questions. Whoever would respond would receive a check by their name. In the old days I realize teachers used "stars" next to the student's name to indicate who was excelling, which in most cases, everyone was. Everyone ultimately would get a check by their name, the top three of which would easily get exempt from the weekly quiz, that is, would get an automatic "A". The JUEGO was also utilized to discourage outbursts or disruptive behavior and to develop not only our knowledge base, but to foster a high level of discipline. It always seemed to work and the students had fun, making them want to come to class for review and their "checks". What can easily occur is for those who continuously excel and remain on top, they would be exempt from the JUEGO, allowing the others to step up. Or: simply make the questions harder for everyone and we are talking college-level questions such as: describe verb formation in Spanish and provide examples as you do so. To which several would reply with extreme accuracy, and all without notes which were never allowed during the JUEGO. I initially started this game in my classes for the gifted, but eventually realized that the regular kids wanted in. I mean, who wouldn't want to get exempt from the weekly quiz? It just got really exciting for me as a teacher who enjoyed seeing the students work at a higher level, but also to see the happy faces of all the kids as they excelled in Spanish.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• A large poster board to make a grid for the students' names and their checks. This helped them keep up with their own progress.

1. Define the game, JUEGO, and how to use it for Spanish classes or, for that matter, any foreign language. Its main usage was for weekly review and to have fun in a discipline manner.
2. Prepare a grid on a large poster board and place the students' names so that they can check their weekly progress as they are assigned checks for correct responses to specific questions dealing with the week's work with no notes or book.
3. Foster excellence in pronunciation, grammar knowledge and promote a high level of discipline and behavior as learning is highly encouraged, making students want to come to class to have fun and review for weekly quizzes.

Tips & Warnings

• Encourage learning at all times; however, know when or if the JUEGO starts to become saturated, or that it has been utilized a bit much. Like I said, keep it for weekly review and to have fun learning. Just don't make it the main focus of your class.