2.1 - The Aims game

Summary

Understanding the aim behind an activity, instruction or assessment is an important part of Module 2 that may come up in many different guises in the exam. This is a fun way to focus again and again on that all-important question for lesson planners: Why are we doing this? Instructions

1. Divide the class into groups of four and have them sit at a table where a game board is set up.

2. Explain/demonstrate how to play the game.

• Player one tosses their coin (twice) and moves their counter the corresponding number of places forward:

heads + heads = five spaces

heads + tails = three spaces

tails + tails = one space

• If the player lands on an instruction square, they should follow the instruction. If the player lands on a category square, the player opposite picks up a card from the top of the appropriate category pile and reads the activity described, and the stated aim.

• Player one must now say whether the stated aim is appropriate or not.

• If player one's answer is correct, they remain on the space and pass the coins to their left for the next player's turn. If not, an explanation is given (by other group members or trainer) and the player moves back to the space on which their turn began.

• If the correct answer is that the aim is not appropriate, player one may then suggest an appropriate aim for the task described, e.g. I think the aim could be to … The other players (with the trainer acting as referee) decide whether the new aim is appropriate. If it is, the player may move forward one space. If it is not, the player remains on the space. Play then passes to the next player.

• The game continues in this way until the first player reaches home.

Follow-up

Have trainees make their own question cards for this game. They pick a category, write a task/instruction and give an aim or a false aim. They peer check and correct with the trainer before their card is added to the others in the game pack for future use.