Battleship

Instead of numbers and letters, students must use personal pronouns and verbs to hit their opponent’s ships with a correct conjugation.

Directions: Place your ships anywhere on your side of the board by outlining those squares. Try and hit your opponent's ships by conjugating the verbs based on the subjects listed. If the player miss-conjugates the verb, they lose their turn. Put an X for a miss and fill in the square for a hit. Don't let your opponent see your paper! One grid is for placing your ships and keeping track of your opponent’s guesses. The other grid is to keep track of your guesses.

If you have a group of three, they each take a turn asking a question to either other player (this allows them to gang up on one player, but also allows them to listen in on the “intelligence” they receive from the other players as they ask their questions.

The player who sinks all of his/her opponent’s ships is the winner.

Example of ship placement:

HOW TO USE THIS ACTIVITY AS ASSESSMENT

I have used this activity as formative assessment, but you could also use it as an interpersonal part of a summative assessment.

This activity is played by two students against each other, but your entire class can be playing at the same time.

Remind them that everything they say must be in the target language. As they are playing, you should walk around with your grade book or a clipboard to grade them. You will be able to hear what each student is saying (remember that comprehensibility is what we’re looking for, based on the their level), AND you’ll be able to assess the partner’s comprehension by seeing where they point on their side of the game board or how they respond.

Sample Rubric for Novice Level

Does Not Meet Standards / Meets Standards / Exceeds Standards
Interpretive Communication / Student does not make the connection between personal pronouns and verb conjugation. / Student understands that the infinitives on the board must be conjugated differently for each personal pronoun. / Student is able to conjugate the infinitives on the board appropriately based on the personal pronoun.
Interpersonal Communication / Student is incomprehensible while communicating in the target language. Many errors occur and/or only infinitives are used. / Student is comprehensible when speaking in the target language, using short, learned phrases sometimes with error in pronunciation and grammar. / Student uses complete sentences in appropriate situations to communicate in the target language. Few errors in pronunciation and grammar occur.