Number dominoes
Overview
Purpose
Vocabulary acquisition
Learning outcome
Students will be able to use the numbers one to ten in German, confidently and accurately.
Skills
- Listening
- Speaking
- Reading
Type
Pair or group activity
Related units in Ja! kit
- Unit 3 Wie heißt du?
Instructions
Like traditional dominoes, the cards for this game are divided in two. However instead of dots at both ends, this game uses the German word for a number at one end. The aim of the game is to match the German word on one card with the corresponding number of dots on another card.
Materials
To download the template for the 10 domino cards, select from the following Word or PDF formats:
- Dominoes template for 'Number dominoes' activity (Word, 34kb)
- Dominoes template for 'Number dominoes' activity (PDF, 13kb).
Each group of students needs a set of 10 domino cards.
Steps
- The domino cards are shuffled and the students are given one each, with the remainder placed face down in the middle of the table.
- One player starts the game by laying down a domino and saying the number of dots in German.
- If the next player has that word on their domino, they respond by repeating it and lay down their domino next to the first one. If this player does not have the correct number, they have to take a domino from the central pool.
- The game continues until all of the dominoes have been placed. The winner is the player who finishes first.
Variations
- This activity can also be played in pairs, with each student starting the game with five dominoes, or in a group of five, with each player starting with two dominoes.
- Arrange speed challenges in which the fastest pair or group wins.
Further learning
- To extend the use of these cards, students could work in pairs to recite simple maths equations using the numbers on each card, for example, Zwei und acht ist zehn (Two and eight is ten).
- Make up more dominoes, using numbers beyond 10. To use these, students play in pairs or small groups, picking up from the pool in the centre if they can't match the numbers. The aim to be the first player to get rid of all of their dominoes.
- Add colours to the dominoes, so that colours need to be matched at the same time as the numbers.
- Create a set of trimono cards using the German names for numbers instead of words.
Language to use
- Gut gemacht!
Well done! - Noch einmal!
Please repeat! - Achtung! Fertig! Los!
Ready! Let's start! - Wer hat...?
Who has...? - Ich habe...
I have...