Play Hangman in French class - it's easy to set up, a fun way to review vocabulary and grammar in any language class, and adaptable for all levels.
  

Set up

Make up a list of questions or sentences related to whatever you want to practice: vocabulary, simple phrases, and/or grammar (see suggestions and variations, below).

Divide the class into two teams and have each come up with a French name.

Give the job of hangman to one of the less motivated students, or one who absolutely does not want to play; this will give him/her a chance to follow along and still participate. Have the hangman draw two empty gallows side by side in the center of the chalkboard, and write the name of a team above each one. You can have the hangman stay at the board for the duration of the game or alternate with others.

  
How to play

Have the first player for each team go to either end of the chalkboard, so that the gallows and hangman are between them. Teacher asks a question or reads a phrase, and the player writes his/her answer on the board. Teacher checks the answers and instructs the hangman to make an addition to each team's gallows for mistakes (see scoring). Players erase answers and sit down, then the next player from each team goes to board. Play continues until one team has a complete man hanging from the gallows.

Instruct all students to remain quiet so that everyone can hear what's going on. Non-playing teammates cannot help their current player.

  
Scoring

A wrong answer means that part of the hanging man is added to the gallows. Depending on how long you want the game to run, you can use any number of body parts. A short game might include a head, torso, two arms, and two legs. A longer game could include head, hair, neck, arms, torso, legs, hands, feet, etc. Be sure that the hangman uses the same number of parts for the hanging men on both gallows.

The first team with a complete man hanging from the gallows loses.

  
Suggestions

This game can be used for any level and many different grammar topics and/or lists of vocabulary. Here are a few ideas - be creative!

  
Variations

* Asking the questions - Three basic variations, depending on level and what exactly you want to practice:

1. Ask in French, students provide English translation
2. Ask in English, students provide French translation
3. Ask in French (e.g., a question, verb that needs a preposition or to be conjugated), students respond in French

* Traditional Hangman - You can also play traditional hangman, with just one gallows and the alphabet written out on the board. Students take turns guessing letters and the hangman writes them in the appropriate spaces. If you've never played Hangman, take a look at this online version to get an idea.

* Mixed practice - You can either stick to one topic (e.g., colors) or mix several lessons in to review them all at once (e.g., food + conjugations for manger and boire)

* Bonus points - Upon stating the correct answer, give student the opportunity to remove a body part from the gallows if s/he can do one of the following (depending on topic being reviewed):

1. Use the word in a sentence
2. Offer a synonym or antonym
3. Conjugate the verb in another tense/mood

If you have any great game ideas for the French classroom to share, please post them on the forum:

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