School Subject Preference Cards (Deduction Game)

Overview

School Subject Preference Cards is an easy-to-play activity that offers students a fun way to practice school subject vocabulary words.

Even complete English beginners will be able to play this game after memorizing as few as 13 words related to school subjects.

Currently, there is one sets of 18 cards available for this game.

This is a deduction card game with a list of a different character's personal school subject preferences on each card. Players need to use their verbal skills to deduce which of the character on the cards laid out in front of them matches the character on the "secret card" in their activity partner's possession, by using the sentence structure "Do you like  _________________ class?"

This game serves a dual purpose. In addition to providing speaking practice with school related vocabulary words, students will also be able to practice phonics decoding and encoding with the CVC words used for the characters' names.

How To Play

Groups: This game is best played in pairs of two participants. One participant in each group will be the asker and the other will be the answerer.

Materials: Two identical sets of the 18 School Subject Preference Cards are needed for each pair of two participants. This means two sets of Set A.

Time / Game Round: 1-3 minutes

• The asker should lay out one set of game cards in front of them and the answerer should draw one "secret card" from an identical set of cards. The "secret card" will therefore match one of the 18 cards laid out in front of the asker.
  
  
• The answerer can look at the "secret card," but they aren't allowed to show it to the asker. The asker can only learn which school subjects the character on the "secret card" likes and dislikes by asking verbal questions.
  
  
• The asker's GOAL is to narrow down which of the 18 cards in front of them matches the "secret card" possessed by the answerer.
  
  The asker treats the answerer as the character named on the answerer's card. The answerer will answer the asker's questions as if he or she is the actual character on the card.
  
  To collect information, the asker can use the sentence pattern "Do you like _________________ class?" and systematically insert different school subjects into the blank in the sentence pattern.
  
  
• Based on the answerer's 'yes/no' answers, the asker can "eliminate" any cards that logically can't match the "secret card" held by the answerer. The best way to "eliminate" the non-matching cards, is to flip them over face-down. Then the asker can continue to ask more questions to further narrow down the remaining "face-up cards."
  
  
• Each round of the game continues until the asker has narrowed down the cards in front of them to just one card. They can then ask the answerer, "Are you _________________?" and insert the remaining character's name into the blank.

For more detailed instructions for how to print, prepare, and introduce card-based deduction games like this one, click the blue button below.