Games For Single Student Lessons - I Spy

About the game:

"I Spy" is a game commonly played by children in the United States. One person looks around at everything in his line of sight and silently chooses something he can see. He then says, "I spy with my little eye, something ..." The remainder of the sentence can be completed in a variety of ways in order to expand the possibilities in an ESL class:

• I spy with my little eye something (color - red, green, blue, etc.).
• I spy with my little eye something that begins with (letter of the alphabet).
• I spy with my little eye something (adjective - big, small, soft, hard, etc).

For example, one person says "I spy with my little eye, something that begins with 'C'."

The second person can ask the first person a variety of questions depending on the parameters the teacher wishes to set based on the student's level. For low level students, the teacher may want to ask the student to only ask the question, "is it (name of item)?" For higher level students, any question which requires a 'yes' or 'no' answer may be asked such as, "can I hold it in my hand?"

While the game is rather simple, it can be quite difficult depending on the choice of item made and the initial statement. For instance, if the teacher says, "I spy something which starts with 'C'," and there are cushions, curtains, a cabinet, carpet, clock, chair, and compact discs in the room, making a guess of which one of these is the correct item can take quite a bit of guessing.

Explaining the game to the student:

When using this game for ESL lessons, the first thing the teacher should do is explain what "spy" means in this context. The simplest thing to say is that "spy" means the same as "see" in this case. With higher level students, you might want to discuss the verb and noun definitions of "spy". Most students will know about James Bond ("007" in Japan) as a spy but very few will know about the verb usage as displayed in this game.

After the student understands what "spy" means, the teacher should choose an item in view of both she and the student. Explain that the item can be in the room or seen through a window. Make sure the student knows you're talking about an item that can be seen. After a choice is silently made, the teacher will say "I spy something..." and that the student will ask questions to guess what the teacher has chosen. If the teacher goes first, the student will understand how to play the game when it is his turn to choose an item for the teacher to guess.

Purpose of the game:

The purpose of this game is both to practice questions, learn vocabulary, and to encourage thinking in English.

Classroom use:

This game is good as either a warming up or winding down activity with students. If the teacher has finished a lesson and there is still 10-20 minutes of class time left, this game can be a good way of finishing up.