Tic Tac Toe

Tic Tac Toe is a quick and fun way to review a number of grammar forms. I often use it to practise irregular forms of the past simple.

You need two teams of 1-4 to play this game, one team plays as Xs, the other as Os.

Draw a Tic Tac Toe grid on the board and write in each square one of the items to be reviewed.

Teams take it in turns to choose a square. After consulting with the team a player makes a sentence using the chosen word in the correct form. If the sentence is correct, place an X or O in the square depending on the team. If the sentence is wrong the square stays in play.

The winner is the team which manages to connect three Xs or Os in a row – either horizontally, vertically or diagonally.

Tip

Put one of the more challenging grammar items in the high-value middle square.

Here are some of the grammar forms you can practice with this game:

• Simple past irregular verbs

Write the infinitive form and students must make sentences using the past form.

• Adverbs

Write the adjective form and students make sentences using an adverb.

Suggested words: hard,  easy, fast, good, bad, quick, angry, happy, normal

• Verbs followed by infinitive or gerund

Write the verb, students make sentences using a second verb in the infinitive or gerund form.

Suggested words: enjoy, suggest, avoid, remember, start, ask, prepare, promise, forget (this website has a nice list)

You could also play this game using comparatives, phonetics, compound nouns, etc.