Conversation Bingo

Setup

Students work in groups of two or three to complete the conversation/dialogue, then play bingo individually.

Activity

1. Each group creates a conversation or dialogue using at least five different examples of the target language (e.g. five phrasal verbs). The topic of ‘last weekend’ or ‘next weekend’ work well in most cases.
2. When they have finished, each student draws a 3×3 grid on a separate piece of paper. Don’t tell them what they are doing yet!
3. They complete this grid with nine random different examples of the target language (each student’s grid should be different).
4. The groups take turns reading their conversations/dialogues. The students who are not reading listen for the target language and cross it off in their grid as they hear it. They are only allowed to use instances from the work of other groups, not their own.
5. When a student crosses off three grid squares in a row (diagonally, horizontally or vertically), they can shout ‘Bingo!’. You may want to ask students to delay this until the end of a conversation.

Target Language

The Conversation Bingo ESL activity is a great way to make sure students listen to their classmates sharing a conversation/dialogue. Even if one student starts to talk, the other students will likely tell them to be quiet so they can hear – making your job a lot easier!

The activity can be used with a variety of different language, fitting any level of student. With beginners, use basic vocabulary that you have been studying, e.g. sports and hobbies, places in the city, irregular past tense verbs. With the latter, you could have students write the words in their grid in the present tense.

For intermediate and advanced students, idioms or phrasal verbs work really well.