GO HOME is a game which teaches students how to refer to family members in
English. It is a new slant on the old traditional game "Go Fish."
Number of players: 2-7
Level: elementary school to junior high school
Contents: 40 cards (four each of mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, son,
daughter, sister, brother, baby, family)
Pregame warm-up
Show the students one card from each category and have them
repeat after you. For example, mother, father, grandmother, grandfather,
son, daughter, sister, brother, baby, family. Then let the students
practice the question, "Do you have a (family member)?" as you show one card
at a time.
Directions
The dealer deals each student 5 cards face-down. The rest of
the cards are placed face-down on the table. The students then look at
their cards. The dealer goes first and asks any student if he/she has a
family member he wants. For example, "Taro, do you have a sister?" If the
student has the card, he/she says. "Yes, I do." And the dealer says, "May I
have him/her, please?" To which the student replies, "Here you are," and
hands the dealer the card. If the student does not have the card, he/she
says "GO HOME." And the dealer will pick a card from the card pile.
Then the student to the left of the dealer asks any student a question, for
example, "Junko, do you have a grandmother?" If Junko does not have a
grandmother card in her hand, she says, "No, I don't. GO HOME." And the
player picks a card from the card pile. And the next student goes. When a
student has two-of-a kind family member, he/she can put the pair down. When
there are no more cards in the GO HOME pile, the student can say, "I can't
go home," to which the group can reply in unison, "Too bad." This usually
generates chuckles from everyone. The game continues until all of the cards
have been made into sets of two-of-a-kind family members. The player with
the most sets WINS! The student with the most sets gives a presentation on
his/her family by saying
There are _______people in my family, my mother, my father__________and me.
Note to Teachers
The students naturally differentiate between genders
because they have to use the correct pronouns for the words. For example,
"Do you have a brother? May I have HIM, please?"
Suggested Questions
Do you have a mother? May I have her?
Do you have a father? May I have him?
Do you have a son? May I have him?
Do you have a daughter? May I have her?
Do you have a grandmother? May I have her?
Do you have a grandfather? May I have him?
Do you have a brother? May I have him?
Do you have a sister? May I have her?
Do you have a family? May I have it?
Do you have a baby? May I have it?
English usage
Do you have a father?
Yes, I do.
May I have him, please?
Here you are.
Thank you.
Do you have a grandmother?
No, I don't. Go home.
Do you have a sister?
Yes, I do.
May I have her please?
Here you are.
Thank you.
Do you have a brother?
No, I don't. Go home.
I can't go home.
Too bad!
GO HOME is a fun game which lasts about 7 minutes, a good way to reinforce
family vocabulary and end a class.
Helene Jarmol Uchida
Helene Jarmol Uchida is a veteran teacher with teaching, curriculum
development and teacher training experience in the U.S., Greece and Japan.
She is the director of the Fukuoka-based
Little America English Schools
and lectures at Fukuoka Kyoiku Daigaku. She holds the LATEM seminars every year
in cities throughout Japan and is also the author of 'The Challenge Book',
an interactive English book and CD especially created for Japanese elementary school students.
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