NOUGHTS AND CROSSES WITH CONDITIONALS

INSTRUCTIONS
Prepare a noughts and crosses grid either on the board or on an
overhead sheet.
Put the beginning of a conditional sentence in each of the boxes
on the grid.

Here are nine sentences I suggest.

If it rains tomorrow, I………

If Tom hadn’t gone to the market, he ………
He wouldn’t have failed the test……….
Mum would bake a cake………….
If the sun shines tomorrow,………...
I will buy a new car………….
If dad washed the car, he………..
If I win the lottery, I……….
If Mary goes to the cinema, she

REFRESH the memories of the students on how conditionals are

formed.
I would give the students a sample conditional in each form to
remind them of the verb pattern. Write the samples on the board.
• If you heat water, it boils.
• If you go to school tomorrow, you will have an English lesson.
• If you played chess all day, you would be an expert.
• If you had listened to the teacher, you would have known the
answer to the question.

AIM OF THE GAME

Explain the game to the students, telling them that in order to win
they need to be able to complete 3 of the boxes either
diagonally, vertically or horizontally. The students must decide who
is going to be the noughts and who the crosses- using this symbol
for the box they win. The started conditional must be completed in
the correct form depending on which conditional it is. The winner is
the first person to have three noughts or crosses in a row.
In my version of the game, the students would work in two teams
deciding together the best way to finish the sentence, choosing
which box is next as a team. It would be best if the students in one
team all sat together in a group. This will help the weaker students
to remember how the conditionals are formed. If the team finishes
the sentence using the correct tense, they get to put their nought
or cross in the box. Then it is the other team’s turn. Continue the
game alternating the teams, if a sentence is not grammatically
correct, they do not get a point. This is a tactical game where the
students have to think ahead which box would be more useful for
them to acquire or block.

EXTRA TASK
This game could be finished with a conditional sentence chain,
started by one student and then carried on by the next, always
using the second half of the sentence as a beginning for the new
one, each using his fantasy to finish the sentence.