Dragon!
| Target: | Phonics Initial letter Sounds | tag question chase escape |
| Age: | younger children and up | |
| Duration: | 3 minutes & up | |
| Class Size: | Small group and up | |
| Energy Level: | high | |
| Type: | Active monster game | |
| Equipment: | something to record an a-z choice |
Introduction: This tag game is untested! It's based on a board game I made many years ago and is a variation of One Step Forward. It is based on the story idea of the dragon's hoard. In Western folklore dragons live a long time and collect treasure. They are powerful and proud and anger easily.This game is based on that tradition.
Set Up: Create a safe area at the back of the room. All the players but one line up in the safe area. The last player becomes the dragon and stands at the front of the room facing the players. Before the game starts the dragon chooses a letter to represent a sound. This could be done by choosing a plastic letter or an alphabet card or even writing it down on a mini-whiteboard or piece of paper.
Procedure: The players take turns asking a "Do you have question". The dragon considers the starting letter sound. If it is different from the sound recorded by the dragon the dragon says, "Yes I do! Come closer!" The player must take at least one step towards the Dragon. However if the starting sound of the item chosen by the player matches that chosen by the dragon the dragon shouts, "No I don't!! This is the signal for the dragon to chase the players back to their safe area. The dragon tries to tag as many players as possible before they each safety. The game the starts again, possibly with a new dragon. Here's an example of how play might go with four players guessing :
[The Dragon has chosen the sound "h"]
| Player A: | Do you have a cat? |
| Dragon: | "Yes I do! Come Closer!" |
| Player B: | Do you have a violin? |
| Dragon: | "Of Course! Come closer" |
| Player C: | "Do you have a truck?" |
| Dragon: | "Yes I do! Come Closer!" |
| Player D: | "Do you have a diamond?" |
| Dragon: | pause... "Yes I do! Come closer!" |
| Player A: | "Do you have a helicopter?" |
| Dragon | "Arg! No I don't" |
Variations:
- Limit the number of sounds available to the Dragon. In this case all the players can take a step forward for a wrong guess and perhaps they can confer and guess together rather than individually.
- Have the players start close to the Dragon and have the Dragon say "Go back!" instead of "Come Closer!"
- Vary the way players approach the dragon. For example, take one step for the first guess, two for the second, three for the third and so on. Alternatively each player halves the distance from the dragon with each wrong guess.
Notes:
In describing this game I refer to sounds rather than letters. But this raises an issue with c and k (and depending upon your phonics program q). Will you focus on guessing the letter in which case they are treated separately by the Dragon or as a single sound in which case any word beginning with one of the letters will trigger the Dragon? Perhaps ask the players at the start of the game what to do or alternatively exclude those sounds entirely.
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