Considite! (Sit Down)

   When Linda Kordas,  the sapientia magistra from Concord NH explained this game to me,  I was dubious.  It seemed too simple.  I didn't think that a game that had only two rules and no props could be successful.  I was wrong.
      This is an excellent game to play when students have a good grasp of a concept.  It is an excellent test or quiz review activity. I find it particularly useful to help students remember how to form cases and verb tenses. 
     To play Considite,  you divide your class into two or three teams and call a representative from each team to the board.  Students at the board takes a marker.  You then tell students to write a word in the accusative, dative, verb in the imperfect - whatever you are practicing.  The first student who writes the word correctly, "sits down" by the board.  Actually,  they just crouch down but that's good enough.  For this game,  if you are reviewing how to put endings on words,  it is helpful to list 5 words at the top of the board that you will use.  Students often "blank out" on the word even if it is one they know very well when they are standing in front of their peers.  For example, if I was using this game to practice forming the accusative case,  I might write puella, equus, scutum, hortus and puer on the top of the board and only use those words. The other rule is that the word MUST be legible.  If neither student is able to write the correct word,  I may give some hints, give the answer or give them another word. If a student has crouched down and written the wrong answer,  I tell them that it is not correct.  They can stand back up and try again.   The first student that has written the correct word with the correct ending and crouched down gets a point for their team.  Then, two more people are called up and play repeats. This game has a running time of about 20 minutes before it becomes old. 

Variations: 

Practice with Numbers: Draw six rabbits!
     This game is a lot of fun to use with numbers.  I teach students basic animals - canis, porcus, leo, felis are good ones as well as puer and puella.  I think call two students up and tell them, "Delineate quinque leones."  They start madly drawing lion type shapes. (They often look like fried eggs but whatever)  The first student to draw five lions and crouch down gets a point for their team.

​Practice with Comparative and Superlative Adjectives:  Draw a bigger rabbit!
     This game also works well to practice comprehension of  comparative and superlative adjectives,  particularly those irregular comparative and superlative adjectives: melior, optimus, peior, pessimus, maior, maximus, minor, minimus. Again, use a finite set of nouns - animals are always fun.  Ask students to draw for example, "peiorem canem."  Students will complete to see who can draw the worse looking dog.  For the "maximum porcum"  They will be competing to see who can take up most of the board.  This is a great way to get a lot of practice with these common but often unrecognized adjectives. 

Tips to Make This Game Work: 

• This game works best when students are already pretty solid on a concept.  Unlike Flyswatter, it is not a good introductory activity. It is a way to get in some more repetition when doing one more worksheet fills everyone with ennui.
• Like all games that take place at the board,  good sportsmanship is a must.  Anyone who says anything derogatory about a player coming to the board, no matter how oblique,  loses a point for their team.
• This game works better when you can cycle through players fairly quickly.  If you have more than 16 students, form three teams and send three representatives to the board.