The Dice Book

Book excerpt: The Dice Book features 112 photocopiable activities using "dice frames" - six prompts for saying something and reacting in small groups. It's simple, fast, and easy to do! There are three main types of frames: open-ended speaking, grammar, and vocabulary. The advantages of Dice Frames" are: 1) Maximizing practice: When students play in small groups, taking turns, they generate lots of speaking practice; 2) Scaffolding: Students know how to respond after rolling their dice, because each dice frame supplies a structure, model, prompt or example--often all of these; 3) Personal interest: The frames guide students to speak about themselves, to express opinions, to recall experiences, or to be creative; 4) No preparation: Teachers need virtually no preparation for these student-centered games. All teachers need to do is find a dice frame that fits the lesson, or choose one at random as a warm-up; 5) Short activities: Dice games typically take five to fifteen minutes of class time. Teachers can insert a quick-hitting dice game into every lesson or two. Their brevity and flexibility are great strengths of the game; and 6) A student-centered approach: With The Dice Book, teachers can relax and take an interest in what students have to say, assessing student performance, altering the content when necessary, and bringing the activity to an end when it loses steam. "