Reflexive verbs can be very difficult for students to master. Me levanto, te duchas, se acuesta. The pronoun changes, the verb changes, and students have to keep track of both at once.

What helps? Lots of practice. Out loud. About their own lives.

That’s where Jenga comes in.

Why Jenga works

Jenga is fabulous because nobody knows when the tower is going to fall. Everyone is watching. Everyone is listening. And while they wait, they hear the target language over and over and over again.

This game combines some deliberate learning activities with acquisition. The reflexive verbs are right there in the questions, so students practice the structure on purpose. They’re also answering real questions about their own day, and that’s where acquisition happens. I like to think of the two together as the perfect marriage.

Students get excited about this one. They want to talk, and they love the back and forth of asking and answering questions.

What’s in the game

There are 54 questions, one for each block in a standard Jenga set. They follow the school day, from waking up to going to bed, with a few on weekends at the end. This one is year two friendly (or whenever you teach daily routines).

Each question has a type, so students know what kind of answer you’re looking for:

• Pregunta: Answer the question about your own routine.
• Reflexivo: Say one sentence with the verb given.
• Rutina: Say two or three things you do at that time of day.
• Secuencia: Say what you do before or after.
• Comparación / Desafío: Longer answers. Think weekdays versus Saturdays, or three things in one go.
• Pregunta libre (49–54): Now the student asks the questions. They choose someone in the group to ask, and that person answers.

How to set it up

1. Number the blocks. Write a number from 1 to 54 on the end of each block with a permanent marker. (You only do this once.)
2. Print the question sheet. One copy per group. It fits on one page.
3. Model it first. Pull a block, read the question and answer it yourself before anyone else plays. Your students will copy the length and detail of your answer, so make it a good one.

Ways to play

There are several ways to play this.

1. Whole class. Set up one tower at the front of the room and divide your class into two teams. Teams take turns sending a player up to pull a block. You read the question, and the player answers in the target language. A complete answer earns a point.
2. Small groups. Groups of three or four, each with a tower. Assign one student to be the moderator and give this student the question sheet. The moderator reads each question and decides whether the answer counts. Rotate the moderator every few turns.
3. Stations. Put a tower and a question sheet at one station in your rotation. It’s no prep once the blocks are numbered.
4. Dice. No tower? No problem. Roll a die, and the number tells you the question type: 1 is Pregunta, 2 is Reflexivo, 3 is Rutina, 4 is Secuencia, 5 is Comparación / Desafío, and 6 is Pregunta libre. The student picks any question of that type, answers it and crosses it off. If that type is all used up, roll again. It works whole class, in small groups or in pairs, and all you need is the question sheet and a die.
5. Dice and tower. The die decides what you pull, and the tower decides how brave you have to be.
   • Colored set: If your colored set came with a die, roll it and pull a block of that color. Answer the question with that number.
   • Plain set: Roll the die for the question type, then pull any block. If the number on the block matches the type you rolled, answer that question. If it doesn’t, the moderator picks a question of that type from the sheet.

The one rule that matters: students answer before they put the block on top of the tower. No answer, no move.

If the tower falls, rebuild it and keep going. The questions matter more than the tower.

Every classroom has a different tower

Some are colored, some are smaller, some are a mix of both. The game works with all of them.

• Colored blocks. If your blocks are colored, change the colors on the question sheet to match your set. The sheet is editable, so you just change the fill color of each band. A student who pulls a green block then only has to look in the green band. The colors on my sheet are one example; your version can be different.
• Fewer blocks. Some sets have fewer than 54 blocks. Number the blocks you have and cross out the questions you won’t use before you print. Do you want to keep the Pregunta libre questions? Leave out some from the middle of the list instead, and number your blocks to match.
• A mix of sets. If your groups have different towers, give each group its own sheet with only their numbers on it. Each group plays the questions it has blocks for.
• No tower at all. Use a die instead (see Ways to play). Dice are a great way to bring the game into a classroom without a Jenga set, and the questions stay exactly the same.

Ready to do this in YOUR class?

It’s a great way to get lots of reflexive verb practice, and every student talks about their own day. The first round might be a little loud, but I think you’ll love it.

You can copy this printable one:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1C6uH3tpoen6eNGL3En9WEmdQFAQ4gprjVeNDqr3zNE8/copy

OR this:

Daily routines is just one of them. There are 30 Jenga games in the membership, all built the same student-centered way. Different topics, same tower.

https://real-life-language.mykajabi.com/reallifelanguage