CONTRACTION CUPCAKES 1

The tastiest and most appetizing set of cupcakes

for teaching and reviewing contractions with
students of different grades.
Includes contractions with: be, have, had/would,
will, not and 4 others (54 pairs in total).

These sweetest cupcakes will make your

grammar lessons more engaging and exciting for
students and, as a result, more effective. «Delicious
treats» will improve spelling of personal pronouns
and auxiliary verbs, their full and contraction forms.
And a skillful presentation of material by the
teacher will make learners masters in using them in
speech.

How to use:
- represent, drill and review the target grammar;
- use as a brilliant decoration for your classroom walls + a fantastic visual aid as a BONUS;
- make a lapbook or an interactive notebook in the classroom, cutting out and pasting cupcakes
into students’ copybooks;
- play flashcard games with your students to make them learn the contractions easily in a fun
and engaging way.
Games:

- Matching. Shuffle the toppings and put them on the floor (or table), let students choose the same
number of cakes without looking at them beforehand. Then set the time limit and have them find
all necessary toppings. Variation: deal the toppings between
the students and ask them to find the matching cakes.

- Hunting. Hide the cakes around the classroom or outside at

the playground, or just stick them on the walls. Give out the
toppings, make children find and bring the correct cakes. You
may have a race too. The first team to pick up all their
cupcakes is the winner;

- Who’s first? (great for playing in teams or in pairs). The

teacher shows the cakes one by one. The team to name the
topping first gets a cupcake or a point. The team with the
most points is the winner.

- Memory game. Put all cards face down on the floor (or
table), determine the order of the players in the game.
Children take turns to open two cards (a topping and a cake)
and name them. If they match, the player keeps the cards
and has another go, if they don’t, the cards are turned over
again and another child goes. At the end of the game you
can ask children to make short sentences with target
grammar and vocabulary using the cupcakes they have won.
 CONTRACTION CUPCAKES 2
- Kim’s game. Choose several cards (you may
use only cakes, toppings or both), children look
at them very attentively and try to memorize.
Then the cards are covered with a towel and
they have to name as many cards as possible.

- Tic Tac Toe. Draw a large grid 3*3 on the board,

stick one topping in every square. To put a cross
or a nought, a player must say the correct
contraction and make a short sentence.
Variation: stick the cakes facing down. Teams
take turns to select a cake, turn it over and say or
write a full form on the board. If it’s correct,
remove the card and write a cross or a nought accordingly.

- Touch. Place toppings/cakes around the room, say the contractions or full forms. Students
run around the classroom touching the correct parts of the cupcakes.

- Snap! A great game to play in pairs. Split up players into two teams or pairs. Shuffle the
cakes and toppings independently. Cakes are for one team, the toppings are for the second
team. Put the piles face down. Students open the top cards simultaneously. If the cake and
the topping match, they shout Snap! The first team to shout, gets the cupcake. Repeat with
the rest cards in the set. The team with the most cupcakes is the winner.

- Active BINGO. Divide students into 2-3 groups, let each group stand up in a line. Give each
child a cake or a topping. Call out the full forms/contractions randomly. When the student

PRINT ON CARDSTOCK AND LAMINATE FOR A DURABLE USE.

hears his word, he sits down. When the entire group is sitting, they shout BINGO!

- Jump. Put the cakes on the floor and call out toppings one by one. Students jump on
the appropriate flashcard. Option: split up students into pairs. One calls out full forms,
another jumps on the contractions, then they change the roles.

- Fortress. Draw a fortress on the board. Tell children that it is attacked by enemies, add
a ladder to the wall without some steps (5-7). The goal is to defend the fortress. Show the
toppings, children must say the correct contractions (or vise versa). 1 mistake – add 1
missing step on the ladder. If they are mistaken less than the number of missing steps,
the fortress is saved!

- Race Track. Lay out the cakes or toppings

like a race track with a start and finish line on
the table (or on the floor). Students play in
pairs, teams or individually. Determine the
order of players in the game. The first
student rolls a dice and moves a counter
along the track. Then s/he must say a correct
contraction or a sentence using the target
grammar on the card he’s landed on and if
it’s wrong, must move one step back. The
first to reach finish is the winner.
 CONTRACTION CUPCAKES 3
- Goal! Put cakes/toppings on the floor (or table) where all pupils can see them. Ask each
student in a turn to throw a coin or a ball onto one of the cards. If the coin/ball lands on a
flashcard, they must name the contractions/full forms, make a phrase or a sentence using
the target grammar.

- Have a race. It’s better to play outside dividing students into teams. Put the toppings on
one side of the playground. Players are standing on the other side. The first
representatives of every team choose the cakes randomly and run to the toppings. The
first to bring the correct cupcake, wins a point for his/her team. The team with the most
points is the winner.

- In a flash. Take the flashcards and hold them facing you so that the children can’t see
them. Tell the children they are going to see a flashcard for a very short time. Then turn the
card over and back very quickly. Children have to see the picture (or a word) and name it.
That one to do it first gets the card. The winner is the player with the most cards. Variation:
If there are many children in the class, divide them into groups and deal the same number
of cards between the groups. Children play in groups independently (one person shows
the card quickly, others try to see and guess a word). After all cards have been played, the
groups change the sets and play with new
cards.

Enjoy!

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LANGUAGE
STUFF A
BC
 NOT (page 5-11): 5
is not - isn’t
are not - aren’t
was not - wasn’t
were not - weren’t
will not - won’t

has not
has not - hasn’t
has not
hasn’t
have not - haven’t
had not - hadn’t
cannot - can’t
could not - couldn’t
do not - don’t
does not - doesn’t
did not - didn’t
should not - shouldn’t
would not - wouldn’t
must not - mustn’t
6
7
8

hasn’t
9
10
11
To be (page 12-15): 12
I am - I’m
You are - You’re
He is - He’s
She is - She’s
It is - It’s
We are - We’re
They are - They’re
There is - There’s
That is - That’s
13
14
15
 16
will (page 16-19):
I will - I’ll
You will - You’ll
He will - He’ll
She will - She’ll
It will - It’ll
We will - We’ll
They will - They’ll
There will - There’ll
That will - That’ll
17
18
19
 20

would/had (page 20-24):

I would/had - I’d
You would/had - You’d
He would/had - He’d
She would/had - She’d
It would/had - It’d
We would/had - We’d
They would/had - They’d
hasn’t There would/had - There’d
That would/had - That’d
21
22
23
24

hasn’t
 25

I hav
She has
He has

e
I have You have
I’ve You’ve
Have (page 25-27):
He has She has
I have - I’ve
He’s She’s He has - He’s
She has - She’s

They have
We have They have
We’ve They’ve
It has - It’s
They have - They’ve
There has It has We have - We’ve
There’s It’s There has - There’s
26

There has
We have
It has
You have
You’ve
It’s
27

They’ve
She’s
I’ve
He’s
There’s
We’ve
let us - let’s 28
should have - should’ve
could have - could’ve
would have - would’ve
29