1. An explanation for IGR Teachers
How to play Go Fish
An explanation for IGR Teachers

2. Go Fish Go Fish is an ‘overlearning consolidator’
Integral to the playing of Go Fish is Repetition
ie ‘the practice of recall of known items’
(Marie Clay ‘Reading Recovery’ p55)
Go Fish also teaches social skills and turn-taking,
with the dynamic of the game ensuring that all of the children are engaged in play throughout

3. Go Fish with a group of 3 or 4 children
Select 12 – 15 phrases or short sentences from the PREVIOUS lesson’s new book
Write each phrase onto pairs of cards
Include yourself in play

4. Checking Recall and Comprehension
Do this while you are dealing out the cards
Deal out 4 cards per player and put the remaining cards upsidedown in the middle of the table
Give the children a few moments to look at their cards – in this game we don’t let others see our cards (this makes the game fun!)

5. The Aim of the Game is to Collect Matching Pairs
Make sure this happens for every child
Begin by asking the children whether anyone already has a matching pair (check this carefully!)
If they do, they show their pairs, read them aloud, and put them down on the table
Now begin the game by choosing a card from your hand and asking a specific child whether they have it (eg “Michael, do you have ‘He

6. huffed and he puffed’?”) Show the card at the same time so that the children can also check visually If Michael has the card, he has to give it to you. You then put this ‘won’ pair on the table next to you If he doesn’t have it, he says “No, Go Fish”, and you keep your card and pick up an additional one from the central pile

7. Remind the children to keep checking their cards for matching pairs
Play then passes to the player next to you
The children gradually begin realising who has what card and can add to the pairs they have
Whenever a player wins a card by accurately (or accidentally) asking the right person for the card that matches his/hers, s/he gets an extra go [NB
only one extra go is allowed]

8. When cards are asked for, they are always read aloud
Play ends either:
when all the cards have been paired up, or
when every child has won at least one pair, or
when you decide that enough time has been spent on the game