VOCABULARY GAMES & ACTIVITIES Remember that the game or activity you do in class must be alligned with your objective for the class. and the game or activity should always have a purpose.

Roles It is important to give students roles during a game or activity to keep them active and encourage them to participate Assigning roles is also a classroom management technique. This technique limits classroom distractions and allows for more learning.

Verb Relays Divide the board into three or four sections. Choose a pronoun and write it in each section. Divide the class into three or four teams. Give each team a container with infinitives written on slips of paper. One team member chooses a word, runs to the board, and writes a sentence with a conjugated form of that word. If the verb is conjugated correctly, the team gets a point. That person then goes to the back of the row and gives the paper to the judge. The team with the most points at the end wins. Change the pronoun every 3 or 4 students.

Verb Relays Roles Judge, secretary, editor, cheeleader, scorekeeper You can also use this game to review vocabulary words. Lower-level students could write a phrase instead of a sentence. Advanced students could write a negative sentence or a question using the verb.

Basketball Divide students into groups of 8. Each group will have two teams. Prepare questions before class to distribute to each group. Place two chairs or a desk facing each other: one chair for team A and one chair for team B. Place a ball in the middle. The host will then ask two students a question; the first to grab the ball and correctly answer gets a chance to play basketball. If the student scores a basket, he or she gets an extra point. Options for basket: Masking tape on floor, piece of paper on floor with tape Options for basketball: Crumpled up paper ball, ball of yarn, other small ball

Basketball Roles and Variations Basketball roles: host, referee, scorekeeper, secretary, editor Basketball Variations: Use this game to review vocabulary words. Create easier questions for lower-level students. Create higher level questions for advanced students.

Scattegories Write 10 categories on the board and ask students to copy them in their notebooks on the left hand side of the page, leaving room to write on the right hand side. Divide class in six to eight groups. For beginner students, give each team three minutes to think of a word for each category. For advanced students, give students a letter of the alphabet, and they must think of a word that starts with that letter in each category. The goal is to think of words that no other team will think of. After three minutes, the respresentative from each group will say the word the group wrote. If another team has that same word, no one gets a point.

Scattegory Roles and Variations Scattegory Roles: representative, secretary, editor Scattegory Variations: Ask lower-level students to be note-takers so that they have more interaction with the vocabulary words. Ask advanced students to be spokespeople and editors.

Small Group Pictionary Divide the class into groups of six. Each group will have two teams of three. Each group of six receives a card with eight words. Team A goes first, looking at the first word on the card and drawing it. Team B members try to guess what the word is. If team B correctly guesses word, it receives a point. Team B then draws the next Word on the card, and Team A tries to guess the word. Once the teams have gone through all eight words, they switch cards with another group. After going through all the cards, teams will add up their points, and the team with the most points wins.

Group Pictionary Roles and Variations Small Group Pictionary Roles: scorekeeper, secretary, editor Small Group Pictionary Variations: Give lower-level students a word bank of possible words the team members could draw before class so that they can study them. Ask advanced students to use the word in a sentence to win the point.

Pass the Musical Bag Divide the class into groups of 8-10 students and give each group a gift bag with pictures of vocabulary words. Start the music and have the students pass the bag down the row or in a circle. Whoever is holding the bag when the music stops must draw a picture out of the bag. Beginner students write the word on the board; advanced students write a sentence using the word. Students draw a picture out of the bag while they are at the board, not by their desks, to avoid cheating. The first team to get to 20 points wins. Roles: scorekeeper, secretary, editor, judge

Bomb Game Draw a grid with numbers across the top and letters down the side on the board. In each square of the grid, place a card or cover with a picture hidden behind it. Prepare this in advance on a big piece of paper. Students form teams, which take turns answering questions. If they correctly answer, they pick a square on the grid to reveal the hidden picture. The picture revealed determines the number of points scored for the question. Even if the teams are uneven in language skill, they have an equal chance. The game can be played with any type of questions: conjugation, culture, vocabulary, grammar, and so on.

Bomb Game Scoring and Roles Roles: scorekeeper, secretary, editor, cheerleader Value of hidden images: o flag = +5 points (2 on grid) o star = +2 points o boat = +1 point o grenade = -1 point o bomb = -2 points o atomic bomb = team’s point total goes to zero (2 on grid) The number of stars, boats, grenades, and bombs depends on the size of the grid.