This is
something I do with students who have to memorize a list of vocabulary words
for an upcoming test.
I put all
the vocabulary words on cards, and put the cards face down on the table. Students are put into groups of 3 or 4. The first student will take a card and,
keeping the word hidden, will describe the word on the card without using the
word itself. The other people in the
group will compete to be the first person to guess the card, and whoever guesses
first will get one point. Then the
person to the right of the original explainer becomes the new explainer, and
the explainer becomes one of the guessers, and the game proceeds around the
group clockwise. (Obviously you want to
use this with levels that are high enough to describe one English vocabulary
word in terms of other English vocabulary words.)
For
difficult words, I run through this game several times, but start with several
cheats.
For
example, during the first round:
* The
students can use their textbooks and dictionaries to help them either explain
or guess
* The
explainer can tell the guessers the first letter of the word
* The
guessers have a cheat sheet on which all the words that will be appearing on
the cards are listed.
As you
continue through different rounds, these cheats are gradually removed one by
one.
By the time
you get to the last round, I find the students usually have a very good grasp
of these words.
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