Sunday, October 05, 2014

Vocabulary Game


            This is a game I got from a colleague.  It is designed for when the students are given a list of words and definitions prior to a reading or listening exercise, (as often happens in IELTS courses), and need to pre-learn the vocabulary before the reading or listening.  In order to make the pre-learning more fun, my friend gave me this idea.

            First, I read through all the words and definitions, and the students follow along.  Then I give the students a time limit (I typically do 3 minutes) to try to memorize all the words.  They can’t do it in that short of time, of course, but the time limit will keep them focused.  (I sometimes tell them “3 minutes” but then actually give them a bit longer.)

            I then put the students into groups of 3.  I read a definition from the list at random, and the first student to supply me with the correct word gets one point for their group.  At this stage, students are still allowed to look at their list of words for reference.
            I do maybe 4 or so examples until the students have understood the concept of the game.  Then, the students play the game in their groups.  I nominate one group leader who will read out the definitions at random, and the first person in that group to give the correct word gets a point. 
            For stage 2, we change the game.  The group leader is changed to another student, and for the second stage the other two students can not look at their paper.  The group leader reads a definition and the other two students must, from memory, try to supply the correct word.  As with before, the first student to answer correctly gets a point.

            For the third stage of the game, the group leader gives the word, and the other two students must, from memory, give the definition.  The first student to give the correct definition gets the point.


            (The group leader changes with every stage of the game, so by the end, in a group of three, all the students will have had one chance of being group leader.)

No comments: