This activity is a great way to work vocabulary with students. I have found that it works best when done in groups of 4, and each student in the group has a specific role. Give each group a stack of pre-made cards with vocabulary from the unit being studied. Divide each group of 4 into two teams.
Student 1 will spend one minute trying to get his/her teammate to guess as many words from the card stack as possible. Using only the target language, this student must use circumlocution to describe each word. S/he may not use the word on the card or any part of the word. For example, if the word is banquero, the student may not say banquero, and s/he may not say banco.
Student 2 will guess as many of the words described to him/her as possible in one minute. The team will earn one point for each word guessed correctly.
Student 3 will keep time, allowing for 1 minute per round.
Student 4 will check Student 1's work, ensuring that s/he does not use the words on the cards or any part of those words.
After one minute, students will rotate roles. Play continues for as long as the teacher sees appropriate. This activity can be used in all levels of classes. I have found that it works best to limit play to 30 seconds per round for students in lower level classes, as they may not have learned enough vocabulary yet to fill an entire minute.
I have tried this activity with larger groups, but have found that it works best when each student has a specific role at all times.
The teacher may opt to offer prizes, rewards, or privileges to the winning teams; however, in my experience the intrinsic rewards typically prove to be enough to keep most students motivated.
Kerryn Frazier teaches Spanish at Foxborough High School. Ms. Frazier will continue to post activities for use in the world language classroom. Many of these activities were created by Ms. Frazier and her colleagues in Foxborough, and others are adaptations of activities found at MaFLA and other professional development.
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