Versatile Vocabulary Games for Enhancing Vocabulary (Study Book) Versatile Vocabulary Games for Enhancing Vocabulary (Study Book) Versatile Vocabulary Games for Enhancing Vocabulary (Study Book)
Versatile Vocabulary Contents Note from the Authors Notes on Preparation Number Boards and Alphabet Boards 4 : Alien Attack! : • Race to the Top • 12 : Definition Dice : 14 •Word Patterns : 18 : Word Design Diamonds : 28 •Vocabulary Vortex : 36 : Cue Cubes : 42 •The Secret Word : 46 : W hat Is the Meaning of this Charade? : 50 10 •Successful Student j 54 11 : Lexical Ladder : 60 12 •Verbal Baseball : 68 13 j Jigsaw Joinings : 74 14 •POS Placement : 80 15 \ Parts of Speech Journey : 86 16 : Close Call : 92 17 j Creative Categories : 96 18 : Word Search : 100 19 j Alphabet Soup j 106 20 : Five in a Row : 110 21 \ One of a Kind : 114 : 117 : Word List * Note from the Authors W e are happy to share our games with you in Versatile Vocabulary W e chose this name because versatility is what excites us most about these games Some teachers look for vocabulary games because students say they want to widen their vocabulary For this reason, there are several games for generating vocabulary There are also games that will expose students to particular sets of words These games help students feel confident about words they already know and provide a possible list of common words to study All of the words we have chosen for the examples and Word List at the end of the book come from various concordances of the most frequently used words W e have identified words we believe ESL/EFL students need to know and have provided simplified, generic definitions In addition, many of us work in programs that require us to test vocabulary that is already provided from a course book or vocabulary list Many of our games allow you to practise words that you already use in your classroom This book of games requires students to use vocabulary in various ways: defining words, using words in sentences, spelling or acting out words, changing word forms and generating new words Notes on Preparation Some of the games require many cards and thus may take a long time to prepare, but we feel that time spent preparing games that can be used over and over in the classroom is time well spent W e suggest laminating the boards and cards or mounting them on cardboard so that they last Many games in this book lend themselves well to colour Colour your boards or copy cards onto coloured paper before laminating or mounting them For place markers you can use coins, bottle caps, buttons, coloured plastic pieces or coloured paper clips For timers you can use a second hand on a watch or clock, buy a cooking timer or specially made game timer, or use a specified and uniform counting method, such as, "one elephant, two elephants, three elephants Note: Game timers are sometimes hard to find, but we've had success finding them at good game or teaching supply stores, and have even found on-line sites selling timers, along with some interesting dice and place markers If you not have dice, you can use number boards instead When it is a student's turn to roll the die, the student closes his/her eyes and points a finger or a pencil at the board The number he/she is touching is the number of spaces he/she moves The other students in the group watch to ensure the student is not choosing the number he/she wants When a student lands between numbers, the other students in the group judge which number is closest Give one board to each group instead of a die Change the boards from time to time W e have included'a sheet of number boards for photocopying Since a few games also require students to select a letter at random, we have also included three alphabet boards which work in the same way as the number boards One of them includes only six different letters The other two contain all 26 letters of the English alphabet Number Boards 2 3 6 6 6 5 5 4 3 5 6 6 5 4 3 6 6 3 6 5 6 5 3 6 5 6 4 2 5 4 6 5 5 3 3 6 3 5 4 6 6 2 6 4 6 3 5 4 3 5 6 6 3 5 3 4 5 4 5 5 6 3 4 6 6 5 6 5 6 5 6 5 6 5 2 3 3 6 6 5 4 4 3 5 1 '6 2 6 5 5 6 3 4 6 4 6 5 5 3 6 4 6 6 3 3 5 3 4 5 5 3 5 2 6 4 3 4 1 6 4 5 4 6 6 4 1 6 3 5 6 1 5 5 6 6 5 6 6 2 5 4 3 5 6 2 4 3 6 C H V I C Q R Y L T G E D S P Alphabet Boards A-F D B A F E C D E F A A F C E D F A B C E E D A C E F E D A D A E B F A C E B F B C E C B F A B A F A-Z A-Z F G E R B S P A V C I F B K L N Q D U X I Y C J T W V R D Z A K M L R N T D A S X J U W S H N R T E M E V R U T M H P A U N T I T S K M E M G Y F I D B Q L R J N C L H I S F B R G L N B D E D E B H B C A B D Y D C E F A F B D C W V U F J A E D C E A B D F F D B E S T G V F Z N V E C A D C A E A C E H N D Q B K D P W R A F F D F B S S T B D G B E J Z J X C A G Q F M U B M R F E K Z L G S H L V J W C X P J N P K T H D F U Z T L Y S Y M E W I S T A X Photocopiable Game Alien Attack! Learning objective: To practise using target words correctly in sentences Game objective: To be the first team to circle the sun three times without getting killed by the alien Organization: Played as a whole class Preparation: Copy one Game Board on an overhead transparency for the class Copy 1-2 sets of Anti-alien Missile Cards Copy a Roll Guide Card for each team Make a list of vocabulary words or a set of vocabulary cards to use in the game You can "create" more words for a shorter class list by adding different parts of speech of one vocabulary word, or by recycling words in the game Provide a place marker for each team and a die for the class Description of the game: Students are divided into as many as six teams (A-F) The board is placed on an overhead projector All the place markers start at the labelled Space Stations Each team stays in one orbit (the orbits are the lines circling the sun) Each team begins with one Anti-alien Missile card A student from Team A rolls the die If the roll is a 1, 2, or 4, the teacher moves the marker that number of spaces The team marker moves from line to line around the sun in the team's orbit - in this case, the 'A' line If the student rolls a 5, go to step on the Guide If a student rolls a 6, go to step on the Guide Without help from his/her team-mates, the student who rolled must use a word chosen by the teacher correctly in a sentence If he/she is correct, the team's place marker stays where it is If the student makes a mistake, the team's place marker stays where it is, but the team must return one Anti-alien Missile card to the teacher If the student rolls a 5, the student does not move and does not answer a question, but the team loses one Anti-alien Missile card If the student rolls a 6, his/her team are attacked by the alien If the team has an Anti-alien Missile card, they must give it to the teacher to survive the attack If the team does not have a card to protect them, they lose their ship and they are out of the game completely Continue steps 3-7 for teams A-F, moving around the board until one team circles the sun three times Have players rotate on each team so that every student makes at least one sentence Each time a team passes their space station, make a note that they have completed one orbit You can mark this on the board The first team to orbit three times, or the only team left if the others have been attacked by the alien, wins 10 A team can trade one orbit point for one Anti-alien Missile card 11 Give members of teams that have been attacked the option of being picked up by other 'space ships': that is, allow students who are 'out' to join the remaining teams Optional: To prevent cheating, if a team-mate tries to help a student or if anyone is caught looking at papers, take away one Anti-alien Missile card If the team does not have any cards left, take away one orbit point o Game Variations: • Have students give definitions instead of using the word in a sentence • Make the number rolled a key for the type of word you choose For example: = noun, = verb, = adjective, = adverb; = module of your course, = module of your course, or = easiest and = most difficult • Vary the level of the game by changing the number of orbits the teams need to make or by changing the number of Anti-alien Missile cards the teams begin with Note: This game can be played as a large-copy paper version with a small class Alien Attack! - Game Board Photocopiable Alien Attack! - Students' Roll Guide Cards - 7.2 -, If !c 1 11“i1 o i" i i * • JU U INU UU i _ |T | “iin- mil r o n i - 1 u i/c n n c i iu j c Q OI” C C t q t i f"i im q im n 1•i 1 l c j 1 1 i>ji i 1 1 u _i — |T | “ii 11~ n il r Qn * c OOi” C C t q t i n im c _ _ — iiu i/ C i ii iCHu L J i i iLC J 11 11 iu i i J Oim • ” 1Oim C *• CO i ii iu i 11 ij uuis ih* _—iI _— ii“ n i_i\/ c i i i“ i i " i” n nn ii u — j c O Qi~C — i ji 11L u LJ — |T |i” i i “ 1— i iu i/ l n il c o n i 11 iC1 u — ! c QO r C C t q t i i” im c j i i iL C j 1ii iu i ij L_ — i n c c _l — l u DC ! 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Learning objective: To practise using target words in sentences Game objective: To be the first team to reach the top of the board by using target words correctly Organization: Played as a whole class Preparation: Copy one board on an overhead transparency for the class Make a list of vocabulary words or a set of vocabulary cards for the moderator (usually the teacher) You can create more words for a shorter class list by adding alternate parts of speech of one vocabulary word or by recycling words in the game Provide a place marker for each team Description of the game: Students are divided into as many as five teams The board is placed on an overhead projector All the place markers start on the bottom of the board A student from Team A must use a word chosen by the moderator in a sentence, without any help from his/her team-mates If he/she is correct, the team's place marker is moved to the first space If not, the place marker stays where it is The next team (B) has a chance to make a sentence Repeat steps and for Teams A-E, moving the place markers up the boarduntil one team reaches space 14 If there is a tie, the tied teams continue playing until there is a winner Alternatively, you can play a 'speed bonus round', where the first team to shout out the correct definition wins Optional: To prevent cheating, if a team-mate tries to help a student or if anyone is caught looking at papers, move the offending team's place marker back to the start Variations: • Students must give a definition rather than use the word correctly in a sentence • If the first team does not know the answer, allow another team to 'steal' the point • Students must spell the target word or give another formof the word (e.g., they are given the verb teach and they must give the noun teacher) • Instead of having turns in order, the moderator calls out target wordsand the first team to give the correct definition moves one step closer to the top Teams can callout orraise their hands when they believe they have the correct answer • If you don't have an OHP, the board can be made large and visiblefor the class, or simply play the game as a blackboard race without a photocopiable sheet • Let students colour in the space when they win a point # Five in a Row - Backing for Markers ★ B C D F