Vocabulary+Games

__**Vocabulary Games** __ __**Telephone **__
 * First the class is divided into a few groups, with about 10 in each group. One person in the group a receives sentence, which he or she must then memorize and pass on to the next person, by whispering.
 * The next person will pass the sentence down the line to the next and so on until it finally gets to the last person in the group. That person in the group will then have to stand up and say what the sentence is.

__**Pop-Up **__
 * 2 teams have the same word list
 * Teacher calls out word / definition / synonym/ show a photo
 * Student with the word on his/her desk must “pop-up” and say it first to win the point

__**What’s Missing?**__
 * Place one object of the vocabulary being studied on a table (colors, animals, food, etc.). Give students 20-30 seconds to study the objects on the table and then cover them with a sheet or large piece of paper. Have students turn their backs or close their eyes as you remove one of the items. Reveal the remaining items. Students must figure out which color has been removed.

__**Frustration**__
 * Students receive identical packs of cards with a series of items (numbers 1-10, numbers 100-1000, days of the week, months, etc.). Three to five students are placed in a group. Each student in the group places his/her pack in the center, face down and the groups are shuffled together. Each student has one draw at a time. He must draw the first of the series (lunes, uno, enero) and continue on subsequent turns to draw the next in the series of items. The first student to complete his/her pack again is the winner.

__**Cadena de Palabras**__ > __**Ghost**__ > If any score is kept at all, the traditional method uses the letters of the word "Ghost" in the same fashion as the basketball game horse, with each loss giving the player the next letter of the word, and a player being eliminated when they have all five letters. __**Matamoscas**__ >
 * The first student says a word in Spanish. The next students make a chain of words by adding a word beginning with the letter of the last letter of the previous word. Ex. plato - oreja - anaranjado
 * Each student adds a word to a sentence fragment but may not use "and, but, or." A student who can not add a word loses a point.
 * A student is chosen at random to start the game, and begins by naming any letter of the alphabet. Players then take turns to add letters to this fragment, with the aim being to avoid completing an actual word. The student whose turn it is may - instead of adding a letter - challenge the previous player to prove that the current fragment is actually the beginning of a word. If the challenged player can name such a word, the challenger loses the round; otherwise the challenged player loses the round. If a player bluffs, or completes a word without other players noticing, then play continues. When a round ends, play generally passes to the left.
 * Write vocabulary words/phrases/verb forms in the target language on the board in random order. Two students line up side-by-side a short distance away from the board. When ready, read a word, phrase or a definition. The students run to the board and swat the corresponding vocabulary word/phrase or form. The student who arrives and swats the correct answer first receives a point for their team. The game continues until all items have been called or until a certain number of points has been reached.

__**¿Qué es?**__ __**Line-Up**__ __**Levántense/Siéntense**__ __** Chalkboard Relay **__
 * The teacher places realia or drawings of the vocabulary being studied in a cloth bag (preferably a cultural bag from Mexico or Guatemala). The students ask questions to determine what is in the bag. If you want to make the activity into a game, the students play as teams with the team who guesses the most items correctly as the winner. Variation: A student removes an item from the bag without looking and holds the item up for the class to see. Classmates describe the item. The student then guesses the name of the item based on clues given.
 * Two teams are formed. Each team lines-up with each team being given an identical set of numbers (or vocabulary items). Teacher randomly holds up a number. Students take turns identifying the numbers in Spanish. If they are able to answer correctly within 5 seconds, the number card is removed from their pile. The first team with no number cards left wins.
 * This game can be used to review any vocabulary that can fit into a category (animals, places in a school, etc.) Each student (who is seated on a chair - preferably in a row) receives a vocabulary item. Ex. animals - The teacher begins by saying the name of one of the animals. The student holding that animal says the name of another animal. The student who has the animal stands up and calls out the name of another animal, etc. Play continues until a student who stands up with the wrong animal or mispronounces the name of the animal. That student goes to the end of the line and the other students move up the row. After moving, the students will now have the name of a new animal.
 * The example given here is for rooms of the house but the idea could be used to practice any vocabulary. Divide the class into 2 teams. The teacher says a sentence with the name of a furniture item. One child from each team draws the furniture item on the board. If the student does not know what to draw, he/she sits down with a penalty point and the next student on the team tries to draw the object. The team with the least number of penalty points wins.