50 Wonderful Word Games

Easy and Entertaining Activities That Build Essential Language-Arts Skills

by Alan Trussell-Cullen

55550000 WWWWoooonnnnddddeeeerrrrffffuuuullll WWWWoooorrrrdddd GGGGaaaammmmeeeessss

New York Toronto London Auckland Sydney

S C H O L A S T I C

BPROFESSIONAL OOKS

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Teachers may photocopy the reproducible pages in this book for classroom use. No other part of this

publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in

any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without written

permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., 555

Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

Cover design by Jaime Lucero

Cover illustration by Anna Walker

Interior design by Jaime Lucero and Liza Charlesworth for Grafica, Inc.

Interior illustrations by Chris Reed

ISBN 0-590-96559-X

Copyright 1998 Alan Trussell-Cullen

All rights reserved.

Printed in the U.S.A.

Dedicated to the best word gamesters and

word game guinea pigs I knowmy family!

Cheers!

Alan

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Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

CChhaapptteerr 11:: WWeellccoommee ttoo tthhee WWoonnddeerrffuull WWoorrlldd ooff WWoorrddss

Name Chants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Silent Circles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

No, Yes! No, No! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Hink Pinks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Wheres the Rutabaga? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

CChhaapptteerr 22:: AA TTiimmee ttoo SSppeeaakk,, aa TTiimmee ttoo LLiisstteenn

Knock! Knock! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Crambo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Tongue Twisters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Travelers Tales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Rhyming Ketchup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Mystery Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Mums the Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Never-Ending Sentences . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Toppers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

CChhaapptteerr 33:: TThhee WWoorrdd aass aa WWoorrkk ooff AArrtt

Word Ladders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Word Chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Word Piles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Word Stacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Telegrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Illustrated Idioms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Listomania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Squashed Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Cut-Up Poetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Acrostic Poetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Cinquains. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Word Puzzlers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Unravel a Rebus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

CChhaapptteerr 44:: CCaalllliinngg AAllll WWrriitteerrss

Story Builder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Spelling Concentration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Treasure Hunt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Noisy Punctuation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Letter Race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Brain Waves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Word Starters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Ghosts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Spell-Aerobics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Alpha-Bit-at-a-Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Word Finder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

CChhaapptteerr 55:: TThhiinnkkiinngg SSkkiillllss aanndd TThhrriillllss

Mashed Potatoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Mystery Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Fortunately . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Riddle-Me-Ree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

New Names for Old . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Collectibles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Terrific Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Fictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Cats and Dogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Famous Folks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Aunt Tilly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

TTTTaaaabbbblllleeee ooooffff CCCCoooonnnntttteeeennnnttttssss

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4laying games is fundamental to human behavior. Its inour genes! Even babies play games. One of their favorites is

Drop the Rattle Out of the Crib and See How Many TimesYou Can Make Your Parents Pick It Up! Then theres HowMuch of the Living Room Floor Can I Cover With My Blocksand Toys? Of course, when they get older they playother games, like How Many Times Can I Get MyParents to Ask Me to Do Something Without MyActually Getting Around to Doing It?

The truth of the matter is that we all play games. Itshow we explore the world and find out who we are.

Games are fun, too, and some of the most enjoyable and creative games are theones we play with words. The wonderful thing is that they can also be powerfullearning tools.

Playing word games is a great way to get to know new people and become comfort-able with new surroundingsa new class, a new teacher, or a new school. ChapterOne has some wonderful getting-to-know-you games that help with this. Wordgames can also help develop oral language, and Chapter Two features great gamesfor developing our speaking and listening skills. In addition to using words when wespeak, we write them, too. We can make patterns with them and play games withthose patterns. Chapter Three has some great games for word-doodling (and, thus,mind-doodling).

Word games can improve our writing, too. They can help us with spelling and gram-mar skills, punctuation, and creativity. Maybe writing is a game anyway. Dont we

tempt and tease our readers, sometimes surprising them and sometimes reassur-ing them? Sometimes we strut with our words. Sometimes we

inform with our wordsor shock or show off or even hidebehind our words. The word games in Chapter Four can

hone the skills we need to do all of this.

Still, words are much more than the letters weprint on a page or the recognizable speech

sounds we cluster together and let tum-ble from our lips. Words encode ideas.Games can help us experiment with

ideas, categorize them, find similaritiesand differences, grid them, dramatize them,

combine them with other ideas, and hammer

IIIInnnnttttrrrroooodddduuuuccccttttiiiioooonnnn

PPPP

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5them into brand-new ideas. In Chapter Five welook at brain-stretching word games that do allthis and more. Throughout this book we havealso included under the heading Try This! addi-tional language arts activities and projects thatdevelop vocabulary and build skills.

So the word games in this book assist with manyimportant learning skills. We may choose to playthem for those reasons, or we may play word gamessimply for the pleasure they bring to our childrenand the joy they spread in our classrooms.

Beyond their fun and linguistic value, word games contribute to much more com-plex and important parts of our education. They teach us about life. They offer thatwonderful combination of freedom and responsibilitythe chance to be creative andtake risks while obeying the rules.

The fact that games are enjoyable and even somewhat addictive may bring anotherpowerful and perhaps more pervasive benefit to our classrooms. If our childrenreally enjoy playing a game, they wont just play it at school. Theyll play it when-ever they have spare time and wherever they happen to beat school or at home.In other words, theyll continue to practice the skills implicit in the game long afterthe classroom session is over.

Think of it! Theyll be learning when they dont even know theyre learning. Theymight become so excited about these games that they turn off the TV and tune in instead to the people and the world around them. This could prove to be the startof a revolution!

HHHHaaaappppppppyyyy wwwwoooorrrrdddd----ggggaaaammmmeeee ppppllllaaaayyyyiiiinnnngggg!!!!

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6Words!WordsHear them! Say them!Think them! Play them!Whisper them! Exclaim them!Conceal them! Proclaim them!WordsMurmur them, mumble them, Burble them, jumble them Sing them and shout themJust daydream about themWordsTaste them, smell themScribble them, spell themSavor and relish themAdorn them, embellish themAdapt them, invent them,Change what is meant by themWordsAct them, mime themRhythm and rhyme themPrint them, type themHoller and hype themMatch and marry themCash and carry themWordsTheyre treasure-trove and plunderfulTheyre hip hooray and fun-for-allTheyre rag-bag and blunderfulTheyre mind blown-asunder-fulTheyre lightning and thunderful!YesI guessWords are just wonderful!

Alan Trussell-Cullen

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7NNNNaaaammmmeeee CCCChhhhaaaannnnttttssssAbout the GameTThhiiss aaccttiivviittyy mmaakkeess iitt eeaassyy ffoorr cchhiillddrreenn ttoo ggeett ttookknnooww oonnee aannootthheerrss nnaammeess aanndd ffeeeell ccoommffoorrttaabblleeaass aa ggrroouupp..

How-TosEveryone sits facing inward in a circle. Its a goodidea for you to take part in order to model theactions.

Explain that all of you are going to introduceyourselves by name. (Children can use firstnames. You may do the same or use Ms./Mr. andyour last name.)

Begin by setting up this pattern of activity: Slowly,clap your hands twice, pat your knees twice, and then extend your handstwice in a giving gesture (palms up), at the same time chanting your name (forexample, Jennifer! Jennifer! or Ms. Adams! Ms. Adams!).

The class now repeats the whole pattern with you, including the chant of yourname.

The next child in the circle now goes through the pattern, chanting his or hername (Clap! Clap! Knees! Knees! Hands/Name! Hands/Name!), and then every-one repeats it. And so it continues around the circle.

When the name-chanting has gone full circle, you start again. This time, how-ever, you only do the two claps and two knee-taps to establish the rhythm.Everyone else follows, chanting each persons name in turn: Clap! Clap! Knees!Knees! Jennifer! Jennifer! David! David! William! William! Josh! Josh! Linda!Linda!, etc.

Skills: Develops

self-confidence,

social skills, and class

rapport.

Players: Large

group or whole class.

Materials: None.

Have your children check out the library or media center to find poemsabout words. Make your own class collection called Poems About Words.What about writing some class poems about word play, word fun, wordgames, and any other kind of wacky wordery? (The poem on page 6 canget you started!)

TTTTRRRRYYYYTTTTHHHHIIIISSSS!!!!

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

What Do Poets Have to Say About Words?

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About the GameTThhiiss iiss aa wwoorrdd ggaammee tthhaatt iiss ppllaayyeedd wwiitthhoouuttwwoorrddss!! TThhee mmaaiinn vvaalluuee ooff tthhee ggaammeeaappaarrttffrroomm tthhee ffuunn ooff ppllaayyiinngg iittiiss tthhaatt iitt eennccoouurraaggeesscchhiillddrreenn ttoo aapppprreecciiaattee wwhhyy wwee hhaavvee wwoorrddssaanndd hhooww wwee uussee tthheemm..

How-TosBegin by explaining that the children aregoing to form a special kind of birthday circle.Children arrange themselves in a circle inwhich everyone in front of them will have abirthday that comes earlier in the year thantheirs and everyone behind them will have abirthday that comes later in the year. Forexample, a child with a birthday of June 2 might have someone with a birth-day of May 28 in front of him and someone with a birthday of June 15 behindhim.

Of course, because this is a circle, it wont have a start or a finish. A child whohas a birthday in December (or the end of the year) will come before a childwho has a birthday in January (or the start of the year).

To form the circle, children have to find out everyone elses birthday.Howeverand this is the important rulethey must do it without speaking.They can use sign language, frame letters and numbers with their hands, oreven use their fingers to write a month or number on the back of someoneelses hand. Its up to the children to decide the best strategy.

You may find it a good idea to join in the game. You can model some of thestrategies if children seem to be stuck. (In that case, of course, you arentallowed to speak, either!)

After all the children have found their places in the circle, a good way to com-plete the game is for the children to all sit down at the same time. The childwith the first birthday in the year can give some kind of signal.

VariationsInstead of birthdays, try forming circles based on some other form of personaldata, such as alphabetical order of first names. Any other ideas?

SSSSiiiilllleeeennnntttt CCCCiiiirrrrcccclllleeeessss

8

Skills: Develops

language apprecia-

tion and awareness,

self-confidence, and

social skills.

Players: Large

groups or whole class.

Materials: None.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

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9Start a collection called Greetings from Around the World.

Have children write the greetings in speech bubbles and pin them on theappropriate country (or countries) on a map of the world.

In addition to formal greetings (Good morning, Bonjour), include someinformal ones, too (HiUSA; Hows it going, Mate?Australia; Top of themorning to youIreland).

Encourage children to use the greetings with one another.

Model them yourselfwhen taking attendance, for example.

Help children find out more about the country in which the greetings are usedand the people who use them.


Friendly Greetings from Around the World

SSoommee GGrreeeettiinnggss ttoo SSttaarrtt YYoouurr CCoolllleeccttiioonn

Hello USA, UK, Canada,

Australia, New Zealand

Apa kabar [AH-pah KAH-bar] Indonesia

Ciao [chow] Italy

Salut [sah-LEW] France

Bonjour [bone-JOOR]Tag, wie gehts? [TAHG, vee-GETS] Germany

Hola [OH-lah] Spain, Mexico

Kia ora [KEE-ah OH-rah] Maori, New Zealand

Chao [chow] Vietnam

Goede dag [GOO-tuh DAHG] Netherlands

Goddag [god-DAH] Denmark

Szervusz [SAIR-voos] Hungary50 W

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About the GameTThhiiss ggaammee iiss aann oolldd ffaavvoorriittee.. PPllaayyeerrss hhaavvee ttoolliisstteenn ccaarreeffuullllyy aanndd bbee tthhoouugghhttffuull aabboouutt wwhhaatttthheeyy ssaayy.. IIttss aallssoo aa ggoooodd ggeettttiinngg--ttoo--kknnooww--yyoouuggaammee..

How-TosEither divide the class into pairs or have pairsplay in turn in front of the class.

Player One asks Player Two ten questionsabout anything at allthe weather, PlayerTwos hobbies or favorite foods, etc.

Player Two must answer all the questions with-out saying yes or no and without hesitating.

If Player Two answers all the questions according to the rules, he or she winsthe round. If not, Player One wins.

NNNNoooo,,,, YYYYeeeessss!!!! NNNNoooo,,,, NNNNoooo!!!!

10

Skills: Develops

concentration, self-

confidence, social

skills, and listening skills.

Players: Pairs

(though it is a fun

spectator game for

the rest of the class).

Materials: None.

1.

2.

3.

4.

In games where players have to do something without hesitating, settlearguments about timing by using the five-second body-clock as follows:

Touch your left elbow with your right hand.Touch your right elbow with your left hand.Touch your hands behind your back.Touch your hands in front.Times up!

Try inventing your own body time-clock actionsfor example, cross arms,touch ears, tap knees, etc. Have fun!

Body Time-Clocks


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About the GameAA ggrreeaatt ggaammee ffoorr eennccoouurraaggiinngg cchhiillddrreenn ttooppllaayy wwiitthh llaanngguuaaggeettoo ttrryy oouutt nneeww vvooccaabbuu--llaarryy,, eemmbbeelllliisshh ddeessccrriippttiioonnss,, pprraaccttiiccee wwrriittiinnggddeeffiinniittiioonnss,, aanndd aabboovvee aallll eennjjooyy tthhee ppoowweerrwwoorrddss hhaavvee oovveerr tthhee wwoorrlldd aarroouunndd uuss..

How-TosOne child thinks of a noun (it could be a partof the body, like a finger; an object, like ashoe; or an animal, like a cat or pig) and anadjective that rhymes with it. For example, ahink pink, a blue shoe, a fat cat, a bigpig, or a wary canary.

The child then makes up an elaborate definition of the rhyming object. Hereare a few examples to share with your class: an ink-stained little finger for aninky pinky; a sky-colored object you keep your feet in for a blue shoe; anoverfed feline for a fat cat; an enormous lump of living ham for a big pig; acautious caged bird of yellow hue for a wary canary.

The other players now have to guess what the object is.

VariationEncourage children to write their Hink Pinks definitions on a class Hink PinksDisplay Board. Other children can write their answers on a piece of paper andpin them up alongside the definitions. Later on, the inventor can check themout and announce the real answer. You might encourage children to publishtheir own books of Hink Pinks (with the answers on the back page).

HHHHiiiinnnnkkkk PPPPiiiinnnnkkkkssss

11

Skills: Develops

vocabulary, use of gram-

mar terms like noun and

adjective, and publishing

skills.

Players: Pairs, groups,

or whole class.

Materials: None.


Discuss with your children the great number of English words that have been borrowed fromother languages, and then send them on a Word-Detective Hunt! They might like to start withthese words and see if they can find out which language (and what part of the world) theycame from.

pajama taboo ballet muesli balcony schooner yacht

Get children to help you find more words borrowed from other languages, and add themto the list. Put up a map of the world, and see if children can find enough borrowedwords in the English language to take them around the world.

Words Travel !

1.

2.

3.

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About the GameWWhheerreess tthhee RRuuttaabbaaggaa?? iiss aa ttaannttaalliizziinnggmmeemmoorryy ggaammee,, bbuutt aabboovvee aallll iittss aa ggrreeaattooppppoorrttuunniittyy ttoo rroommpp wwiitthh wwoorrddss aanndd iiddeeaass..

How-TosIn this game, a player is asked a lot ofsimple questionsbut has to rememberall of his or her answers!

One player is chosen for questioning.The other players put their heads to-gether to come up with a suitable open-ing question such as Wheres therutabaga?

They now chant the question at the player, who can make up any plausibleanswer. Then, the questioners turn thereply into another question, and so itgoes on, as in the following exchange:

QQuueessttiioonneerrss:: Wheres the rutabaga?PPllaayyeerr:: In the fridge.QQuueessttiioonneerrss:: But wheres the fridge?PPllaayyeerr:: In the kitchen.QQuueessttiioonneerrss:: But wheres the kitchen?PPllaayyeerr:: In the house.

This continues until the questioners decide its time to test the players memo-ry. They then spring the original question on the playerin this case, Wheresthe rutabaga? Now the player has to be able to run back through all theresponses given so far, in reverse order:

QQuueessttiioonneerrss:: Wheres the rutabaga?PPllaayyeerr:: In the house, in the kitchen, in the fridge.

After children have played the game a few times, the excitement mounts asthey wait for the memory test!

Of course, the game would become very predictable if it always started withthe question, Wheres the rutabaga? So the questioners need to dream upsomething different each time. This can be a lot of fun, too.

WWWWhhhheeeerrrreeeessss tttthhhheeee RRRRuuuuttttaaaabbbbaaaaggggaaaa????

12

Skills: Develops memori-

zation skills, ability to concen-

trate and generate ideas in

logical sequence, familiarity

with sets and subsets in math-

ematics, social skills, and

class rapport.

Players: Pairs, or, better,

large groups of up to 12.

Materials: None.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

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About the GameTThhiiss iiss aa ssiimmppllee ppuunn--ffuunn ggaammee tthhaatt mmoosstt ppeeoopplleehhaavvee ppllaayyeedd aatt ssoommee ttiimmee.. BBeessiiddeess tthhee llaauugghhtteerr iittccaann ccrreeaattee,, iitt hhaass tthhee eedduuccaattiioonnaall mmeerriitt ooffeennccoouurraaggiinngg cchhiillddrreenn ttoo ppllaayy wwiitthh wwoorrddss.. IItt ccaannbbee aann iinntteerreessttiinngg ccllaassss ppuubblliisshhiinngg pprroojjeecctt,, ttoooo..CChhiillddrreenn ccaann ccoolllleecctt aallll tthhee kknnoocckk--kknnoocckk jjookkeesstthheeyy ccaann mmuusstteerr aanndd ccoommppiillee aa ccllaassss bbooookk..

How-TosIn advance have children collect (and write down)examples of knock-knock jokes. Encourage themto check out the library and ask friends and rela-tives. Better still, suggest that they make upjokes of their own.

When they have a good store of jokes, the game can begin!One player starts by declaring Knock! Knock! . . .

Another player answers Whos there?

Player One may now come up with something likeDon Giovanni!

Player Two has to say Don Giovanniwho?

Player One now says, Don Giovanniice cream today? (Dont you have anyice cream today?)

At this point, everyone groans and someone else starts up with Knock! Knock!. . .Here are some more examples to start the ball rolling:

KKKKnnnnoooocccckkkk!!!! KKKKnnnnoooocccckkkk!!!!

13

Skills: Listening

skills, word study, and

publishing skills.

Players: Pairs, but it

works best when

there is an audience

to enjoy the puns.

Materials: None.1.

2.

3.4.

5.

6.

SSoommee KKnnoocckk--KKnnoocckkss ttoo SSttaarrtt YYoouurr CCllaassss CCoolllleeccttiioonn

Isabel.Isabel who? Isabel necessary on a bike?

Orange.Orange who?Orange you glad you asked?

Abigail.Abigail who?Abigail blew my house over!

Major.Major who?Major answer the door, didnt I?

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About the GameTThhiiss ggaammee iiss cceerrttaaiinnllyy aann oolldd ffaavvoorriittee.. IIttss bbeeeennaammuussiinngg aanndd eenntteerrttaaiinniinngg ppeeooppllee ffoorr hhuunnddrreeddss ooffyyeeaarrss.. IInn ffaacctt,, iinn 11666600 SSaammuueell PPeeppyyss wwrroottee iinn hhiissddiiaarryy aabboouutt ppllaayyiinngg CCrraammbboo oonn aa hhoorrssee--ddrraawwnnccooaacchh rriiddee..

How-TosOne player thinks of a secret word (lets sayit is hand) and writes it down on a piece ofpaper.

The player then thinks of a wordthat rhymes with the secret word(for example, band) andannounces to the group, Ihear, with my Crambo ear,something that rhymes with. . .band!

The player now asks the otherchildren in the group what theythink the Crambo word is.

The child who guesses correctlygets to think of the next Cramboword.

14


Put up a poster on the classroom wall with a heading like the titleof this box. Better still, make up your own. When a child uses orcomes across an interesting or unusual word, make a fuss aboutitand then write it on the poster. Better still, use the word andmake a stupendous fuss when one of your children uses it!

Cool Words in Our Classroom

1.

2.

3.

4.

CCCCrrrraaaammmmbbbboooo

Skills: Listening

skills and phonic

awareness.

Players: Groups

of four to eight.

Materials: Writing

materials.

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About the GameNNootthhiinngg ccoouulldd bbee ssiimmpplleerr tthhaann tthhiissggaammee.. YYeett wwhheenn cchhiillddrreenn bbeeccoommeeaaccqquuaaiinntteedd wwiitthh iitt,, tthheeyy ggoo bbaacckk ttoo iittaaggaaiinn aanndd aaggaaiinn..

How-TosAppoint one child Timekeeper andanother as the first player.

The group decides on a tongue twister,and, then the player is allowed to say itslowly twicejust to get his or hertongue into training.

Then the Timekeeper calls Go! andthe player has to say the tongue twisteras many times as possible in oneminute. The rest of the group counts how many times the awkward utteranceis completed correctly.

After one minute, the Timekeeper calls out Stop! and the listeners declare thescorethe number of times the player said the complete tongue twister correctly.

A new challenger for the tongue-gymnastics title steps forward, and so thegame goes on. (It sounds like a contest, but the real fun is in listening to whatpeople say when their tongue refuses to wrap itself around the right words!)

TTTToooonnnngggguuuueeee TTTTwwwwiiiisssstttteeeerrrrssss

15

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Skills: Oral language skills,

especially enunciation and lis-

tening skills (carefull listening to

pick up the telltale slips of the

tongue!).

Players: Any number from

two to the whole classa

good audience game.

Materials: None.

SSoommee TToonngguuee TTwwiisstteerrss ttoo SSttaarrtt YYoouurr CCllaassss CCoolllleeccttiioonn

The sixth sheiks sixth sheeps sick.

Such pranks Franks prawns play in the tank.

Some shun sunshine.

What noise annoys a noisy oyster? A noisy noise annoys a noisy oyster.

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MMoorree TToonngguuee TTwwiisstteerrss ffoorr YYoouurr CCllaassss CCoolllleeccttiioonn

How much wood would a wood chuck chuck

if a wood chuck could chuck wood?

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers;

A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked;

If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,

How many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?

Lemon liniment.

A tutor who tooted the flute

Tried to tutor two tooters to toot.

Said the two to the tutor:

Is it harder to toot or

To tutor two tooters to toot?

She sells seashells by the seashore,

The shells she sells are seashells, Im sure,

For if she sells seashells by the seashore,

Then Im sure she sells seashore shells.

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About the GameTThhiiss iiss aannootthheerr ggoooodd ggaammee ffoorr eennccoouurraaggiinnggcchhiillddrreenn ttoo lliisstteenn ttoo lleetttteerr ssoouunnddss aanndd lleeaarrnntthheeiirr aallpphhaabbeett,, wwhhiillee aatt tthhee ssaammee ttiimmee iimmpprroovv--iinngg tthheeiirr sskkiillllss wwiitthh rreeffeerreennccee ttoooollss ssuucchh aass ddiicc--ttiioonnaarriieess aanndd aattllaasseess.. TThheeyy mmaayy aallssoo ppiicckk uuppssoommee ggeeooggrraapphhyy aalloonngg tthhee wwaayy..

How-TosWrite on the chalkboard or on large cards thefollowing questions and a model answer:

((EExxaammppllee:: LLeetttteerr CC ))

Where are you going?Im going to Chicago.

(proper noun)

What will you do there?Catch some crazy cats.(verb) (adjective) (noun)

Use the following method to give everyone in the group aletter of the alphabet. Choose one childlets say hisname is Miguel. Let him keep the letter m, and then goaround the rest of the class assigning each child a letter ofthe alphabet starting from n. (You may wish to omit such let-ters as q, x, and z.) When you reach the end of the alpha-bet, start over with a until everyone has a letter.

Children have to come up with answers that use theirassigned letter. They can consult the atlas (or worldmap) and dictionary to help them.

When everyone has finished, the whole groupasks each child in turn (in this case, startingwith Miguel), Where are you going? Miguel mayanswer, Mexico.

The group then asks, What will you do there?

Miguel: Munch lots of marvelous melons!

TTTTrrrraaaavvvveeeelllleeeerrrrssss TTTTaaaalllleeeessss

17

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Skills: Alphabet, dic-

tionary, and atlas skills;

phonic awareness; and

grammar skills (revision of

nouns, proper nouns,

adjectives, and verbs).

Players: Large groups

or whole class.

Materials: Pencil,

paper, dictionary, and

atlas or world map.

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Some words are just plain delicious to say. Saying them is a tactile experience! Talkabout this with children. Share your own favorite words, and encourage them tostart a class list of Great Words to Say.

Here are a few of my favorites:

flimsy

quip (and just about every other word that starts with Q)

appendectomy

filch

spindle

fickle

freckle

sizzle

salami

spaghetti

18


Savoring Words

VariationHave children cut out their written responses and pin them onto the appropri-ate place on the world map for others to read. After children have played thegame two or three times, the world map becomes a center of great interest.

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About the GameYYoouu ccaann sseett uupp tthhiiss ggaammee qquuiicckkllyy aanndd kkeeeepp iittggooiinngg ffoorr aass lloonngg aa ttiimmee aass yyoouu wwiisshh..

How-TosPlayers sit in a circle facing inward. The player holding the ball begins by saying aone-syllable word, such as red.

The ball is then handed (not thrown!) to thenext player, who has to say a word thatrhymes with the first onefor example, bed.

The ball is passed to the next player foranother rhyme, and so on.

Only the first word needs to be a one-syllableword. After that, players can use as manysyllables as they likefor example, forehead,or interpreted!

Players have to come up with the rhyming word the moment the object ishanded to them. If a player cant think of one, or fails to say it at once, therest of the group looks at him or her and says (kindly) Oh! Ketchup!

The player is now allowed to start a new round. This time they might beginwith hot or fun or. . . .


RRRRhhhhyyyymmmmiiiinnnngggg KKKKeeeettttcccchhhhuuuupppp

19

Each day, choose one word that you want to give VIW (Very Important Word) status. It might be a word related to something the class is studying at the moment or to anexperience the children have had recently. Write it in big letters on the chalkboard,along with a definition, a sentence in which its used, and some clues as to how topronounce it.

Our Word of the Day: MotivateTo make someone very keen to do something.She likes watching runners on TV because it can motivate her to work even harder ather own training.

How to say it: MOH-ti-vate.

Word of the Day

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Skills: Listening skills,

concentration, social

skills, and rhyming skills.

Players: Any number

from four to the whole

class.

Materials: a Tennis

ball (or other object) to

pass around the group

and dictionary (to

check out any words

under dispute).

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About the GameTThhiiss iiss aa ggrreeaatt ggaammee tthhaatt hheellppss cchhiillddrreenn ffooccuussoonn lleetttteerr ssoouunnddss!!

How-TosOne player starts the game by choosing amystery letter.

That player then goes up to the other playersone at a time and asks a question thatrequires a one- or two-word answer, as in thefollowing example:

Player: Rachel, how old are you?Player: Ten.

If the answer contains the mystery letter, theplayer responds, Thats terrific! If it doesnt, theresponse is Thats terrible!

If the mystery letter is m, the game might go onlike this:

Player: Uma, do you live in the town or the country?

Uma: The country.

Player: Thats terrible! Ranjit, what time did youhave breakfast today?

Ranjit: Eight.

Player: Thats terrible! Anna, what is your favoritedrink?

Anna: Milk.

Player: Thats terrific! Whitney, what would you like toget for your birthday?

Whitney: A camcorder.

Player: Thats terrific!

The game continues until someone guesses the mystery letter.

MMMMyyyysssstttteeeerrrryyyy LLLLeeeetttttttteeeerrrrssss

20

Skills: Listening

skills, spelling skills, and

phonic awareness.

Players: Any num-

ber from two to the

whole class.

Materials: None.

1.

2.

3.

4.

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About the GameTThhiiss iiss aann eelliimmiinnaattiioonn ggaammee tthhaatt cchhiillddrreenn ccaannppllaayy aannyywwhheerreeaatt sscchhooooll,, oonn aa bbuuss,, aatt hhoommeewwiitthh tthhee ffaammiillyy,, eevveenn aatt ppaarrttiieess..

How-TosTogether, the class picks a small word that isused frequently in conversationsuch as the,and, that, or only. This is declared to be themum word, a word no one can speak.

One child is chosen to be the Mums the Wordtester. He or she goes around thegroup asking questions andtrying to trick the otherplayers into saying theforbidden word. Anyplayer who does say itdrops out. The gamecontinues until there isone winner left.

MMMMuuuummmmssss tttthhhheeee WWWWoooorrrrdddd

21

Skills: Listening skills,

and concentration.

Players: Any number

from three to the whole

class.

Materials: None.

1.

2.

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About the GameCChhiillddrreenn wwoorrkk ttooggeetthheerr ttoo kkeeeepp aa ssiinnggllee sseenntteenncceeggrroowwiinngg aanndd ggrroowwiinngg,, ssoo tthhiiss ggaammeess ggrreeaatt ffoorrffoosstteerriinngg ccoollllaabboorraattiivvee wwoorrkk sskkiillllss aanndd aattttiittuuddeess..IIttss aallssoo tthhee kkiinndd ooff ggaammee yyoouu ccaann ppllaayy aannyywwhheerree((oonn aa lloonngg bbuuss rriiddee)) oorr aannyyttiimmee ((wwhheenn tthhee ccllaassssffiinniisshheess aa ttaasskk eeaarrllyy aanndd tthheerree aarree aa ffeeww mmiinnuutteessttoo ssppaarree))..

How-TosOne child sets the game in motion by saying aword that could come at the start of a sentence.For example: Once

Player One now points to another player, whohas to say the next word in this group-generatedsentence: upon

Player Two points to someone else, who has to carry on from there: a

And so the game goes on until the current player thinks the sentence has goneon long enough or cant think of a way of continuing it. He or she thendeclares, And they all lived happily ever after!

Now another player is chosen to start a new sentence.

NNNNeeeevvvveeeerrrr----EEEEnnnnddddiiiinnnngggg SSSSeeeennnntttteeeennnncccceeeessss

22

Skills: Listening

skills, concentration,

sentence-building

skills, and social skills.

Players: Any

number from six to

the whole class.

Materials: None.1.

2.

3.4.

5.

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About the GameTThhiiss iiss aa lliivveellyy wwoorrdd--ppllaayy aanndd llaanngguuaaggee--ssttrreettcchhiinngg ggaammee.. IItt mmaayy ttuurrnn yyoouurr ccllaassss iinnttootthhee wwoorrllddss bbeesstt eexxaaggggeerraattoorrss!!

How-TosFirst, the group decides on a quality or anaction (see below for some suggestions). Letssay the group decides on the action snoresso loudly.

The first player, Patty, invents a fictitious relative or other character. Lets say she chooses an Aunty Flo: My Aunty Flosnores so loudly that pictures fall off the wall!

She now chooses Dave as the next player, and he has to try totop her story: My Uncle Don snores so loudly thathe keeps himself awake!

The next player says My Cousin Jim snores soloudly that the people next door put up theirstorm windows!

The players continue until someone gets stuckor everyone is laughing too much. Then thegroup chooses a new quality or action, and thegame goes on.

ss TTTTooooppppppppeeeerrrrssss

23

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.


snores so loudly is so generous runs so fasteats so slowly grows cabbages so big laughs so oddlyis so clumsy is so untidy is so noisyis so forgetful is so smart is so mean

Some Toppers to Get You Started

Skills: Brainstorming,

imaginative writing, and

creativity.


or the whole class.

Materials: None.

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About the GameLLeewwiiss CCaarrrroollll iiss ccrreeddiitteedd wwiitthh iinnvveennttiinngg tthhiissggaammee.. MMaayybbee tthhaattss wwhhyy iitt sseeeemmss ttoo ttaakkee yyoouuiinnttoo aann AAlliicceess WWoonnddeerrllaanndd wwhheerree ccaattss ccaannttuurrnn iinnttoo ddooggss,, wwoorrkk iinnttoo ppllaayy,, aanndd mmoorrnniinnggiinnttoo eevveenniinngg!!

How-TosIf playing on their own, children start withtwo words that have the same number of let-ters. (You may assign the words, or childrenmay choose their own.) One word is the topof the ladder, where they start, and the otheris the bottom of the ladder, where they hope to end up. How about cat and dog?

Children try to think of a word that differs by one letter from the top word. Ifpossible, the new letter should be in the bottom-rung word: for example, cot.(With some words, especially longer ones, this direct route may not be possi-ble. So its a good idea to use tested words.)

Children change one letter at a time. Each change must make a real word:

CAT COT COG DOG

Some other examples include turning a HAND into a FOOT:

HAND HIND FIND FOND FONT FOOT

You can also turn the MOON into a STAR:

MOON LOON LOOK BOOK BOOT BOAT

BOAR SOAR STAR

For the group version of Word Ladders, assign the same starting and finishingwords to all groups. Children in each group work together to see who can befirst to complete the word ladder.

Tip: Start with words of only three or four letters. You dont have to finishword ladder in one sitting. Set some word-ladder pairs as puzzles, and see ifthe children can solve them in their spare time. A challenging word laddermight take days to completeor prove impossible! You might have childrencontribute their word ladders to a class book. Also encourage them to play thisgame at home with their friends and families. Want some examples to startwith? Try turning flour into bread, or walker into runner, or cold into heat.

WWWWoooorrrrdddd LLLLaaaaddddddddeeeerrrrssss

24

Skills: Spelling skills,

and dictionary skills.

Players: Individuals,

pairs, or groups.

Materials: Writing

materials and dictio-

nary.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

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About the GameTThhiiss ssiimmppllee ggaammee mmaayy bbee ppllaayyeedd iinn aa ssppookkeenn oorriinn wwrriitttteenn ffoorrmm..

How-TosIn the spoken version, one player startsthe game by saying anywordfor example, cat.

The next player has tosay a word thatstarts with the lastletter of the previ-ous players word.With cat, the last letter is t, so the next playermight say table.

The next player does the same, this time looking fora word that starts with efor example, elephant.

The game continues like this. It can stop whenexhaustion sets in!

The written version is the same, except that the wordsare written on a sheet of paper that is passed from player toplayer.

Variation: Whole-Class Word ChainsEveryone in the class has a sheet of paper of the same size and writes a wordon it at the same time.

When everyone is ready, each child passes his or her paper to the closestchild. Each player writes a word starting with the last letter of the word on thesheet of paper he or she received. Then, when everyones ready, they pass thepapers on again.

This goes on until the players get their own sheet of paper back.

Tip: These word chains can make very interesting classroom displays.Perhaps your class can invent a word chain that will go around all four wallsof your classroom, or even right down the school corridor!

WWWWoooorrrrdddd CCCChhhhaaaaiiiinnnnssss

25


dictionary skills, and

phonic awareness.

Players: Pairs,

groups, or whole class.

Materials: a

Dictionary and writing

materials for the writ-

ten version.

1.

2.

3.

4.

1.

2.

3.

5.

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About the GameTThhiiss ggaammee iiss aass ssiimmppllee aass ccaann bbee,, yyeetteevveerryyoonnee lloovveess iitt.. MMaayybbee tthhaatt ssaayyss ssoommee--tthhiinngg aabboouutt ssiimmpplliicciittyy!!

How-TosChoose someone to be the Umpire, whichincludes being timekeeper.

After making sure everyone has a penciland paper, the Umpire chooses any letterfrom the alphabet except k, x, y, or z. Tomake a random choice, the Umpire couldopen a book with eyes closed, touch a fin-ger to the page, and pick the letter closestto the finger.

The Umpire announces the letter andstarts the timer. Everyone begins to writedown as many words as possible that startwith that letter.

If players are not sure about the spelling ofa word, they put a question mark after it.

When five minutes are up, the Umpiresays Stop! The players now have oneminute in which they can use their dictio-naries to checkand, if necessarycorrectthe spelling of any questioned words. Thefirst player to do this says Finished! TheUmpire declares Times up! and all theplayers have to stop.

The players now change papers with oneanother and use a dictionary to check thatthe words are spelled correctly. They writethe correct spelling beside any incorrectlyspelled words, then count up how manywords the player spelled correctly. Thetotal is that players score for the game,and the child with the highest score is thewinner of the round.

WWWWoooorrrrdddd PPPPiiiilllleeeessss

26

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.


dictionary skills, editing

skills, and phonic aware-

ness.


or whole class.

Materials: Writing

materials; dictionary;

and a timer, watch, or

clock with a second

hand.

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About the GameTThhiiss ggaammee iiss ssiimmiillaarr ttoo WWoorrdd PPiilleess bbuutt hhaass aa ffeewwssuubbttllee ddiiffffeerreenncceess.. TTrryy bbootthhtthheeyyrree ggrreeaattssppeelllliinngg ggaammeess aanndd ffuunn ttoo ppllaayy..

How-TosChoose an Umpire to be time manager anddispute settler.

The Umpire chooses a letterany letter at all.

Players now have five minutes to write down asmany words as possible that dont start withthe chosen letter but do include it somewhere.For example, if the chosen letter is g, playerscant use good or garden but can use hug orbig or refrigerator.

Players are allowed to use dictionaries tocheck their spelling as they go.

At the end of five minutes, players exchangepapers and check one anothers spelling.

They then count up how many times the cho-sen letter is used in the correctly spelledwords. If g is the letter, a word like biggerwould score two points, while digging would beworth three points and zigzagging four!

WWWWoooorrrrdddd SSSSttttaaaacccckkkkssss

27

1.

2.3.

4.

5.

6.




ness.


or whole class.

Materials: Writing

materials; one dictionary

per player; and a timer,

watch, or clock with a

second hand.

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About the GameTThhiiss ssiimmppllee ggaammee wwiillll sseenndd cchhiillddrreenn ssccuurrrryyiinnggttoo tthheeiirr ddiiccttiioonnaarriieess iinn sseeaarrcchh ooff wwoorrddss ttoo ccoomm--pplleettee tthheeiirr tteelleeggrraammss..

How-TosSelect a word to start the game. One way to dothis is to open a book or magazine, close youreyes, and place your finger on the page. If thenearest word to your finger has more than fourletters, use it. If it doesnt, choose again.

Another way is to choose a word that islinked to a topic you are studying or is insome other sense significant to the class.

If youre really stuck, you can always chooseone of the following all rounders.

GGoooodd TTeelleeggrraamm WWoorrddss

5 letters 6 letters 7 letters 7+ letters sport summer America mathematicsearth winter silence conservationhappy people daytime communicationpeace animal traffic automobilemusic school giraffe televisionwater friend stories swimming

The players have to use the letters from the word to make up a telegram.Their first word must start with the first letter, the second word with the sec-ond letter, and so on. Some examples follow:

ANIMAL: A New Invention Makes Alligators LovableWATER: Why All Tigers Enjoy RhubarbMUSIC: Maestros Uncle Still In Choir

Like ordinary telegrams, the language can be telescopedthat is, verbs andother words (as well as punctuation) can be left out as long as the meaning isclear. The telegram doesnt have to make too much sense because half the funin this game is getting the writer to explain what he or she actually meant!

When everyone is finished, or after an agreed time limit, the telegrams are readaloud and displayed for everyone else to read.

TTTTeeeelllleeeeggggrrrraaaammmmssss

28

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.




ness.


pairs, groups, or whole

class.

Materials: Writing

materials and a dictio-

nary per player.

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About the GameTThhiiss iiss aa ggrreeaatt ooppppoorrttuunniittyy ffoorr ssttuuddeennttss wwhhoohhaavvee ssoommee ddrraawwiinngg aabbiilliittyy ttoo sshhiinnee.. IItt wwiillllaallssoo ssppaarrkk eevveerryy cchhiillddss iinntteerreesstt iinn tthheewwoorrddss aanndd eexxpprreessssiioonnss tthheeyy uussee eevveerryyddaayy..

How-TosThis game can extend over several days,enabling children to take part wheneverthey have spare time. For example, youmight begin a game on Monday and checkanswers on Friday.

Before starting, explain that idioms arecolorful expressions we use every day,such as He ran off at the mouth andHer name rang a bell.

One player thinks of an idiom, like It wasraining cats and dogs. She or he thendraws a picture depicting this literally.

The player puts the picture on the displayboard. Underneath it, pin a large, sealedenvelope that you have cut a small slit in.(The slit should be long enough for asmall piece of paper to fit through.)

The other children now try to guess theidiom. Each writes his or her guess on aslip of paper and slips it into the envelope.(With the sealed envelope, no one knowswhat others have guessed until the gameconcludes.)

At the end of the week (or when youdecide to end the game), the envelope isopened and there is great amusement asthe answers are read aloud to the class.

IIIIlllllllluuuussssttttrrrraaaatttteeeedddd IIIIddddiiiioooommmmssss

29

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Skills: Idiom study,

vocabulary extension,

language appreciation,

and cartooning skills.

Players: Large groups

or whole class.

Materials: Drawing

materials, display space

or display board, and

sealable pre-slit

envelopes.

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Letter CollectionsLetters can be written in many different waysdifferent sizes, different fonts, differ-ent styles. Why not start a letter collection? Encourage children to scour newspa-pers, and magazines to see how many different versions of the same letter theycan find. Have them cut out their selections and mount them on a poster board.They might like to see how many styles they can produce with a computer, too.

Our Letter F Collection

SSoommee WWeeiirrdd aanndd WWaacckkyy IIddiioommss ttoo SSttaarrtt EEvveerryyoonnee TThhiinnkkiinngg

He bit off more than he could chew.

She completely lost her head.

She was over the moon.

He had a finger in several pies.

I have a bone to pick with you.

He thought he was the cats pajamas.

Keep this under your hat.

He thinks hes the big cheese around here.

The cat got her tongue.

Were up the creek without a paddle.

She was on cloud nine.

f Ff f

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About the GameTThhiiss iiss aa ssiimmppllee rraacciinngg ggaammee tthhaatt ddeelliivveerrss eexxcciitt--mmeenntt wwhhiillee hheellppiinngg ttoo eexxtteenndd wwoorrdd fflluueennccyy..

How-TosThis list-building game requires children tothink of words that have something in com-mon. For example, the list words might allhave double letters, have more than twovowels, or refer to something you find in ashopping mall.

Either you or the children decide on thecommon feature. You might have childrenwrite suggestions on pieces of paper and putthem into a container. Then have a childchoose one at random.

Set a time limitsay 10 minutesand allow children to write as fast as theycan.

When times up, the players all exchange lists to check that the words followthat rounds set rule and are spelled correctly. This is where the dictionariescome into play! If a word is spelled wrong, it doesnt count.

The winner is the player with the most words.

LLLLiiiisssstttt----OOOO----MMMMaaaannnniiiiaaaa

31

Skills: Vocabulary

extension and

spelling skills.

Players: Groups of

three to six.

Materials: Writing

materials and one

dictionary per child.

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3.

4.

5.

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About the GameSSqquuaasshheedd wwoorrddss aarree mmaaddee uupp ooff ppaarrttssffrroomm ttwwoo ootthheerr wwoorrddss,, ssuucchh aass bbrruunncchh((bbrreeaakkffaasstt aanndd lluunncchh)) oorr tthhee ccoommppuutteerrtteerrmm bbiittss ((bbiinnaarryy aanndd ddiiggiittss)).. LLeewwiiss CCaarrrroolllleennjjooyyeedd mmaakkiinngg uupp wwoorrddss ssuucchh aass sslliitthhyy((sslliimmyy aanndd lliitthhee)) aanndd mmiimmssyy ((mmiisseerraabblleeaanndd fflliimmssyy))..

How-TosFor the group version, divide the classinto two teams.

Each team dreams up as many squashedwords as they have members on theirteam.

Players can use the following categories tohelp them:

new creatures (animals of all kinds, monsters)new plants (flowers, fruits, vegetables, etc.)new gadgets (machines, vehicles, appliances, etc.)new recreations (sports, hobbies, pastimes)miscellaneous (anything combined with anything!)

Each team picks a category and draws up a list of things that belong to thecategory. Then they choose the most unlikely pairs and see if they can makeup an interesting new word by combining the first part of one word with thelast part of the other. A new creature, for example, might be a cross between adog and a centipedea dogipede or a centipog! A new plant might be a fruitcalled a cabapple (a cross between a cabbage and a pineapple). A new gadgetmight be a spork (a cross between a spoon and a fork).

When the teams have decided on their creations, they write the name on onesheet of paper and draw what they think it would look like on another.

When both teams have finished, they exchange their papers and have fun try-ing to match up the words and pictures.

SSSSqqqquuuuaaaasssshhhheeeedddd WWWWoooorrrrddddssss

32

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Skills: Word study,

vocabulary extension,

spelling skills, and social

skills.

Players: Pairs or groups.

Materials: Paper

(same-size sheets), pens

or pencils, and crayons or

felt pens.

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Make Your Own AcronymsSometimes we make words out of the first letters of a number of wordsfor exam-ple, Scuba (Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus). We also talk aboutUFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects), read in the newspaper about NATO (NorthAtlantic Treaty Organization), and take tests called SATs (Scholastic Aptitude Tests).Start your own class collection of acronyms. Then make a puzzle out of them, andsee if children can guess what the letters stand for.

Perhaps your class could have some fun making up their own acronyms. Forexample, instead of Working In Groups children might have WIGs. You might askchildren to put their work on the FAP (Finished Assignment Pile). Some of your chil-dren may not go home after school but attend an ASP (After-School Program).Any other ideas?

33


spoon + fork = spork

centipede + dog = centipog

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About the GameTThhiiss mmaayy ssoouunndd lliikkee mmaayyhheemm wwiitthh wwoorrddss,,aanndd iinn aa wwaayy iitt iiss.. HHoowweevveerr,, iitt aallssoo hheellppsscchhiillddrreenn tthhiinnkk iinntteennttllyy aabboouutt llaanngguuaaggee,,wwoorrdd bbyy wwoorrdd,, aanndd mmaayybbee tthhaatt iiss tthheebbeeggiinnnniinngg ooff rreeaall ppooeettrryy--mmaakkiinngg..

How-TosEach child takes one or more pages fromthe newspaper and magazine supply.

Children cut out individual words thatstrike their fancylittle words like to andof and in and big words like expeditiousand querulous and firefighter.

Each child puts the chosen words into hisor her paper bag.

When everyone has a reasonable number,they shake up the words to mix them up. Then they pull out words one at atime.

When children think they have enough words for a poem, they try organizingthem into whatever poetic shape seems suitable.

When a child is happy with the result, he or she glues them in place ontopaper or posterboard. Voil! Theres a Cut-Up Poem!

Children can read their Cut-Up Poems to one another. The results can be veryfunny, or they may have a haunting mood or meaning.

Encourage children to talk about how these random collections of words affectthem. How do the poems make them feel? What kind of thoughts do theyinspire?

CCCCuuuutttt----UUUUpppp PPPPooooeeeettttrrrryyyy

34

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Skills: Language

appreciation, word study,

writing skills, and creativity.


pairs, or groups.

Materials: News-

papers or magazines,

scissors, paper bags,

glue, and posterboard

or paper.

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Computer Art

One of the fun things you can do with a computer is to make interesting word patterns. For example, you can take a word like game and write it large:

GAMEor stack the letters:

GAME

or make a pattern by stacking:

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEME

or make a word-square pattern:

g a m ea m e gm e g ae g a m

or change the size of some of the letters:

game gAmE Gameor make a pattern by repeating it time after time after time:

GAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAMEGAME

35


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About the GamePPooeettss oofftteenn ppllaayy wwiitthh tthhee llooookk ooff wwoorrddss oonntthhee ppaaggee,, aanndd ssoommeettiimmeess tthhaatt sshhaappee ccoonn--ttrriibbuutteess ttoo tthhee mmeeaanniinngg.. AAccrroossttiicc ppooeettrryy iissoonnee kkiinndd ooff vviissuuaall wwoorrdd ppllaayy..

IInn aaddddiittiioonn ttoo aaccrroossttiicc ppooeemmss aanndd cciinnqquuaaiinnss((sseeee ppaaggee 3377)),, tthheerree aarree ootthheerr wwaayyss ttoo sshhaappeeaa ppooeemm.. YYoouurr ccllaassss mmiigghhtt lliikkee ttoo ssttaarrtt aa ccooll--lleeccttiioonn ooff sshhaappeedd ppooeemmssbbootthh tthheeiirr oowwnnaanndd tthhoossee ooff ootthheerr ppeeooppllee.. FFoorr ssttaarrtteerrss,, LLeewwiissCCaarrrroollll aanndd ee.. ee.. ccuummmmiinnggss aarree ttwwoo ggooooddssoouurrcceess..

How-TosExplain that poets often use visual shapesor visual tricks to help organize theirpoems. Acrostic poetry is one kind of trick-ery anyone can try.

Have children choose a topic and a key word that sums up that topic. You maywish to help with suggestions.

Children vertically write the key word down the page. Then for each letter theythink of a word starting with that letter that has some connection with thesubject, as in this example:

GGhoulishHHauntingOOddSSinisterTTerrifyingSScream!

Children might also try to do the same with whole lines instead of singlewords:

. AAfter everyone has goneLLying here on my bedOOnly sound I hear is my own breathingNNot a soul in the whole houseEExcept me.

Start a class collection of acrostic poems.

AAAAccccrrrroooossssttttiiiicccc PPPPooooeeeettttrrrryyyy

36

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Skills: Word study,

language appreciation,

poetry writing, and

spelling skills.


pairs, or groups.

Materials: Examples

of shaped poems (pub-

lished and perhaps your

own).

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About the GameThe cinquain is a kind of poets word gamethat has been around for a long time. Peoplein medieval times liked to cinquainize, andthe cinquain is probably even older than that!

How-tosA cinquain is a shape poem with five lines.Children make up short blank verse poemsof five lines that follow certain rules.

Sometimes cinquain fanatics count the num-bers of syllables they use in each line (whichis good for encouraging syllabification skills).

The most common pattern is to have two syllables in the first line, four in the secondline, six in the third line, eight in the fourthline, and two in the last. So a child mightend up with something like this:

A cinquain writer might concentrate on words instead of syllables. An extra wordmight be added to each line, like this:

Other times, a cinquain writer may focus on letters. Children can easily graspadding an extra letter to each line like this:

When children have written cinquains to their hearts content, display their creations.

CCCCiiiinnnnqqqquuuuaaaaiiiinnnnssss

37

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Rain dropsdrip drop drip drop

drip drop drop drip drop dropdrop drop drop drop drip drip drip drip

rain stops

Thisis my

first try atwriting cinquains and I

think I have now finished

Igoforthis

verse

Skills: Poetry writing,

syllabification, and lan-

guage appreciation.

Players: Any number

from one to the whole

class.

Materials: Writing

materials. (A dictionary

and thesaurus can be

helpful.)

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About the GameWord Puzzlers are intriguing brain tweakers thatinvolve both verbal and visual ideas.

How-TosChildren try to express an idea by the way theywrite the words. Then they challenge the otherplayers to crack the code and guess the hiddenword or phrase. Here are some examples:

Children collect and invent Word Puzzlers and display them on a Word PuzzlerDisplay Board.

Children try to guess what one anothers Word Puzzlers really say.

Extension IdeasStart a class collection of Word Puzzlers. You might even publish them in aWord Puzzler Book. (Have the answers in the back for those who get stuck!)

WWWWoooorrrrdddd PPPPuuuuzzzzzzzzlllleeeerrrrssss

38

Skills: Word study,

vocabulary develop-

ment, lateral-thinking

skills, and creativity.

Players:

Individuals, groups, or

whole class.

Materials: Writing

materials.MIND

MATTER

STAND?DO YOU

RO

ROADSDS

TOWN

CYCLECYCLE

INCOMPL

Answer: mind over matter

Answer: downtown Answer: crossroads

Answer: Do you understand?Answer: bicycle

Answer: incomplete

1.

2.

3.

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About the GameA rebus is a story told with pictorial cluesthough for this game, you may also want to usesome letters and numbers. Years ago, in manyparts of the world, the rebus was used as a formof written communication. Native Americans, forexample, told wonderful stories with rebuses.Even the letters of the alphabet began as pic-tures. The letter a, for example, began as a sim-plified drawing of the head of an ox. In fact,while youre playing Unravel a Rebus, you mightalso encourage your class to do some researchinto how the alphabet came about.

How-TosEach child thinks up a story or message using a mixture of pictures, letters,numbers, symbols, and word fragmentsand even (if necessary) whole words.

The completed rebus is written on chart paper.

Each child then exchanges his or her rebus with a partner and tries to workout what the message says.

After one or more rounds, you might feature their rebuses in a classroom dis-play or publish them in a Class Rebus Book.

UUUUnnnnrrrraaaavvvveeeellll aaaa RRRReeeebbbbuuuussss

39

Skills: Logical

and creative-thinking

skills, and decoding

skills.

Players: Pairs.

Materials: Writing

and drawing materi-

als, and paper.

1.

2.

3.

4.

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About the GameStory Builder is a card game that encourages chil-dren to be imaginative and experiment withideas. It also helps them to make connectionsbetween things that at first sight seem unrelated.Start by making a class set of Story Builder Cards.Encourage children to make their own packs sothey can also play at home with their friends andfamilies.

How-TosHave the class go on an image hunt with you.Get them to gather a stack of magazines, shop-ping catalogs, travel brochures, advertisementhandouts, anything that has small photos anddrawings of thingsfrom scarves and clocks to chairs and musical instru-ments, anything at all. The pictures just have to be small enough to fit ontoyour cards. Have children help you cut out the pictures and paste them on thecards. Aim for as much variety as possible. To make the cards more durable, itis a good idea to have them laminated.

If playing in groups, children sit around a table or in a circle on the floor. Oneplayer mixes up the cards and then deals five to each player. The players mustleave the cards face down and not look at them.

The player to the left of the dealer now turns over his or her first card. Letssay it is a picture of a washing machine. The player must begin a story thatincludes a reference to a washing machine. It doesnt have to be a seriousstory. In fact, it is a lot more fun if the story is rather silly! For example:

Cory: Once upon a time there was a girl called Little Red Washing Hood and she lived ina house with seven dwarfs who happened to play for the local college football teamand so every Saturday they would come home from the match with all their muddyfootball clothes and expect poor Little Red Washing Hood to wash themwhich shedidin the washing machine!

Now the next player turns over his or her top card. Lets say it shows a TV.

Marcie: Poor Little Red Washing Hood! She had to sit in front of the washing machinefor hours and hours waiting for the laundry to be washed. But what really upset herwas that she was missing her favorite TV program!

SSSSttttoooorrrryyyy BBBBuuuuiiiillllddddeeeerrrr

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1.

2.

3.

4.

Skills: Story-writ-

ing, thinking skills,

and creativity.

Players: Pairs or

groups up to eight.

Materials: Index

cards, magazines,

brochures, etc.

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After that, the next player, turns over his top card, which shows a picture of ateddy bear:

Zack: Which just happened to be a brand-new half-hour comedy called The TeddyBears Picnic!

The game continues until all the cards have been used. There is no scoring inthis gameeveryone wins by enjoying the creation of ideas.

Variation: Super Story BuilderThis is a written version. The cards are shuffled and five cards are dealt andplaced face up in the middle of the group.

Players all have writing materials and must make up their own story involvingall five objects.

When all have finished, players take turns reading their stories aloud.

41

5.

6.

1.

2.

3.

Collect Word TriviaWWhhyy nnoott ssttaarrtt aa ccllaassssrroooomm ccoolllleeccttiioonn ooff iinntteerreessttiinngg wwoorrdd ttrriivviiaa?? HHeerree aarreessoommee eexxaammppllee::

Collect words ending in o. There are lots of common short ones, such as to,go, do, no, boo, zoo, etc. Encourage children to find longer ones such astomato, potato, kangaroo, and cargo.

Words ending in u are more of a challenge. In time, children may come upwith caribou, beau, bureau, tutu, and a few more.

Or collect palindromeswords that are spelled the same backward andforwardsuch as toot, refer, Bob, Hannah, madam, and rotator.

Find palindrome phrases such as No lemons, no melon or Able was I ere Isaw Elba (perhaps uttered by Napoleon after being imprisoned on theisland of Elba.)

Or reversible word pairs like bad/dab, top/pot, ward/draw, flow/wolf, andeven repaid/diaper!

TTTTRRRRYYYYTTTTHHHHIIIISSSS!!!!50

Won

derfu

l Word

Gam

es

Alan

Trus

sell-C

ullen

, Sch

olasti

c Tea

ching

Reso

urces

About the GameThis game brings spelling and excite-ment together! Encourage children tomake their own packs of SpellingConcentration Cards so that they canalso play at home. If the cards dontmatch, its the next players turn.

How-TosSitting around a table, the playersshuffle the cards and place them facedown.

One player begins by choosing twocards and turning them over. The aimis to find two cards that have the samewords. When a pair is found, the play-er claims the pair and stacks them onthe table in front of him or her. Theplayer now has another turn, and con-tinues having turns until he or shefails to get a pair. When this happens,the unmatched cards are turned overagain and left in the sameplace. Meanwhile all playerswatch closely and try tomemorize where the wordsare.

The next player now has aturn. Perhaps the first cardis the mate of one turnedover before. If the playerremembers where it is, he orshe turns it over and claimsthe pair. And so the gamegoes on until all the pairs ofcards have been found.

The winner of the round isthe one with the most pairsof cards.

SSSSppppeeeelllllllliiiinnnngggg CCCCoooonnnncccceeeennnnttttrrrraaaattttiiiioooonnnn

42

1.

2.

3.

4.

Skills: Spelling skills and

social skills.

Players: Pairs or groups of

three or four.

Materials: About 40 file

or index cards. Choose

about 20 words that you

want your children to know

how to spell. (You can add

words as they become bet-

ter spellers.) Write each word

on a blank card. Then do it

again so you have two iden-

tical sets.

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About the GameThis is a very versatile game that can beadapted for a number of purposes.

How-TosClip a number of newspaper stories thatare appropriate for children. Enlargeeach on the photocopy machine, andreproduce a Treasure Tally chart along-side each copy (see the sample on page44). Beginners might look only for capitalletters and periods. More competentreaders and writers might also look forquestion marks and exclamation marks.Proficient language users might also lookfor commas, quotation marks, andany other punctuation.

Decide how much eachtreasure item is worth.For example, you mightvalue capital letters at$2 and periods at $5.Keep this informationsecret until later in thegame.

Set a time limit and instructchildren to go searching fortreasure. They skim overthe text looking for items ofpunctuation. Each time theyfind one, they draw a circlearound it and put a tallymark in the appropriate column onthe Treasure Tally (see page 44).

When time is up or when playershave finished checking the pas-sage (whichever comes first), theyadd up the number of treasureitems in each column.

TTTTrrrreeeeaaaassssuuuurrrreeee HHHHuuuunnnntttt

43

Skills: Familiarity with unctu-

ation; skim and speed reading.

The game can also develop

spelling skills and a facility with

prefixes and suffixes.


two to the whole class.

Materials: Newspapers,

writing materials, and paper.

1.

2.

3.

4.

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Now you announce how much the items are worth, and each playerworks out the total value of his or her tally sheet. The player with the mostvaluable treasure haul is the winner of the round.

VariationsUse the same game format for looking for prefixes or suffixes and spelling pat-terns such as final es, double letters, or ie (as in i before e, except after c).

44

Mount Everest is the highest

mountain in the world. At

29,028 feet (thats more than

5 miles high!), it has long been

the proving ground for the

worlds best climbers. Now

its a tourist attraction.

Everest has become quite

commercialized. Amateur

climbersready or not

want to be able to say that

they have scaled the worlds

l l l ll l l l l l l ll l l ll l l ll l

l l l ll l l l l l l ll l l ll l l

l l l l l l l ll

Treasure TallyCapitalLetters

QuestionMarks

Periods ExclamationMarks

Capital Letters = $ 2 eachPeriods = $ 5 eachExclamation Marks = $ 10 eachQuestion Marks = $ 20 each

TOTAL VALUE = $ ? ? ? ? ?

Treasure Values

5.

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About the GameThis is another of my favorite games! It owessomething to the great musical humorist,Victor Borge, who did a wonderful sketch inwhich he read a passage of prose completewith audible punctuation. This game startsthere but adds actions, too. It can be a greatentertainment, but it also surreptitiouslyteaches punctuation and sentence construc-tion. I had a class perform this game at aschool concert for parents, who also joined inby performing the actions and sound effects.The result was a cacophonous and hilariousperformance!

How-TosThe purpose of this game is to turn a storysprinted punctuation marks into both soundsand actions. You can start with the story on the next page. Later, however,children might like to write their own noisy punctuation stories once theyvegotten the hang of the game.

Spend some time discussing the differentpunctuation marks, and decide on a soundeffect for each. Children might like to whistlea scale for a comma, put a finger into theirmouth and make a plop sound for a period,and clap their hands for a question mark.

Having decided on the sound for each punc-tuation mark, devise a suitable action to gowith it. For a comma, for example, childrenmight like to give a deep bow. For capital letters, they mightlike to throw both arms into the air. A vigorous pirouettemight serve to indicate an exclamation mark! Experimentand see what you can all agree onand can all perform suc-cessfully without injuring yourselves!

Now comes the performance. Someone is chosen to read and con-duct this oratorio. You might place the text on an overhead projectorso everyone can read it. The conductor then points to where he or she is read-ing, and the rest of the class performs the punctuation on cue.

NNNNooooiiiissssyyyy PPPPuuuunnnnccccttttuuuuaaaattttiiiioooonnnn

45

1.

2.

3.

4.

Skills: Punctuation,

reading skills, and lan-

guage appreciation.

Players: Whole class.

Materials: Short prose

piece (preferably fiction)

that is rich in punctuation

marks: periods, exclama-

tion marks, commas,

question marks, etc.

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THE GHOSTS NIGHT OFF!Gertrude the Ghost was extremely tired. She had been working nonstop night afternight after night.

Im so tired! she told her ghostly old friend, Ms. Terry Fire. Everyone else gets to workin the daytime, but we ghosts always have to work in the dark!

I know, said Ms. Terry Fire. And people get to wear wonderfuljewelry, like bracelets, necklaces, and strings of pearls. All weghosts ever get to wear are clanky old chains!

Clank! Clank! Clank! said Gertrude, as she rattled her chains.

And being able to walk through walls is no joke, said Ms. Terry Fire. I keep gettinglost! If Im not watching where Im going, I find Ive accidentally slipped into some-ones house or someones bedroom and I dont know where I am!

I know, said Gertrude. But the worst thing is, people are so rude to usghosts. You go up to them and you say, Boo! Of course, Boo is ghost languagefor Hello. But does anyone ever stop and say a friendly. Boo, back?

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Words for Sale! Discuss with children the way companies try to invent brand names that willstick in our minds and help sell products. Make a collection of brandnames. (Note their graphics, toohow they are written and what logos andartwork accompany them.) Your class could have fun making up its ownbrand names and logo designs.

What would your class call its own brand of jeans?

LEG-UPS PANT-ASTIC COOLSTERS

What would your class call its brand of sneakers?

ZEBRAS! DASHERS TOE-LIMOS


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About the GameThe beauty of this game is that childrenoften get so hooked on it that they notonly play it at school but in their sparetime with family and friends.

How tosTo make the Letter Race Cards, usesmall index cards. You will need about50 per pack.

On the cards write high-frequency orcommonly used wordsone word percard. Ideally, the words should all beabout the same length. Have childrenhelp you. Ask them to proof one anoth-ers cards to make sure there are no spelling mistakes.

Have extra blank cards on hand so that when you introduce new vocabularysay in science or social studiesyou can add those words to the class LetterRace Cards. (It doesnt matter how many cards you end up with.)

For playing, move to an open space or gymnasium. A Wizard (in charge ofspelling) is chosen. He or she shuffles the cards and gives one to each player.

The Wizard stands near one end of the space, facing the opposite way. Theothers form a semicircle behind him or her, about a dozen paces away, so thateach player is roughly the same distance from the Wizard. The Wizard nowcalls out a letter. The other players look at the word on their card. If it con-tains the letter, they take two steps forward (four steps if the letter occurstwice, six steps for threetimes, etc.).

When a player is closeenough, he or she tapsthe Wizard on theshoulder. This playernow become theWizard. The cards arecollected and shuffledand a new round begins.

LLLLeeeetttttttteeeerrrr RRRRaaaacccceeee

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1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Skills: Spelling.

Players: Large group or

whole class.

Materials: 50several hun-

dred index cards and writing

materials. (You will also need a

reasonably clear open space,

such as the school gym or a

portion of the playground.)

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About the GameThis is a great game for young writers topractice brainstorming and to start agood collection of ideas.

How-TosSet a time limit (say five minutes) andappoint a Timekeeper. The Timekeepershuffles the Brain Wave Topic Cards,places them face down, turns over thetop card, and reads it aloud.

The players immediately begin writing alist of words and phrases that havesome connection with the topic. Forexample, if the topic is water, playersmight list words such as boats, ocean,fish, blue, and rivers.

When time is up, players count up howmany entries (words or phrases) theywrote.

The player with the greatest number ofentries reads his or her list aloud.If there is a word or phrase that theother players dont think has any realconnection with the topic word, they can say Challenge! When challenged, theplayer has to explain convincingly (or at least imaginatively) how that word orphrase is connected with the topic.

If the other players are not convinced (or entertained), a vote is taken. If themajority of the players vote against the word, the players score is reduced by one.

If the player loses too many words, another player may end up with morewords. In that case, player number two begins to read out his or her words forthe group to check. The player with the most approved words or phrases is thewinner of the round and becomes the Timekeeper for the next round.

Topic Words to Get Your Classs Brain Waves Flowing:water math flight cats ocean school

aspiders holiday noise lunch dinner booksmovies sleep fire shopping rain tired

BBBBrrrraaaaiiiinnnn WWWWaaaavvvveeeessss

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1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Skills: Spelling and writing.

Players: Individuals or the

whole class.

Materials: Writing materi-

als and a set of Brain Wave

Topic Cards. You can make

these from index cards. On

each one write a different

topic (see sample list below).

You need about 40 to start

with, but you can keep

adding to them over time.

Besides general topics, you

might also like to use words

from topics the class has

studied.

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About the GameThis is a great game for developing interestin word study and facility with prefixes. Itsan exciting game, too, because the toss ofthe die can make for some surprising finalresults.

How-TosOne player is appointed Ringmaster for the first round. The Ringmaster tossesthe die three times in the round. The first throw determines the prefix for theround.

The second throw determines the numbers of words that the players (includingthe Ringmaster) must find. Each word must start with the given prefix.When a player has written the right number of words, he or she calls outReady. All the other players must immediately put down their pens and pencils.

The Ringmaster now tosses the die again. This time the number determineshow many points each correctly prefixed word is worth. Players work in pairsto check each others spelling and also to calculate their scores. For example,if the die shows a four, then every correct word would be worth four points. Aplayer with 6 words would have a score of 24.

The player with the highest score in that round becomes the Ringmaster forthe next round. Players accumulate scores from each round, and the winner isthe one with the highest total at the end of the game.

WWWWoooorrrrdddd SSSSttttaaaarrrrtttteeeerrrrssss

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1

pre

2

anti

3

non

4

de

5

con

6

im

1.

2.

3.

4.

Skills: Word study and

prefixes.


two to the whole class.

Materials: One die, a dic-

tionary, and a list of six prefix-

es (see sample below). Each

prefix is as

Documents

50 Wonderful Word Games