This end-of-the-year (or whenever!) ELL lesson may seem basic, but then again, sometimes simplicity is just what we need. Students play a classroom version of the popular party game Scattergories, which is enjoyable in itself. But it turns out to be a wonderful and sneaky way to get students to practice listening and speaking, via irresistible arguments with the judge (teacher) to accept their own team’s answers and delegitimize their opponents’ answers.
Level: All levels
Time: 50 minutes
*PRE-CLASS
- Prepare a PPT with about 4-5 rounds, though 4 is almost always enough. Each round should have about 5 categories, and a pre-selected letter of the alphabet.
- I insert “Bonus” answers for each round, which I reveal after the students share all of their answers. If students have the same answer as my Bonus answer, they earn an extra point.
I. GAMEPLAY (50 minutes)
- Depending on class size, put students into teams of 3-4 and give each team a large whiteboard and markers to use as their answer board.
- Give students some theme (like colors, sports, days, whatever) to make a team name, which they should write at the top of their team’s board.
- Introduce the game and play.
- After each round, teams reveal and shout answers, category by category. The teacher awards points as s(he) sees fit.
- Just below is a video introduction of one game’s PPT. And here’s a link to download the PPT.
- Tally scores, according to the rules in the PPT. And just as with all games, give each team a chance to roll a giant foam die at the end of class to add to their score (or potentially explode if they roll a “1”).
- Of course, categories and letters can be adjusted to make an infinite number of different versions of the game, so modify at your will!
Busan Teacher 