BOARD GAMESAtiqahFarahSarah

Examples of board games

Scrabble

Taboo

Bananagrams

Scattergories

Scrabble

• In the game, students receive a selection of letters which they must use to make word in a crossword style grid.

• The teacher have the opportunity to introduce unusual vocabulary to the students.

• Straying slightly from the rules makes for a more enjoyable game for non-native speakers.

• Try allowing use of the dictionary at any point for any player and refrain from keeping score.

Taboo• In this game, players must get their team to guess a given

word, but each word comes with related vocabulary that cannot be used in the description.

• They key in this game is to think of another way to give the clues on the card.

• Players do this by using similar but not the same vocabulary. • You can modify this concept and have your students write

out clues for a given word, avoiding the vocabulary on the card.

• Limit the description to four or five words. • If the class can guess the word from the clues that are

provided, the writer scores a point.

Bananagrams• A relative newcomer on the game scene, Banagrams uses

letter tiles to create a grid of words, but in this game no structure is permanent.

• Players start with a set number of letters and use them to create their own word grid.

• When one player has used all of his letters, everyone must draw another tile and incorporate it into their own structures.

• Each person can rearrange his word grid as desired. • This game can be fast paced when higher-level students play,

but even with less advanced students it is a ready source for learning new vocabulary.

• In addition, it teaches students flexibility with words and spelling structures

Scattergories

• to practice using the vocabulary • In this game, students receive a list of ten categories. With

a roll of the 26-sided die, a letter is designated for the round.

• Players must then think of a word which begins with that designated letter to fit each of the categories.

• Answers may be something like the following: boy’s name/Tom, food/tomato, city/Toronto, game/tic-tac-toe.

• A timer is set, and when time is up the group reviews the items they listed. Any words that more than one player listed are eliminated. Each remaining word is worth one point.