[ Say it with Numbers ] [ Writing Creative Texts ] [ Word Fields ] [ Vocabulary of a Text ] [ Picture Domino ] [ Word Bingo ] [ Call My Bluff ] [ Nobody is Perfect ] [ Lemon Curry ]

Say it with numbers

Years 7 - 13

Monolingual Dictionary

Work with partners or in groups

The aim of the exercise is to make the students closely exam the dictionary entries in a playful way.

Hand the students any text with 5 - 15 words left out. Instead of the words there is only the page number of the dictionary which has the ideal solution on it. The students are to pick the correct word from this page.

Note: This exercise can also be done with whole phrases, idioms or proverbs. Of course, it is up to the teacher, if he wants to offer the students additional prompts.

Writing creative texts

Grade 9 and older

Monolingual dictionary

Individuals or partners.

The target of this exercise is to make the students aware of how useful a dictionary can be when writing creative texts.

At first the students are given the topic. I have found that the students enjoy taking their own random pick from a number of paper slips with the topics written on, which the students can draw individually from an envelope. Apart from some serious topics I also add some nonsense topics such as ``Life inside a tennis ball'', ``Pokemon Husbandry'' etc. Now a page or two pages of the dictionary must be picked by way of random choice. I guess itīs easiest just to make a student stick his pen or ruler into the dictionary at a random point. All the entries on this page are allowed to be used in the text to be written. Each noun or adjective which is used in a meaningful way gets the student or the partners a point, each verb, adverb two points and each phrase or phrasal verb three points. A word can only be used once.

World Fields

Grades 8 - 12

Bilingual or monolingual dictionary

Work in groups

The aim of this exercise is to work out a list of words for a certain subject area.

The teacher prepares a list of words for a certain word field on a transparency which the students will not see at this point. The students will now work in groups and try to find as many words that belong to the word fiels as possible. After a set time (suggested time 15 to 20 minutes) the results are given to another group (checks and balances!) and compared with the teacherīs version which is now put on the overhead projector. Each hit gets the group one point for individual words, two points for phrasal verbs or phrases.
Once the student have got the hang of the exercise. The ``model word field'' can also be created by a student (group).

Betting on Definition Horses

Grades 8 to 12

Support: Monolingual dictionary

Group work

In order to prepare a text the students are given a list of definitions of the relevant vocabulary. What is new about this activity is that not all of the definitions are correct. Thes teacher should make sure that, however wrong the definitions may be, they should feel correct. Of course, this also works with a any list of definitions which is not text-related.

The students work in groups of three. Each group has a basic amount of 3000 pounds, part of which is placed on the individual definitions. I guess they call this a bet or wager. If a group considers a definition highly plausible, they will place a fairyl high amount on this definition. (Note that there is a maximum of 100 pounds), if they do not trust the definition, they wonīt place anything. In the first round the students are not allowed to use their dictionaries. Once the students have been given the correct solutions on a transparency, it is time for the goodies.

• If the students have placed any money on a correct definition, their amount doubles.
• If they have placed money on a definition which is incorrect, double the amount is taken away.
• No placement on an incorrect definition results in a loss of 100 pounds.

Now the students look up the definitions which they were not sure about or which they guessed wrongly.

Note: Depending on the group and their motivation the students can now make a list of their own definitions (15 correct ones, 5 wrong ones) to be used in another group.

Picture Domino

Grades 5 - 7

Introduction of or revision of vocabulary

Support: Bilingual dictionary

Group work

The class are divided into groups of three to four students. Each group receives a pack of picture cards (the pictures representing the vocabulary to be practiced). Some of the cards may just have a word on it (abstact nouns or verbs are sometimes hard to visualize).
The idea is to organize the pictures in a way that the last letter of one word (representing the picture) is identical with the first letter of the next term represented by the picture. (I know this IS difficult but imagine the hard time I had finding the words for this in English, which is not my native tongue)
How many picture do the groups lay out in a given time?
Which group has finished first?
Which group manages to put all their pictures into a perfect circle? (extra points)

Word Bingo

Grades 5 - 7

Support: Bilingual dictionary

Practicing paraphrases and definitions

Individual or group work

Students draw up a bingo card with 16 squares. They then pick out words from a limited number (say, a unit in a textbook) and write them into their bingo cards. They are then given 5 minutes to look up the definitions of their words. Make sure that each group has got different words on their cards.
The teacher now tells them the bingo rules and reads out his definitions or paraphrases making sure he remembers the word he was having in mind. Once the students recognize a word they cross the respective square on their bingo card off. The first group who shout BINGO (after getting a vertical or horizontal street an X or full house etc.) are the winner. (no surprise there!)

This game can be adjusted in a variety of ways. Try it and send me an e-mail

Call my bluff

Grades 9 - 12

Support: Monolingual dictionary

Aim: Fun :-) Try this one. It is a real goody!

Group work or work with the whole class

The students sit in a circle. One student opens up the dictionary at a random page, picks a "difficult" word and gives a short definition which may or may not be correct. He then closes the dictionary and passes it on to the student sitting to his right. This student now must decide, if he believes the definition is correct or not. If he thinks the definition is wrong, he must look it up. If the definition was correct he loses 1 point (out of a total of 3 - 5) otherwise he picks up a point and the student to his left loses a point and has another go. If he thinks it is correct, he just passes it on until there is one student who wants to "see". If a student has picked a word which everyone considers correct and which is actually correct, he loses a point when the dictionary comes back to him, otherwise he wins 2 points. Mind you, I am not entirely happy with the scoring system, but maybe you have got some better idea! Click here to send me a message.

Note: Some groups take some time to get the hang of this game. I have found that students find it easier to handle the game, if they are allowed a couple of minutes to browse in their dictionaries before the game starts. Some classes see the light, once they are given some correct and some wrong definitions.
Example:

• marsupial: animal with a pouch typical of the Australian continent (correct)
• marsupial: desert plant used by the Navajos to counteract nausea (well, well, well)

Instead of the abstract points the students can be given three bottle tops each. The students who has collected most tops after a given time is the winner (who would have thought that!)

Nobody is perfect

Credits: This activity has been submitted by Elke Laubheimer. Thanks heaps, Elle-key!

Students work in groups of three or four. They take it in turn to act as group leader, who will now look up a word in a monolingual dictionary which he believes is unknown to the rest of the group. He reads it out to the group and notes down the definition on a sheet of paper while the other students note down their own fictitious definitions. It is important that students cannot see each other's definitions. The sheets are now handed to the group leader who numbers the entries as he fancies. He should also study the entries very carefully so that he doesn't hesitate or make any mistakes when reading them out later.

The leader now presents the different definitions to the group. Each student now opts for the number of the definition he considers correct. When the students have been told the correct solution it is scoring time:

• one point for the correct solution
• if another student has opted for his/her definition he gets another two points

Group leaders cannot score any points.

The Nonsense Dictionary

Aim: Practicing definitions or paraphrases

Grades: 5 - 8

Students create a list of nonsense words for which they have to find real definitions in the fashion of their dictionary. The words can have various meanings, the verb forms should be mentioned, even phrases and idioms can be entered. Of course, this can be made into a competition, too, which I do not propose to go into now. The next step (which I have never dared to try out) would be to actually use these words in a meaningful context, a story or joke, for example, but, honestly, I think this would be carrying things too far.