Author: Adrian Tennant | Published on 1 October 2023
Read what a teacher says about this activity:
The letter game is fantastic for getting learners to think and to cooperate. I sometimes use it as an energiser when I notice my learners are losing focus or getting tired. I also use it to revise and recycle vocabulary at the start or end of a term.
Stage 1: Prepare
Write the following on the board:
Country
Colour
Object
Adjective
Or you can have different categories such as furniture, jobs, school subjects, food etc.
Stage 2: Introduce
Put learners in groups and say: 'I will give you a letter. In your team think of a word for each category that starts with this letter. You will have 2 minutes. At the end, tell me the words you have written. You get 1 point for each correct word which no other team has written. Ready?'
Stage 3: Play
Choose a letter and say: 'The letter is <___>, Go.' Make sure that no groups are cheating.
Stage 4: Check
Say: 'Stop'. Ask each team to read out their words or come to the board and write it up. You can check their pronunciation or spelling when doing this.
Award points for correct answers.
For each category, start with a different team.
Stage 5: Explain
Check if you think some learners won’t know the meaning of particular words.
When taking feedback, if a learner says a word which you think it would be useful for the others to know, ask them to explain the meaning. This is a good way to involve learners and make the class more learner-centred.