Game of the Week: a spelling/vocab builder activity
We’re unfortunately not able to bring you a show this week but I did want to at least post a game of the week. This actually came out of a discussion as to what one could do with some scrabble tiles. You don’t need scrabble tiles. I use the simple alphabet cards I have for download at MES-English.com, but any alphabet cards will do.
Here’s a simple activity I thought up:
Place 6-8 letters out in the center of the group. The first person that can make a word out of the letters gets to keep the letters. Then just add more letters to the tiles in play.
– if the students can’t make a word then just add one letter at a time until they can.
The winner is the student with the most letters/points at the end of the game.
Variations on the points:
- you can offer bonus points for using the word in a sentence. I offer the points to any student, not just the student who made the word. That keeps everyone in the game.
- you can use the scrabble point system for letters and count points that way.
- to encourage longer words offer points based on a root system, but the math gets crazy. A 3 letter word is worth 2x2x2 points, a four letter word is worth 2x2x2x2, a six letter word is worth 2x2x2x2x2x2…. I think you get the point.
