… vocabulary is the glue that holds stories, ideas, and content together…making comprehension accessible for children

INTERACTIVE ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHING VOCABULARY

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  Stop the bus
  

This is a great game to revise vocabulary and you can use it with any age group and any level by changing the category headings.
Author
Jo Budden
It really gets students focused and working on tasks as a team and can be a saviour to fill the last ten minutes of a class when you have run out of ideas!
Procedure

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  Put the students into teams of three or four.
  
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  Draw on the board a table like the ones below and get each team to copy it onto a piece of paper.
  
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  Students simply have to think of one item to go in each category beginning with the set letter. Give an example line of answers for the first time you play with a new group.
  
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  The first team to finish shouts 'Stop the bus!'
  
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  Check their answers and write them up on the board and if they are all OK, that team wins a point. If there are any mistakes in their words, let the game continue for another few minutes.
  
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  If it gets too difficult with certain letters (and you can't think of one for each category), reduce the amount of words they have to get. You can say 'OK, for this round you can stop the bus with four columns.'
  

Examples

	animals	colours	food	clothes	countries	sports
T	Tiger	turquoise	tuna	trousers	Tunisia	tennis

For higher levels change the category headings. 

• The revision box

This activity can be used for all levels in teaching English as a second language. I use it mainly for intermediate students and they find it interesting.

Author
Bravoh Linosi
Preparation
The teacher uses a vocabulary box. This box must mainly comprise of words on pieces of paper (either verbs, adjectives, adverbs etc.) all said by the learners themselves in previous lessons. Importantly a lot of words are required for this activity.
Procedure

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  The box with all the words is circulated around the class. Each learner is given a chance to pick a word from which he / she will have to construct a short and grammatical sentence.
  
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  Each sentence said is written on the board just as the speaker said it. After 12 to 20 sentences the sentences are analysed to see if they are grammatically correct with the emphasis placed mainly on the word from the vocabulary box.
  
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  Correction of the sentences can then be done and learners, again depending on time available, prompted to produce the correct sentences with the same word from the box.
  

It really gets learners talking while at the same time identifying their mistakes.

Word guessing games

The following games can be played throughout the school year but are also very useful as a round up at the end of term.

Author
Clare Lavery
First play with the whole class and then try in groups (good for mixed ability groups).
Guess the word

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  This game is good for more abstract words.
  
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  Choose five words relating to recent conversational themes.
  
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  Write sets of clues to help students guess the words.
  
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  Example clues (word = freedom):
  
  • 
    I am a noun but I am very important.
    
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    I begin with the letter 'f'.
    
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    People in prison have lost it and want it back.
    
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    People demand it when it is taken away by dictators.
    
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    It can be related to speech.
    

Coffee pot

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  This game is good for practising and reviewing action verbs and adverbs.
  
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  Ask one student to leave the room.
  
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  The rest of the class chooses a verb, e.g. type, ski, fly.
  
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  The student returns to the room and asks questions to guess the verb.
  
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  The missing verb can be substituted with 'coffee pot'.
  
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  Example questions:
  
  • 
    Why do you coffee pot?
    
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    Where do you coffee pot?
    
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    Do you coffee pot by yourself?
    
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    Do you need any special equipment for coffee potting?