Activate Manual

permanent marker
can be used to write the words.
Some nouns can be represented through the use of small images or ob-
jects. A toy dog can represent the word 
dog
, for example. In the picture on 
the right, a toy hippo is used in the sentence, “The hippo talks to no fish.” 
“Wild Cards” are very important. Teachers may want to designate some particular small object as the 
“Wild Card,” such as a piece of clay, a coin, or a paper clip. 

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107
Activate: Games for Learning American English
HELP FROM STUDENTS
Teachers can easily expand the initial collection of bricks by enlisting the help of students. In a class of 
30 students, 10 groups could be formed with three students in each. Each group could make 50 bricks 
(100 words), for a total of an additional 500 bricks (1,000 words). 
Use the following instructions to involve students in the creation of 
Word Bricks
.
1. Divide the students into pairs or small groups.
2. Have each group create a list of 10 or more words that they would like to add to the collection. 
Tell students that these words should be useful to them, such as words that they are studying 
or that concern everyday events. If you use a textbook, have students scan the next chapter for 
key words.
3. Check each group’s list for accuracy of spelling and for duplication among the groups. Alterna-
tively, when students have completed their lists, you can have them alphabetize the list, and 
then write the words on the board in alphabeti-
cal order while groups cross out any words that 
are duplicates. (This can turn into a very compet-
itive game of finding words that are useful and 
unique.) 
4. You can also assign each group a set of func-
tion words to include with their new vocabulary 
words. (See examples on page 106.)
5. Hand out blank bricks and have students write 
their words (or a set of words from the board if 
you wrote the words there) neatly and carefully 
on them, and add them to the class collection of 
Word Bricks
.
BUILDING A COLLECTION 
A brick collection for a class is always changing. Some 
bricks are lost or become illegible. Most likely, though, 
the collection will keep growing. In addition to the 
bricks that the students contribute to the collection, 
the teacher can regularly add vocabulary. For example, 
when starting a new chapter in a textbook, the teach-
ers can add the key vocabulary to the collection of 
Word 
Bricks
. A useful idea is to keep an ongoing list of words 
to be added to the collection posted in the room. When 
new words pop up, these can be added to the list. Students can also be on the lookout for new words 
outside the classroom.

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