This Generic Bingo Grid has space for 24 words or phrases. IT CAN BE USED IN ALMOST ANY CONTENT AREA: English, ELD, History, Math, and Science. You can use it best for content-area vocabulary.

Provide your students with 25-30 words or phrases written on the white board, on an overhead, or projected from your laptop. The more word choices your students have, the fewer their chances of getting a Bingo.

Each student writes down his or her choices of words/phrases that you have provided. Be sure to tell them that they must use PEN, AND they must write neatly and clearly. They must choose 24 words randomly as there is no specified order that the teacher will use to give clues.

The teacher starts giving clues (definitions, examples, or explanations) that relate to the words/phrases that the students copied down. You keep giving clues until a student shouts “BINGO!” at which time they must show you their Bingo sheet. You check their Bingo sheet against the list you have been keeping to see if they got the right words, then you highlight the line of words on their sheet, initial it, then give the winning student a prize (e.g., raffle ticket, extra credit points) or some other treat. The winning student sits back down and continues playing., along with everyone else

The teacher decides how many Bingos to accept, or it can be based on a specified length of time.

For English, the teacher can list figures of speech, elements of literature, or anything else students have been studying in English as the Bingo word/phrase choices.

Again, this is a very versatile activity, and can be used as a great tool for review. I often do this Bingo activity prior to an exam.

I’m sure you will find many uses for this Generic Bingo Grid. I’ve used it from 1st grade to 8th grade, with ELD students, Special Ed. students, gifted students, and everything in between. The level of rigor in this Bingo activity is based on the difficulty level of the words/phrases you are using.

Good luck!
Mrs. A. Pakradouni

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