A great way to involve the whole class in a vocabulary activity!

This game encourages kids to utilize context clues to determine the meaning of some pretty tough words. The game slides resemble the "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" with a sentence and then four answer choices. (See the preview.) The actual game consists of 37 sentences/choices and takes between 30 to 40 minutes to play in my 10th grade remedial reading class; stronger students would be able to play a little faster. A variety of context clues--contrasts, similiarities, and general context--are used to give students plenty of practice recognizing clues.

I've found the following procedures keep everyone involved:

1. Divide the class into two teams. Determine who goes first (flip a coin or some other fair method).
2. I read the first sentence and display the answer choices for the first student on the first team. The student makes a guess as to the correct answer.
3. Click on the presentation to advance the slide.
--If the student is correct, the team earns a point and the second student on his team gets a chance at the next word.
--If he was wrong, the other team gets a turn. (Return to step 2 above and read the sentence/show the choices for the second team.)
4. If the answer was correct, advance to the next slide, but do not read it aloud. Student #2 must decide on his own whether or not to attempt this word. Do not display the answer choices yet.
--If the student decides to go for it, I read the sentence, show the answer choices and let the student guess.
------If the guess is right, the team earns another point and play advances to the next student in line.
------If the guess is wrong, the team loses the point from the first student as well as their turn.
--If the student decides not to go for it, he can ask to bank the point(s) earned by his team on the previous words. Banking points keeps them safe.
5. The play then switches to the other team and they play until they either miss a question or decide to bank their points.
6. When play returns to the other team, the student who banked the points must take his turn. If a student had missed a question and lost the turn that way, the play returns to the next student in line.

Playing by these rules keeps everyone involved--they are each responsible for answering their own questions without help from teammates--but also builds camaderie and a team spirit. Some clues/words are easier than others, and that allows for a quick build-up of points and increased tension when a student has to decide whether to bank the points or go for it in hopes of increasing their lead.

Sometimes, if a student has missed the answer, I'll pause before clicking on the slide to review how the context clue worked to help students recognize the clues so they might do better next time. Some questions focus on word parts rather than entire words, providing another teachable moment in the game.

I've posted two versions of this game--each with 37 different words. Check back for more versions as the year progresses and I continue to make them up. I usually play a game like this or "Word Part Jeopardy" or "Word Part Football" (both available on Teachers Pay Teachers) every Friday. The kids love it and they're learning at the same time.

Keywords: vocabulary game, context clues