What's The Word? (1)



Skills Practised

Vocabulary recall and sentence construction.



About this game

In this game players take turns miming in order to elicit a word or verb phrase. Other players call out words or phrases until someone calls out the correct one. This player earns a point for his or her team and the chance to earn another point by correctly using the word or phrase in a sentence.


1. Print out a set of cards, either animals, jobs, or actions, or make a similar set yourself.
2. Draw a scoring table on the board, like this:
        Team A                Team B        

How it Works

1. After explaining the game and modelling the roles, divide the class into two teams and have each team choose a name. Then place the cards face down in a pile at the front of the classroom.

2. Ask for any member of the first team to come forward. This player then takes the top card and acts in such a way as to suggest (without speaking) whatever is written on the card.

3. If any member of either team thinks he or she knows what is written, they call it out. The first player to call it out correctly earns a point for his or her team. This player can then earn another point by correctly using the word or words in a sentence.

4. A player from the second team then comes forward and picks up the next card and mimes whatever is written on it, and so on. Play continues until all the cards have been used, with the team earning the most points winning.

- If no-one has guessed what is written on the card within a reasonable length of time, ask for the 'actor' to state it before continuing the game as usual.
- To play a shorter game, either set a time limit for the game as a whole or use just a few of the cards.

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