Activities

This is for those who love to play Taboo. This is modeled after the old game show from when I was a kid.

PreparationYou will need an OHP and transperencies to play this game. To prepare, create a list of categories for which you can come up with 5 examples. I have used words that start with W (window, wow, weird, Wyoming, witch), things you can't see (love, air, kindness, stupidity, friendship), things that you listen to (news reports, speech, whistle, teachers, parents). I like to have about 20 categories each time I play.

You can choose whatever you think will be most appopriate and useful for your students. To make things easier and reusable, I made a chart on my computer, grouping each category with its words. Then I printed out the groups on transperencies and cut them out. I didn't inclde the name of the category on the list, but you may want to. Sometimes it takes me a sec to remember what the category is. I don't think that having the name on the OHP will help or hinder students.

To Play

Set up the overhead. Place two chairs facing each other, with one facing the overhead and the other with its back to the overhead.

Divide your class into two teams. Two students from one team play at a time. One student (Student A) will be the guesser and the other (student B) the clue giver. Student B sits in the chair facing the OHP and student A sits with his/her back to the OHP. Give students 3 categories to choose from.

Put the category square onto the OHP. Once you remove your hand, give the team 1 minute to get as many out of the 5 words as possible. They can use any words they want, in the target language, as long as NO PART of the word to be guessed it used. Give one point for each word correctly guessed.

The team with the most points wins! Only the two team members sitting in the front of the room can speak. NOTE: The guesser often looks to the non-participating team members to see if they are mouthing the words. I try to sit the playing team members so that the guesser can't see them easily. When I see it happening, I don't give credit for the word.