Ten Good Games for Recycling Vocabulary

Mark Koprowski
markkoprowski [at] yahoo.com

Introduction
Learning is remembering. If we respect this axiom, the review and recycling of new language
items will be critical if they stand a chance of becoming readily accessible in long-term
memory. In fact, students do the majority of their forgetting shortly after the lesson and then
the rate of forgetting diminishes. To avoid this lexical vanishing act, one solution offered is to
follow the 'principle of expanding rehearsal'. This idea suggests that learners review new
words shortly after they are presented, and then at increasingly longer intervals. To stimulate
long-term memory then, ideally, words would be reviewed 5-10 minutes after class, 24 hours
later, one week later, one month later, and finally six months later. Teachers might even
consider doing a quick review of words and phrases which were introduced just a short while
ago in the lesson. But unless these new language items are noticed and understood on
multiple occasions, they will likely fade from memory and be forgotten.

Experts these days concur that learners actually need as many as 5 to 16 'meetings' with a
new language item in a variety of contexts before it can be truly learned and activated for
genuine use. Teachers then can help solidify new words in long-term memory by creating
regular opportunities in their learning program that encourage students to make form-
meaning connections of new vocabulary items. Both repetition and retrieval practice of new
items are key. In my experience, this is best achieved by organizing fun, competitive, and
motivating vocabulary games and activities which adhere to the expanding rehearsal
mentioned above. Over the past decade, I've put together a variety of sure-fire and engaging
vocabulary recycling activities drawn from a number of sources: resource books, teachers,
trainers, and some of which are of my own invention. Give them a try, and have your
students start remembering today.

1. Taboo (aka Hot Seat)

Divide the class into Teams A and B. Team A sits in a group on one side of the classroom,
Team B sits on the other side. Bring two chairs to the front of the room so that when seated,
a student is facing his or her respective team and their back is to the blackboard or white
board. One member from each team sits in their team's chair. The teacher writes a word,
phrase, or sentence on the board. The students in the chairs mustn't see what's written on
the board. Once the teacher yells 'go', the teams have one minute, using only verbal clues, to
get their seated teammate to say the item written on the board. The only rule (or taboo) is
that they MUSTN'T say the item written on the board, in full or part. The first student in the
hot seat to utter the word scores a point for their team. When the round is over, two new
team players are rotated into the hot seat and a new item is written up. The first team to
score X number of points wins.

Variation: To ensure a slightly quieter and less chaotic game, the teams can take it in turns.
Rather than two students in the hot seat, only one member from each team plays at a time.
The teacher as usual scribbles a word on the board and gives the team one minute to get
their teammate to say the item. If the hot-seated player manages to say the word, the
teacher quickly writes another item on the board and so on until the minute is up. The team
scores a point for every item they manage to say within one minute.
2. Memory Challenge
Put the students into pairs or small groups. Give them a time limit (e.g. 3 minutes) and ask
them to write down as many words, phrases, and/or expressions as they can from the last
lesson on topic X. The pair or group that can remember the most items wins.

Variation: To add a spelling accuracy component, teams can also earn an extra point for
each correctly spelt item.

3. Last One Standing

Give the class a topic (e.g. food, clothes, animals, things in a kitchen) and ask them to stand
up, in a circle if possible. Clap out a beat and say, one, two, three, followed by a topic-related
word. After the next three beats, the next student in the circle gives a word related to the
topic, and so it continues. Anyone who can't think of a word or repeats a word already said
has to sit down and it's the next person's turn. The winner is the last one standing.

4. Pictionary
Divide the class into Teams A and B. Team A sits in a group on one side of the classroom,
Team B sits on the other side. One member from each team goes to the board. The teacher
flashes them a word, phrase, or expression written on a piece of paper. The students have
one minute to get their respective team to say the item only by drawing pictorial clues on the
board. Written words, verbal clues, or gestures are forbidden. The first team to say the word
scores a point.

Variation: The teams review their notes from prior lessons, and collectively come up with a
list of items the other team will have to draw.

5. Bingo
The teacher writes up 10 words, phrases and/or expressions on the board. Each student
chooses any 5 of the items from the board and writes them down. The teacher then selects
one of the items at random (bits of paper from a hat, for example) and offers a brief definition
or synonym of the item but does not say the word itself. If a student thinks they have the
word the teacher described, they tick it. When a student ticks all of their words, they shout
BINGO!! The first student to shout BINGO wins the round. Additional rounds can be played
with different sets of words.

6. Outburst
Divide the class into Teams A and B. The teacher assigns each team a particular topic (e.g.
sports, vehicles, things in an office) which is to be kept secret from the other team. Each
team meets for 5 minutes in private and collectively draws up a list of ten items related to the
topic. After the lists are made, the game begins. The teacher tells Team A the name of Team
B's topic. Team A then has one minute to try to guess the items on Team B's list (hence
producing a noisy outburst). The members of Team B must listen and tick the items which
Team A manages to guess. For every word Team A guesses correctly, they score a point.
For every word they miss, Team B gets a point. After the points are recorded, it's Team B
turn to guess Team A's list. Additional rounds can be played with different topics assigned by
the teacher. The first team to score X number of points wins.

7. Concentration
Divide the class into small groups. Each group is given a set of cards which are spread out
on the table face-down. The sets are made up of two kinds of cards: word cards +
definition/picture cards. Students in turn pick up a card, turn it over, and try matching it to its
corresponding card. If there's no match, the cards are returned to their original place on the
table and play passes to the next student. If a match is made, the student keeps the pair and
tries to make another match. Once all the cards are matched, the winner is the player who
has matched the most number of cards.

Variation: Rather than using word + definition/picture cards, students can match the first and
second half of common phrases, expressions, idioms or other multi-word lexical items; e.g.
"have" on one card, "a good time" on the other card.

8. Scrambled Letters
Write up eight words with their letters shuffled (e.g. eicscen for science) on the board. When
the teacher says 'go', the students, individually or in pairs, endeavor to untangle the words as
quickly as they can. The first student or pair, to do so wins. The teacher can then quickly run
through each of the scrambled letter groups on the board, eliciting information about each
word or concept. Tip: Don't make them too difficult.

Variation: Phrases, expressions, and idioms larger than 2 words can also be used (e.g.
"you're having when time flies fun" for "time flies when you're having fun".)

9. Q & A
Write up two separate word lists on the board; an A list and a B list. Assign half the class the
A list and the other half list B. Each student takes each word from their list and contextualizes
it into a coherent question. Ideally, the question should demonstrate some understanding of
the word (e.g. Is your family very hospitable?, NOT What does hospitable mean?). If
students need help, they can consult the teacher, their notes, or their textbook. When the
students have finished writing their questions, As and Bs pair up and exchange their list of
questions. The students read each question and write an answer to the question on the
same piece of paper. In their answer, they need to use the same word that is underlined in
the question. After the answers are written, the papers are exchanged again and read by the
original student.

example:
Student A's question: Are there any skyscrapers in New York City?
Student B's answer: Yes, New York City has several skyscrapers.

10. Categories (aka The Alphabet Game)

Divide the class into 3 or 4 teams and assign a secretary for each group. On one side of the
board, write down six categories related to the current topic or syllabus of your course (e.g.
countries, sports, jobs, movies, furniture, verbs, things that are round). To start the game, the
teacher randomly selects a letter of the alphabet and scribbles it onto the board. Each team
must then work together to quickly find a word for each of the six categories that starts with
the chosen letter. The first team to complete all six categories shouts "stop!" The class then
stops writing, and a member of the team goes to the board to fill in the categories. The
teacher then checks each word with the class and also elicits what other teams had for each
category. If the quickest team has filled in each category correctly, they earn one point for
their team. The teacher then chooses a different letter and another round is played. The first
team to score X number of points wins.