Category Scramble

You can’t go wrong with this familiar favorite, a game that will leave your students chattering for more.

Take turns asking students in the class to contribute a category (fruits, animals, jobs, etc.) for the game. Have each student write the decided categories on a sheet of paper. Pick one student to mentally say the alphabet, over and over. When a second student says stop, the first student reveals what letter he or she stopped on. Use a timer and give students two minutes to write down words that start with the chosen letter—one word for each category. For example, if ‘L’ was chosen, and one of the categories is Fruits, you could write “lemon” or “lime.”

At the end of the two minutes, compare student answers. Original answers earn one point each.