Vocabulary Learning - Warm-Up Exercises




This is a warm-up exercise. Test your word power!

How many words start with "T" and finish with "R" ?

(You can find the answers here)

Perhaps a wide vocabulary is one part of intelligence? Intelligence takes many forms: understanding and applying rules, ability to generate patterns, lateral thinking, inter-personal, intra-personal etc. Granted: word skills are certainly not a test of emotional stability or spiritual values or ethical awareness.

Use this exercise in pairs — as a group exercise — for the best results. Ideally use this game as a warm-up exercise at the start of a class.

You can use a whiteboard, or just practise as an oral/aural activity.

It can be time-limited. Try 1, 3, 10 or 15 minutes, and compare results.

Actually, it's most effective as a collaborative social media game that might help to bring less frequently used words to the surface.

When I posted this verbal mind-game on Facebook it went viral, with lots of people participating. It was also a self-policing game that tended to be supportive and inclusive as it combined individuals of different ages, background, and ability.

There are over 300 correct answers if you are playing this game in English.

As a follow-up activity ask students to create a story using at least one of the words they found in each sentence. This works best with an element of absurdity, humour, or surrealism.

You can also use the words as a rhyme scheme for a poem.

Alternatively, employ the words that students have listed in an oral Q&A format to develop conversational skills.



For the warm up above there are over 700 English words. Answers here.

Enjoy!
Research Interests:


Comments

Post a Comment

My blog posts are exploratory rather than finished works. You are invited to add any comments below...

Popular posts from this blog

How do academics read so many books?

Image
Scientia imperii decus et tutamen est First, let's interrogate the truth apparently proposed or implied in the titular question. Would it not be more accurate to state: it is believed that academics read lots of books. Is this true? For many undergraduates the notion that their Professor has read more than fifty books secures her a place in the same league as Wittgenstein or Dr Johnson. Far out! Strange! A living geek-book. So, the revered state of being widely read is a relative judgment. But let's grant that academics do 'read' rather a lot; perhaps more than average, perhaps excessively . For teachers in the arts, and in the social sciences, academic books are their primary tools and resources. Text is a living laboratory. Surely they spend every moment of their lives reading . That is to say, they might entertaining the possibility of reading in those great vistas of time the yawn like chasms between teaching, assessing, writing, and generally administerin
Read more

Social Media, Revolution and Historical Consciousness in Tunisia and Egypt

Image
                                           "Tremble all ye oppressors of the world!" Be warned that the title of this blog hints at its ambitious scope: the relationship between the kinds of communication available and the range of actions achievable. What can history tell us about the spirit of revolution and its effective transmission between individuals and between nations? Let me say at the outset that I value immensely the opportunities afforded by new media and social media. But I would not claim to be an unqualified cyber-evangelist, and I tend not to confuse virtual and real worlds. But the question of technological hype and social hyperactivity being mixed up with the evolving situation of hyper revolution and regime change is a most interesting one. Against the geektech utopians we need to assert that social media is not innately liberal or liberating. Web 2.0 has helped to create and promote opportunities for paedophiles and depraved pornograp
Read more

Ten Routes for Community Film Distribution

Image
Open Air Cinema 1. How Content and Style determine the Target Group It is alleged that very few community film makers start out with a clear sense of how their finished film will be distributed. This is the vexed question of the target audience. It also brings into play questions about the content of the film – the product – and whether it is fit for purpose in terms of its spectators. That means that the distribution agenda should always already be built into your production and planning process. There’s clearly no point filming disturbing adult scenes that will be unusable for a target group of children. And will people really sit through a two hour community film on any topic, unless they were major participants throughout? Is your film relevant to a wider community, and how can you get it out there? Here are some options to think about: Evaluating Distribution Options 2. Broadcasters: TV, Cable and Satellite (including Free-View Services). Apart fro
Read more