Word Run

Language: vocabulary test or revision of text

Playing time: 10 minutes or more
If this activity doesn't get your class screaming with laughter then you got
problems 'cos nothing will.
I like making my students learn vocabulary lists of words we have met in class
and textbook. It is an integral part of high learner morale that they perceive
they are making progress, and the learning of vocabulary is a prime way to
achieve this essential end. Furthermore, if the testing of it is fun it makes the
learning of it fun too, and the game itself becomes part of the justification for
learning the vocabulary.

You will need lots of scraps of paper for this game.

The first time we do this I warn my students for several days beforehand that we
are going to have a little exam, which in an exam-ridden society like Japan's
makes them shit bricks so be very careful how you put this across. On the
appointed day, explain what is going to happen and point out that in the following
activity any form of violence whatsoever is perfectly acceptable.
Next I seat the students in teams of three. I have the vocabulary list, they don't.
One messenger from each team comes up to me and when all the messengers are
assembled I whisper (so the teams sitting down can't hear) to all of them the
definition of a word on their list. They run back to their respective teams and
rack their collective brain to think what that word is - they cannot look at the lists.
Then, when they think they have it, they scribble the word on a scrap of paper
and another person - not the person I originally whispered the word to - comes
running up to me with the scrap. The first team to get to me with the correct
answer wins a point. The points are kept clearly on the board, which adds to the
excitement.
Points to note: For the first word, make sure all the messengers are gathered
around you before you tell them the word. Thereafter don't wait for laggards: if
someone doesn't come running when you are about to give the definition of a
word it is his team's look out. This keeps the whole thing going at a spanking
pace. Rotate the role of messenger from time to time so other people can get a
chance to run. Obviously don't choose the words in the order in which they come
in the list. Keep the pace as fast as possible and don't stop horseplay as people
restrain members of other teams by force.
If you use chalk and blackboard in your class you have an advantage because you
can then dispense with the scraps of paper and let people run up and write the

word on the board. This is even more fun. You cannot let the students write on a
whiteboard because they will break your board-markers in their excitement.
To revise the vocabulary lists, why don't you get a colleague to record a cassette
in which she defines various words. The students listen in teams and identify the
words she is describing. (But be sure that the colleague numbers each word very
clearly as she speaks - number one is a word which means ... number two is a
thing which we have at home and we use it ...)
(You can also use this method as a scanning activity with a longish text, maybe to
revise, but not necessarily so. In this case the students can have their books open.
Otherwise the methodology is as above.)