Duration: 15–25 min Aim: Oral fluency practise Summary: The typical "twenty questions"-style guessing game, confined to small groups. Introduction Guessing games can generate a lot of spontaneous speech, even if much of it is fairly simple in structure. To implement a guessing game as a speaking activity, working as a whole class offers too little opportunity for each student to speak, but working in pairs may often leave the lone guesser stumped for ideas. Groups of about 4 seems to be the ideal size, with one person as the "knower" and the other group members guessing. Preparation The range of topics for guessing games is wide, so the game can be tailored to match the theme of the class. Some examples are given in the Resources section. If you devise your own topic, please share your ideas with the rest of us by posting in the Comments section. Prepare a sheet with all the items, make enough copies for every group, and chop the sheets into pieces (one item per slip). Make a set for each group, each set containing one copy of each item, and place the sets into envelopes. Write an additional one or two items on slips of paper and place them in a separate, marked envelope to use during the demo. Procedure First explain the game, emphasising that the knower is only allowed to answer "yes" or "no". |