39 ESL Vocabulary Activities: For Teenagers and Adults - Jackie Bolen, Jennifer Booker Smith 2015

The alphabet game
Games and activities for lower-level students

Skills: Writing

Time: 5 minutes

Materials: Nothing

This is a simple way to introduce a topic. Some examples include jobs, cities, animals, etc.

Have pairs of students write down A~Z on one piece of paper. Give them 2-4 minutes to think of one word/letter that fits that certain category. I make a rule that they can't use proper nouns. If you want to increase the difficulty or if you have a small class, you can make a rule that if two teams have the same word it doesn't count. This forces students to think more creatively.

Example: Topic = animals

A. Alligator

B. Bat

C. Cat

Etc.

Procedure:

1. In pairs, students write down the alphabet on a piece of paper.

2. Give students a topic and a certain amount of time.

3. Students think of one word per letter about the topic.

4. Check who has the most words at the end of the allotted time. Option for small classes: don't count repeated words so students have to think more creatively.