Lack of detail and weak verbs are the two writing shortcomings I see most often in student writing. Here is a game to improve both of them.
Take seven index cards and cut each in half to form smaller, squarer cards. Write one part of speech on each card (noun, adjective, verb, adverb, conjunction, preposition and pronoun). Repeat on the remaining cards. Shuffle and place face down on a table or desk in front of a student. Put a pile of pennies (or BINGO markers or poker chips) near the deck of cards. The goal of the game is accumulate ten pennies before your opponent does.
Now on a piece of notebook paper, write a simple, blah sentence such as “My dog eats food.” Ask the student to pick a card. Suppose she picks “verb.” Ask the student to cross out the verb “eats” and in its place to write another verb. If the student writes “likes,” tell her that “likes” is another “blah” verb, so she can take one penny and start her own pile with that. Explain that a more specific verb would have earned her two pennies. She might say, “Well, wait a minute,” and she might think of a better verb. She might say “devours.” Praise her choice and ask her to take another penny for a total of two.
Now it is your turn. Pick a card. Suppose it says “adjective.” Think out loud so the student can hear you think. “I could use ‘hot’ to describe the food, or I could think of another word. My dog devours hot food. One penny. Hm. How about My dog devours meaty food. Two pennies.” You take two pennies.
And so you go back and forth until someone earns ten pennies.
For older students, add more words to the cards, such as “infinitive, gerund, and subordinate conjunction.”
The best sentences to use are ones the student has already written. Take student sentences from submitted work. If you play this game before the student turns in a final draft of a paragraph or an essay, allow him or her time to improve the sentences.
If you are working with a class, you can write the sentence on the overhead projector or white board and allow students to work in groups to suggest alternate words. One group competes against another.
When students are familiar with the game, you might come up with a symbol—such as a purple circle around a word—to identify words which could benefit from being more detailed or more specific. When you return student writing, allow students time to improve the words circled in purple.
What do students learn from this game?
- How to choose specific verbs.
- How to add details.
- How much better their writing sounds when they choose specific verbs and add details.
- How to identify various parts of speech.
- That you design cool learning activities.
Anytime you can turn learning into a game, students jump on board.
English Writing Teacher 