Do you play the game Catch Phrase with your family and friends? If you haven’t you should try it. It is loads of fun. Even better, you can make this game work for your classroom. If you have never played before, here are the basics of Catch Phrase.
How to Play
It is a game played with two teams. There is a clue-giver and the team tries to guess what is being described before the buzzer runs out. The goal for each clue-giver is to get their team to say the word or word phrase before time runs out. A clue-giver can make any physical gesture and can give almost any verbal clue, but may not:
- say a word that rhymes with any of the words
- give the first letter of a word
- say the number of syllables
- or sign any part of any word in the clue (egg for eggplant)
Once the team guesses the word, it is the other team’s turn. Play continues until the timer runs out. You win a point by not holding the deck of cards when the buzzer goes off. It does not matter who had the most correct guesses in the round.
Teams sit in a circle. The teams sit every other person from their own team. I suggest teams of 3 – 4 so the game is manageable.
The teacher will start the timer at any random time that students can’t see. A good rule of thumb is anywhere from :30 – 2:00 for the time. Team A will give a clue and only their team will try to guess it. Once the word is guessed correctly, Team A will nicely pass the deck of cards to Team B. Team B will give clues until their word is guessed. Play continues until the time runs out. The winner of the round is the team NOT holding the cards when the timer goes off.
Why I Love This Game
This game is great. Not only is it engaging, but it is also fun and brings lots of laughs and entertainment to the classroom. This game works for the language classroom because:
- It requires thinking and processing
- Students need to retrieve old information
- Students learn how the art of circumlocution
- The use of phrases and sentences is required to give the clues
- It gets in repetition of vocabulary
How to Set the Game Up
To play the game in your language classroom, you need to do a little prep. But not much!
Make a set of vocabulary cards. You can do this on index cards (I like this option best because they are sturdy) or you can use a table in Google or Word and type out the words. The words should correspond with the theme or unit currently being worked on in the class. Attach a book ring to the cards to make them easy to flip. If you don’t have a ring, you can still play the game. However, in the excitement, students might get the cards out of order. Remember that each group needs a deck of cards. You will need to make several decks.
I hope you play it in your classroom soon!
Get Social
If you have questions, let’s talk in the Creative ASL Teaching Facebook group. Join the conversation in our Facebook group.
Don’t miss out on a sale, FREEBIE, or new product. Follow Creative ASL Teaching on TpT.
Check out the teacher swag on Etsy.
