Reading pictionary

The kids love pictionary, and I like finding excuses to get them to read and reread without making it too obvious that that's what I'm doing. :)

Something I like to do as a result:

I divide the class into three teams and ask for one volunteer from each team. Those three volunteers sit at the front of the room with their backs to the board, and the rest of my students get a mini-whiteboard and marker. But instead of the traditional 'now everyone draw a picture of the word I'm about to write,' those three get a copy of a story they know well instead.




Then I project a sentence from the story. The 'audience' draws a picture of the sentence, and the guessers read and reread the story, looking for the sentence they think their team has drawn. They raise their hands, and the first kid to get it right gets a point. They trade out volunteers when the team has three points.

They can LOSE points by breaking the rules - showing their pictures too early, including words, etc.

After the correct sentence is guessed, we go through the sentence, ask questions and circle to ensure everyone understands what's going on. It's a nice and easy Friday game, and also an excellent way to get kids to review the text.