Chaboonary

One of the learning activities that I enjoy doing with my students (and which they enjoy as well, as far as I can tell) is something that I affectionately call Chaboonary. Basically, it is a hodgepodge of Charades, Taboo, and Pictionary. Chaboonary is a simple vocabulary review game that can be played with zero prep time.

To play Chaboonary, divide the class into groups. Then have one student at a time come to the front of the class. (I usually rotate through the groups, but you can also just call them randomly.) Pick a word from the vocabulary list at the back of the textbook chapter and show it to the student (who will almost invariably moan and say that that was the one word that they were hoping you wouldn't pick). The student then has one minute to try and get someone to guess what the word was (more on this shortly). The team that correctly guesses the word gets 5 points.

The student has four different approaches that they can use to try and get their peers to guess the word (one from each source game, and then the mix-and-match option):

Speaking: The student can try to explain the word using circumlocution. They are not allowed to use any words on the vocabulary page (including words like "noun").

Drawing/writing: The student can write, draw anything on the chalkboard/whiteboard. The same restrictions on which words can be written apply as those for which words can be spoken.

Acting: Students more inclined to movement can act out the word.

Mix-and-match: Students are allowed to mix-and-match any of the previous techniques. One of the favorite ways that students will do this is to draw something, point emphatically at it, and say something like: "The opposite of this."

I developed this approach because I had found that whenever I tried to do a quick vocabulary review using the framework of just one of the source games that there were invariably students who would complain and zone-out. (I.e. less artistic students did not enjoy playing pictionary.) With the Chaboonary approach this issue is eliminated.

Enjoy!