Speaking activity: "Mystery Characters in Guess Who?"

"Mystery Characters in Guess Who?"

The objective of this activity is to practice descriptive language, questioning skills, and deductive reasoning while playing a modified version of Guess Who? game.

This game has been designed for students 

Materials:

• Guess Who? game boards: it includes Dry Erase Pocket and Markers and Character sheet with pictures or illustrations
• Descriptive language reference sheets (optional)
• Whiteboard or chart paper (for recording questions)

Instructions:

Introduction (5 minutes)

    a. Gather the students in a circle and introduce the game "Mystery Characters in Guess Who?" Explain that they will be playing a modified version of the classic Guess Who? game.

    b. Show a sample character card and explain that each student will receive a character card secretly, which they have to keep hidden from their partner.

Descriptive Language Warm-up (10 minutes)

    a. Distribute descriptive language reference sheets (if available) and briefly go over the different vocabulary words and phrases they can use to describe physical appearances (e.g., hair color, eye color, glasses, facial features, etc.).

    b. Conduct a warm-up activity where students take turns describing objects or people from the classroom using descriptive language. The rest of the class has to guess what or who they are describing.

Pairing and Rules (5 minutes)

    a. Pair up students and give each pair a Guess Who? game board.

   b. Explain the rules: Each student will choose a character card from the provided set of cards without showing it to their partner. The goal is to guess the other person's mystery character by asking descriptive questions.

Game Rounds (20 minutes)

    a. Encourage students to take turns asking and answering questions about the appearance of the characters to narrow down the possibilities.

    b. Remind students to use descriptive language learned earlier. For example, "Does your character have blue eyes?" or "Is your character wearing glasses?"

    c. After each question, students should mark down the information on their own game board by making a cross on the characters' image that don't match the given description.

    d. Students continue taking turns asking questions until one person correctly guesses the other's mystery character.

Reflection and Discussion (10 minutes)

    a. Gather the students back in a circle and discuss the game experience.

    b. Ask students about the strategies they used to narrow down the possibilities and how they formulated their questions.

    c. Encourage students to share any challenges they faced and how they overcame them.

Extension Activity (optional):

    If time permits, have students create their own character cards with pictures or illustrations and play the game again in new pairs. This allows them to practice creating descriptions and using deductive reasoning from scratch.

MATERIALS:

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