_______________________________________________________________________
Concept
 The students
must guess what one concept or word (common denominator) unites a list
of words, phrases, sentences. It is easier to illustrate this than to
explain it, so let me give an example.
Create lists of words such
as the one on the right.
This list of word must have a
specific common denominator.
You will need at least 2 lists per
minute of play.
A list can be from 4 to 7 items long. |
poor
mourn
persecuted
merciful
meek
peacemakers
Beatitudes |
John
Ezra
Micah
Revelation
Tobit
(Books in the ) Bible
|
water
sign of the cross
ashes
incense
icon
crucifix
medals
Sacramentals
|
Process
With large
classes you might want to divide the class into groups of 3-4. In smaller
classes, you might think of pairing the students up.
Explain to
the students the rules. Make it clear that the only correct answer is
the one you have listed as the common denominator on your sheet. This
will prevent arguments when there are several possible common denominators
for a given list.
If you have
access to an overhead projector, you could place the lists of words on
a transparency. You then reveal one word at a time and give time to the
students to guess what the common denominatorcould be. If there is no
guess within a few seconds, reveal the next word, and so on. Alternatively,
you can also write the words on a blackboard or on another surface.
The team
that guesses first gets points, as many points are there are unrevealed
clues left +1. If their guess is wrong, take away as many points as there
are clues unrevealed +1. This incites the students to guess as soon as
they can, but at the same time to avoid wild guesses. Tell the group before
you reveal the first word in a series how many words their are in that
list. They will then know how many points they stand to gain or loose.
The team
with the largest total at the end wins - even if it is in the minus range!
Comments
There are
no limitations to the "common denominators" of a list of word
you prepare. It could be that they all begin or end with the same latter,
that they all are found in a given prayer, that they are all objects that
have the same color, that they are all people who are males or females...
You could also have phrases or complete sentences as clues rather than
individual words. You can be as whimsical as you wish, giving a list of
5-letter words, with "words of 5 letter" being the only common
denominator. If one of these is thrown in once in a while, it keeps the
students on their toes and gives an added challenge to those students
who like to solve puzzles. |
