Fill-in Race
This activity can be done individually or with a partner. Each student/team receives a pre-printed sheet similar to the one below. Column #1 is for the letters given by the teacher. Column #2 shows the number of letters the words must contain. Column #3 is where the words are to be written.
To play
As the teacher reads the letters for Round 1, the students fill in the letters and then begin to fill in one word per letter. The numbers indicate the exact number of letters that the word can contain. As soon as all words are filled, the student says stop. All students must stop writing.
Scoring
The teacher examines the list to make sure the words contain the correct number of letters and also makes sure the spelling is correct. The teacher then proceeds to read aloud the list of each team with points being awarded only for words not used by any other team. The first student/team finished receives one point per word not used by other plus a bonus of 1 for completing the list first. If the first team done has an incorrect word or misspelled word, a one penalty (-1) is assessed. This will prevent a team from just putting anything down to finished first. All other students/teams also receive one point per correct word that no others have.
Variations
To challenge upper level students the teacher can specify the use of only singular nouns, verbs in a certain tense, masculine singular adjectives, etc.
To make the activity even more challenging the letters given by the teacher can be the last letter of the words. This will take a little more planning on the teacher’s part to make sure appropriate final letters are used.
Score Sheet
Round 1 Round 2 Round 3
letter # words letter # words letter # words
____ 3 ____ 3 ____ 3
____ 4 ____ 4 ____ 4
____ 5 ____ 5 ____ 5
____ 6 ____ 6 ____ 6
____ 7 ____ 7 ____ 7
____ 8 ____ 8 ____ 8
Round 1 Round 2 Round 3
letter # words letter # words letter # words
____ 3 ____ 3 ____ 3
____ 4 ____ 4 ____ 4
____ 5 ____ 5 ____ 5
____ 6 ____ 6 ____ 6
____ 7 ____ 7 ____ 7
____ 8 ____ 8 ____ 8
