Download Blurt - English-830

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Catherine Rose
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Blurt is a word game that requires only a dictionary. There is a children's board game called Blurt, but
I learned the version without the board. The great thing about Blurt is that you can integrate it into a
carefully planned lesson, or use it on the spur of the moment. It is ideal for supply teachers who want to
make a quick and positive connection to the students they are teaching because it requires only a
dictionary which should be available in all English classrooms.
Rationale
This game supports the curriculum expectation that students will learn to read with fluency. I used it as
a way of teaching new vocabulary and as a minds-on activity to engage student interest. I often gave
students a sentence in which the missing word would fit, as well as read out the definition of the word
that they were trying to guess.
Practice
Blurt is a very simple game. The teacher picks a word from the dictionary, reads out the definition and
gives the first letter, and students try to guess what the word is. They call out their definitions – hence
the name, “Blurt.” If students can't guess the teacher gives them the second letter, the third, and so on.
I used this game to teach the students vocabulary in my grade nine and ten applied English classes. I
scanned the text that we would be reading that day and identified words that I thought might be
unfamiliar to some students. I chose these words for Blurt and wrote down simple and clear definitions
from the dictionary to read out to the students. A variation on this practice would be to choose random
words from the dictionary. Some days I handed the dictionary over to the students and allowed them to
choose words to challenge the class.
Blurt is a great minds-on activity that engages students and generates positive feeling in the classroom.
It is fun and can take as little or as much time as you want to devote to it. It definitely plays to students
with strong verbal skills. However, given the fact that everybody is allowed to call out at once, it is a
fairly low-risk game and most students seem to enjoy the slightly rowdy atmosphere that it creates.
Assessment
I first learned this game at Pathways to Education in Hamilton, where I played it with students who
were fairly strong academically in English. I was not sure how it would appeal to the applied English
students that I taught. However, students in these classes loved the game. Many students took the
chance to call out possible answers. Students asked to play the game at the beginning of classes and
they asked to have a turn picking out words from the dictionary to challenge the class. I found that the
game generated a lot of energy and engagement at the beginning of classes and I felt that it started the
lesson off on a positive note. What did the classroom look and sound like? A lot of noisy, smiling
students.
Collegial Advice
My first game of Blurt with the students taught me that I needed to set down two ground rules for
students choosing words: no put-downs, no swear words. I used this game both to preview new
vocabulary and to review words. As a strategy to teach vocabulary this game can be integrated easily
with words walls and vocabulary logs. After a game of blurt students can try to recall the definitions of
the words that they “played” that day in class and together the class can write down the vocabulary in a
log. Very important words can be put up on a word wall. At the end of a unit all of the new words could
be gathered together and the class divided into teams to compete against each other in a game Blurt.
I found that I often mimed action, in addition to reading out the definition of the word students were
guessing. Reflecting on this I think it would be possible, if one had the time, to create pictures or
symbols for new vocabulary that could be flashed on a power point to help prompt recall.