Don't say it! Food

Objective & content

Don't say it! Food is a projected team describing game, with photos, for one game of 20 to 30 minutes. One pupil describes the food word on the screen without saying the word or its three red words, and a teammate who stands with their back to the screen guesses it. The deck has a How to play slide with a useful language box, an example card with a model description, 20 cards (banana, cheese, pizza, chips, egg, ice cream, chocolate, bread, carrot, milk, sandwich, tea, tomato, honey, rice, breakfast, fridge, cake, chef, picnic) and a "Who won?" slide. Pupils practise describing a thing by its colour, taste, shape and use, and asking "Is it a ...?".

Pedagogical guide

The three red words on each card are the easy clues, so pupils must find other ways to describe the word: what it looks like, when you eat it, where you find it, what we make it with. This pushes them beyond single words towards short sentences in the present simple. The useful language box stays on the How to play slide; read it with the class before the first card: "It's a kind of ...", "It's red and round.", "It's sweet / hot / cold.", "You eat it for breakfast.", "You drink it.", "You find it in the kitchen.", "We make it with ...". The guesser asks "Is it a ...? Is it ...?". The example card (apple, with red, green and fruit forbidden) shows a model description: "It's round. It grows on a tree. You can eat it at lunch, at school." The game is at A2- level, in British English (chips).

Suggested procedure

1. (3 min) Make 2 to 4 teams and draw a score table on the board.
2. (5 min) Show the How to play slide and read the useful language aloud with the class. Then show the example card and read the model description: ask the class which words it does not use.
3. (15 to 20 min) Play the 20 cards. One pupil from a team is the guesser, back to the screen and face to the class. A teammate describes the word for 30 seconds without saying the word or a red word. The guesser says the word: 1 point. A red word said: no point. Next card, next team (10 turns each for 2 teams, 5 each for 4 teams). Change the guesser and the describer every turn.
4. (2 min) Add up the points on the board and show the last slide, "Who won?".

Adaptations

[S] Let the whole team describe together, and allow gestures for the first cards. Keep the useful language sentences on the board during the game.

[A] Ask the describer to use at least two different sentences from the useful language box, or play a second round with 20 seconds per card.

Materials & prerequisites

A projector or screen for game.pdf (23 slides in 16:9, one PDF page per slide, turned with the arrow keys), the board for the score table, and a clock or phone to time 30 seconds. Pupils should already know common food words and the present simple with it is / you eat / you drink. The game works well after a unit on food and meals, as speaking practice or as a reward at the end of a lesson.