Introduce words using real-life examples, gestures, and cognates. Provide word cards with pictures/icons to represent each vocabulary word.

Provide word cards with pictures/icons and labels. Read the sentence or problem aloud. Students choose a word using: one-word responses, short phrases.

Allow students to write or highlight key words in a sentence before choosing their answer. Provide sentence stems: “I chose _____ because the sentence said _____.” or “A clue that helped me decide was _____.”

Require students to defend their word choice using text-based evidence. Provide prompts such as “What part of the sentence helped you choose that word?” or “How does this word connect to what we learned before?”

After the game, have students use their chosen word in a completely new sentence. Ask students to analyze: “What happens if we replace this word with another one?” or “How would this word change in a different sentence?”