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Marine Categories

Categories is a game where one has to name something that begins with a selected letter for a number of different categories.

Age group:

5th grade students and older

Materials:

  1. List of categories on dry erase/chalkboard or on paper.
  2. Pieces of paper.
  3. Pencils for each student.
  4. Timer/clock.
  5. Letter pieces to choose from.
  6. Container for the letter pieces.
  7. Prizes, if desired.

To Play:

  1. Give each student a piece of paper with the selected categories on it (or place the categories on a dry erase or chalkboard). Have the students write their name on the paper.
  2. Explain the rules of the game (see below).
  3. Pick a letter from the container. Instruct the students to write this letter on the top of their paper.
  4. During the round (time to be determined by the number of categories and age of students), students should remain silent. Call time when the round is over.
  5. Ask each student to reveal their answer for each category. If another student wrote down the same answer, they must cross off that answer. If the answer was original, they can circle it.
  6. After reviewing the answers, have the students count up the number write (original) and write it at the top of their paper.
  7. For the next round, pick a new letter. You can remain with the same categories or change a few or all.
  8. Continue playing for as many rounds as desired. At the end of the game, count up the total number right from each round. Prizes can be given to the top scorers if desired.

Rules:

  1. To score points in the game, the answer must be unique, meaning no one else could have written it down. If someone else wrote the same answer down, both students must cross it off their paper.
  2. During the rounds, students must keep quiet and keep their eyes on their own paper.
  3. Judges/instructors have the final say if an answer counts or not. If the answer is obscure or suspect, the judge can choose not to accept it for points.
  4. Although this is an individual game, students may become upset if another person had thought of the same answer. If this becomes unmanageable, points can be taken away for “unsportsmanshiplike conduct” from any person at the discretion of the instructor.

Hints:

  1. In choosing letter pieces for the game, only include letters which are feasible for many categories. Letters such as I, O, X, V, etc. are difficult to use and will lead to a lot of frustration!
  2. Allow some room for creativity in this game as long as they can prove their answer. Many times students will be aware of a movie, sport, etc. that the instructor may not be familiar with.

Modifications:

  1. It is possible to play ‘group scattegories’ if that is more appropriate for the class. The same rules would be followed and there would be more brains to come up with creative answers.
  2. Two minutes is generally a good amount of time for each round.
  3. For elementary and middle school students, 3-7 categories are plenty for each round. For high school students and older, 10 categories per round can be used.
  4. You can create you own categories or have your students create some, based on what you have been studying lately in class.
  5. Alternatively, give the student a sheet of paper with the letters of the alphabet on it. Pick a category and have the student try to fill out an answer for all letters.

Possible categories:

(links have alphabetical lists of potential answers)

Thanks to Mote Marine Laboratory for the game instructions.