How Many Things Can You Think Of?

speakingwritingfluencyfillergroupsnone prep5-10 min

Students brainstorm and list as many items as possible that fit a given semantic description.

Procedure

Give students a definition or description and ask them to note down as many items as they can that fit it in English. Example: How many things can you think of that are small enough to fit into a matchbox?
Pool all ideas on the board, or divide the class into groups and have a competition to see which group can think of the most items.

Example Prompts

...are bigger than you are?
...are rectangular?
...are round?
...are long and thin?
...make a noise?
...work on electricity?
...are made of paper / wood / glass?
...people enjoy looking at?
...have handles?
...you can use to sit on?

Tips

Make sure the criterion relates to meaning, not form (e.g., avoid "words beginning with c" — less useful for vocabulary reinforcement).
Retrieving words from the lexical store strengthens recall; the collaborative element reduces stress.
Adaptable for advanced/academic classes: all terms related to the heart (medical), all adjectives for research, etc.