Tuesday's Torch Story

Our Similarities bring us to a common ground;

Our Differences allow us to be fascinated by each other.

~ Tom Robbins

While browsing the internet, I found this game that I thought I'd try with my ESL class this summer. It's a lot like the old TV show, the 10,000 Dollar Pyramid. One person has a game card that lists 8 words that fit a category. That person announces the category and then has 1 minute to give hints to try to get his/her partner to guess the specific words listed on the card.

Rather than rush out and buy it, I made up a few of my own cards and gave the game a trial run with Ana. Even though she had never heard of it before, she got the general idea right away.

On the other hand, it was challenging to play with her because she didn't quite seem to realize the difference between a true statement and a good clue...

To be fair, she wasn't that crazy about my clues either, as illustrated below. See if you can figure out which girl grew up in the city surrounded by children's books and which girl grew up in the countryside surrounded by the real world!

The game really does show the importance of common ground. Ana and I had the most success when one of us could hint with some information from our shared past - for example, under "Articles of Clothing" I hinted "the first thing you ever sewed" and she immediately replied with the correct answer, "skirt".

Anyways, regardless of our minor set backs, Ana LOVED the game and promptly commandeered my card set to take with her to school and play with her classmates. (She studies English at a local adult school from 8:00-1:30, Mon-Fri.)

So, I'm going to make up a bunch more cards and try it with my class. I hope they like it even half as much as Ana!