This game is a variation of the commercial game, Guess Who?, where players use observational skills and ask probing questions to eliminate possibilities until there is one answer that fits all the criteria. In this case, students ask questions to determine a ‘secret letter’ chosen by a partner. Guess My Letter encourages students to listen with focused attention, to ask meaningful questions, to demonstrate auditory memory, and to discriminate various features of the alphabet.
Materials:
– set of lower-case letter cards for each student
Grouping: partners
Playing the Game
- Decide who will be first to choose the secret letter. This person looks through the alphabet cards, selects one letter, and thinks about the attributes of this letter (e.g., short, tall, stick, tail, circle, curve, dot, hump, slant).
- Lay out the other set of alphabet cards if you are the guesser.
- Ask your partner questions to help you guess the secret letter (e.g., “Is your letter a short letter?”, “Does your letter have a dot?”).
- Turn over the letters that are eliminated with each guess (e.g., If your partner answers “yes” that the letter is a short letter, then turn over all the letters that are tall.).
- Continue asking questions until you uncover the secret letter.
- Ask your partner: “Is _____ your secret letter?”
- Change roles and play the game again.