Small Group game to review vocabulary in context

I tried a new game in class today because I wanted students to review the words that we had in a story last week.  The way I set up the game, the students were in charge and I circulated throughout the room to oversee the activity and answer questions when needed.

1. Divide the class into two large groups - Group A and Group B.  I took the alphabetical list of their names and the first 1/2 of the alphabet was Group A and the second half was Group B.

2.  Group A and Group B sit together and read the class story that is written in the Target Language but the students read it in English. You can use any reading that you want to review that you have already read before in class, such as a class story, a chapter in a book, a short reading on culture, etc.   

I have big classes so I had Group A and Group B split into two or three smaller groups to read.  

3. Tell the students in the two Groups to find a partner in their group.  Then pair two students from Group A with two students from Group B.  Continue doing this until all students are in a group of four consisting of 2 Group A members and 2 Group B members.

4.  Tell the students to sit in a square with the A's across from each other and the B's across from each other.  (see diagram on the right) 

5.  Group A chooses a word from the reading (in the TL language since the reading is in the TL), says the word, and points to it in the story/chapter/text.  The two Group B members then write the word in English on a piece of paper.  They cannot consult with each other.  Group A must make sure that the two Group B students do not cheat and look at each others paper.  (That is why they are seated across from each other in the square.)  

To insure that the student from Group A that selected the word for Group B to translate, one of the Group A students must also write the word in English.

6.  When Group B students have written their words, they show it to Group A.  If both have the answer correct they earn two points.  If one student has the answer correct, they earn 1 point.  If neither of the students wrote the correct word, they do not receive any points.

7.  Group B then chooses a word for Group A to translate.  

8.  Each group keeps their score.  After 10 minutes, I chose 1 student from each group of 4 to write the scores for A & B in their group on the board.  Tally the scores and find which group is the winner.

This worked well that the students kept their own scores.  All the students were actively engaged because the groups were small, and they all knew that their scores were going to be added in to the grand total.