This is great for those logical-mathematical thinkers. Think of a word (start with a four letter word until you get the hang of it, then you can do it with longer words) and mark four lines, like you would in a game of hang-man.

___ ___ ___ ___

• Ask the students to guess four letter words and write them up on the board under the four lines.
• The key for telling students how close they are to the target word is:
• One tick = right letter in the right place
• Two ticks = right letter but in the wrong place.
• As students make each guess, you must give them the results in key form.
• To give an example, you are thinking of the word HOME and a student guesses the word HELP.
• They would get two ticks for the H as it is the right letter in the right place and one tick for the E is in the word but in the wrong place. They keep on guessing until they find the pattern and guess the whole word. You can set a limit of 20 guesses.

(Thanks to Ray Smith for demonstrating this one so well in a recent training session.)

By Jo Budden
First published 2008

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