Play this fun dictionary game with students. Have students work in groups of 3 to 5 students. Distribute a blank index card to each student. Then, write one of the following words on an index card (without definitions) and distribute one card to each group. Here are some words you might use:

• quassin: a medicine from the heartwood of a tropical tree used to treat intestinal worms.
• verdin: a small, yellow-headed bird found in the southwestern United States.
• husbandry: the control or conservation of resources.
• mbira: an African musical instrument made from a gourd.
• podagra: a painful condition of the big toe caused by gout.
• fossick: to search for gems or gold by picking over abandoned mines.
• dhole: a wild dog found in India and Southern Siberia.

Without conferring with other students, have each student write the word and what they think the definition of that word is on his or her index card. Encourage students to phrase their definitions the way a dictionary might.

In the meantime, do the same for the words you distributed. Write the word and the correct definition (make sure you change the wording slightly so that it doesn't appear to be too well-written) on an index card.

Now, here's the fun part. Collect the index cards from each group. Mix the dictionary definitions in with the students' definitions. Read one word and all of its definitions, at a time. Have the class vote on which definition they think is the real definition. After the voting, read the word's true definition.