Do you have some Scrabble games lying hidden in your English room, perhaps dusty and underused?
Do you sometimes have time to play a game, whether in class or in an after school lesson, where you'd like to finally utilize those Scrabble boards, but have neither the time nor inclination to explain all the rules and/or play a full (possibly rather long) game?
Well then,
Grabble might be right up your alley.
Grabble uses the letter tiles of Scrabble, but not the board. The object of the game is to be the player who finishes with the most letters, or the most words (you choice)
How to play:All the tiles are placed on the table faced down. Then, tiles are turned over one by one by each player in turn (and everyone should be able to see the letter at the same time, no being sneaky) . Each player turns over one tile in turn, until any play can make a word from some of the overturned tiles. When the student sees the word, they must call it out loud, and then "grab" the tiles and set them face-up in word form in front of them, so everyone can see the word.
After that players continue to turn over tiles one by one until someone can make a word. BUT (and here's where it gets a bit competitive) at any time, a player can use the letters on the table and combine them with a word from one of their opponents to make a new word. So they can "grab" and add to other player's words (which then become theirs).
To illustrate this, let's say the first 4 tiles overturned are C A T and C. Player one sees the word "CAT" and calls it out. The next letter turned over is an H. Player 2 sees the word "CATCH" and grabs the C, H, and Player 1's CAT.
Players can also combine two separate words to make a new word (for example, HOSE and EARS could combine to form SEAHORSE). But this is pretty tricky.
Words that are not allowed: Acronyms (CD, ET, UNESCO, etc), and adding an "S" to make a plural, unless the word is completely changed (RATE + S = TEARS = ok 
)At the end, the person with the most letters, or alternatively the most words, is the winner!
You could even play this tournament style, or have students try and make sentences with the words at the end of the game.
This game is good for many levels of students, but it is recommended you put students of similar English ability together, to make the game more fair and enjoyable. I find groups of 4 students to be optimum, but you could have ranges from 2-6 students I think.This game is not my own idea, I found it on a website, but it has worked very well for me, so I thought I'd pass it on!
