Language Barrier Game: Describe to Build
One player describes a hidden card, the other builds or draws it. Vague description fails visibly, which is what makes spatial and descriptive vocabulary obligatory rather than optional.
Session summary (SOAP)
Stays on this screen. Nothing is saved or sent.
Mark a card Correct, Correct with cue or Incorrect and the summary writes itself here.
How to run it
Put a folder or a book between the two students so the drawer cannot see the card. The describer does not read the card aloud; they look at it and explain it in their own words. The drawer may ask questions. Then lift the barrier and compare. Start with the shapes and dots cards, then move to the fish tank and the garden bed, where there is more to track. Twenty minutes allows three or four rounds with swaps.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentPresent the item and wait 5 seconds of quiet before helping.Log as correct
- HintGive a clue about the word's category, what it does, or where you find it.Log as cued
- Two choicesOffer two answers, the right one not always second.Log as cued
- ModelGive the answer in a sentence; the student says it back and uses it once more.Log as cued
Adjust it
Use fewer items and start with the ones the student already knows.
Ask for the word in a sentence of the student's own, or a second example from the same group.
Matching IEP goal
Given vocabulary cards, Student will name, sort or define target words in 8 of 10 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than an indirect cue.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Ten hidden cards, each a small scene that needs precise language to rebuild: a triangle above a square with a circle touching the left side; four dots in a row where the second is bigger and the fourth is filled in; a house with the door on the right and a tree taller than the roof; a clock showing twenty past four with a crack to the center. One student describes, the partner draws, and a vague description fails where both can see it.
What to listen for
Listen for spatial terms: above, inside, on the left, a third of the way up, in the back corner. Notice whether the describer gives an order, starting with the biggest thing and working in, or lists details at random. The stack of five books tests ordinals like the third from the bottom. When the drawing is wrong, ask what word would have fixed it rather than pointing at the error.
Carrying it home
Play the same game with building blocks or a simple drawing: one person builds behind a cereal box, then tells the other how to copy it. Swap roles each round. Children tend to notice quickly that put that thing there does not work.
What's in this activity
- Hidden card: a triangle above a square, with a small circle inside the square touching the left side.
- Hidden card: four dots in a row; the second one is bigger and the fourth one is filled in.
- Hidden card: a house with the door on the right, two windows upstairs, and a tree taller than the roof on the left.
- Hidden card: a table seen from above with a plate in the middle, a fork on the left and two cups on the right.
- Hidden card: a road curving from the bottom left to the top right, with a bridge across it a third of the way up.
- Hidden card: a stack of five books; the third from the bottom is the thickest and sticks out at the front.
- Hidden card: a face with the eyes far apart, one eyebrow raised, and a hat sitting slightly off center.
- Hidden card: a fish tank with three fish swimming left, one swimming right, and a castle in the back corner.
- Hidden card: a clock showing twenty past four, with a crack running from the top edge to the center.
- Hidden card: a garden bed with tall flowers at the back, short ones at the front, and a gap in the second row.
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- Second through seventh grade, for descriptive vocabulary, spatial concepts and expressive language.
- Is it free?
- Yes. The board plays free in the browser with no login. An account adds session data, goal scoring and assignment to a student.
- Can I use it with one student?
- Yes. You take the drawing role and follow the description literally, which shows the student exactly where more detail was needed.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.