spit it out

Split the class up into small groups - no more than 5 people. Give each group a deck of cards. Teach them this: A Heart equals a verb. A Diamond equals an adjective. A Club equals a noun. A Spade equals an adverb.

The cards are shuffled well and passed out entirely to all the players. Make sure they hold them in their hands together, face down just like you would if you were playing Slapjack or War. One student will put a card into the center facing up, very quickly. All the other players look at the card's suit and try to be the first one to give an example of the kind of word that suit is associated with. So if a Heart is played, someone might say "run" because it's a verb. The first person to correctly give an example gets the card. The person putting down the card can't compete that time. The players take turns putting down one card per turn. If you have no cards left, you lose. If the game is played until only one person has cards, that person obviously wins. Otherwise, the person with the most cards when the teacher stops the game wins.