Word Game Activity with adding,using vocabulary from your subject area.

Ages up to ~12 years.
Good for getting students to think through their subject vocabulary.
Finding the highest (or lowest) scoring words in a particular category.
The word values are based on letter scores: A is 1, B is 2, C is 3, etc.

Students have a given time to find the best word they can given the category/conditions you set.
(e.g. Scientific words, French words related to food, Colours, adjectives/adverbs, ICT vocabulary, Maths words up to 5 letters long…)
They have to write out each word they try, with the letter scores beside, and then add up the scores to give a total for that word. And then see if they can do better! Works in pairs as well, though each of the pair usually ends up checking separate words that they might have agreed upon as worth trying.

The spreadsheet makes it easy to show examples on the board, and to automatically calculate the word values as you type them in. Works a breeze, a nice activity that you can fits in as a starter, an end, or a bit of light relief.

You can specify a different category/ word length each time you do it with a group.

There are options to reward answers that aren’t the highest scores, to reinforce participation by less confident students.
(The more confident are seldom satisfied with their highest word so far, and will keep going!)

This paid version goes up to 20 letters for each word, and has a score sheet page for bonus marks as well.