Telephone/Whisper Game « previous next. Game preparation: write several sentences on small sheets of paper. The sentences can range from easy to difficult (I usually start from the easiest one as an example). The sentences can include new vocabulary or new grammar points which you want your students to review. Fold those sheets and scramble.

Placid Gary Dixon Kari Wuhrer. Denise Kalberg Vincent Castellanos. Mateo Danny Trejo. Poacher Frank Welker. Anaconda (voice). A 'National Geographic' film crew is taken hostage by an insane hunter, who forces them along on his quest to capture the world's largest - and deadliest - snake. Jon Voight, Jennifer Lopez, Eric Stoltz. Meanwhile, they run afoul of snakes and each other.

Most of us think that we understand and remember everything we hear, but when we're tested we find out that the truth is very different. The classic party game Telephone brings this to light, often with hilarious results. In addition to producing laughs, Telephone can help children or people learning English develop their active listening skills.

Getting Started

To play Telephone, you'll need a group of players. More is better, but a group of more than 10 players can make the game too long. If you have a large group, consider splitting your players into teams. Choose a phrase for the team to use or let them select one themselves. Phrases should be complicated, with plenty of detail and unfamiliar words -- for instance, try using a phrase such as 'Mahogany tables don't look good painted fuchsia.' The phrase should never be a familiar expression; these are too easy to remember. Only one player should know what the phrase is.

Starting the Whispers

The player who created or received the phrase starts the game by whispering it into the ear of another player. She cannot repeat the phrase, so the second player needs to listen carefully. The second player then whispers the phrase to the third player, who whispers it to the fourth, and so on until the last player.

Sentence

Seeing the Outcome

Telephone Game Sentence Starters

Telephone

Once all players have spoken, the last player repeats the phrase. Unless everyone on the team is a very clear speaker and a very attentive listener, the phrase will have changed. What began as 'Mahogany tables don't look good painted fuchsia' might end up as 'Behold, any stables look good waiting on blue sand.' If you have time, go back through the players, asking each one what the original phrase was and pinpointing where the various changes occurred.

Scoring and Analyzing

Telephone doesn't really have a winner and loser -- it's about demonstrating a principle and creating some laughs in the process. You could give the same message to both teams and declare the one with the least-changed message the winner, although encouraging teams to be less funny is probably against the spirit of Telephone. This game can be an enjoyable springboard for discussion about the importance of active listening and the ways in which we tend to fill in details from context when not actively listening.