Word Building, Ltd. (CrowdWords)

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In 2015 I posted Word Building with Jumbo Letter Tiles. It was a more portable version of Word Building using 3.5 inch noodle chips (with letters written on them). I'm going to share with you (below), the next iteration of Word Building – using 'limited' (Ltd) resources. I recommend you take a little journey back in time and read the original post to get the big picture. This limited edition might be clearer with the additional information.

Needs & Numbers: 

• You'll need a letter set. The prepped and ready large tile version of choice (for me) is CrowdWords (developed by Trevor Dunlap and Matthew Broda – their activity guide includes 26 ways to use the larger letter tile set). 
• In this 'limited' version it might be faster to make your own letter set, based on the 'concept' words you have chosen, using index cards or small paper plates. See the original Word Building post for details. (Be sure the letters don't show though the paper product you are using. A light highlighter color works well.) 
• Use a 50-foot activity rope or four cones to outline the 'letter pool' – a rope circle or cones at the corners of a square. 
• One spot marker (hula hoop or carpet square) for each team. If inside, you could tape out a small square as a 'spot' for each team.
• Flip chart paper (on a stand if you have one), tape and some colorful markers. 
• This one plays well with 12 to 30 participants (you will be dividing into groups of 2 or 3 people). 
• ​And a timing device. 

Set Up: The preparation for the game is a little more focused (additional time is needed to prepare). Choose a concept you want to work on and discuss (reflect upon) based on an objective a group is working towards. It could be teamwork, leadership, trust, collaboration, community, etc. For example, I asked an AI engine to give me 15 five-letter words related to behaviors of a cooperative community – the bonus included a little information on how the word fit – 'Blend' - harmonizing differences into unity.

Then, I picked 10 of them for the 'word list' I'm going to use with a group of 30 participants: 

• Build
• Reach
• Share
• Trust
• Model
• Value
• Adapt
• Align
• Offer
• Blend

In preparation for the activity, I'll write all of these words on one piece of flip chart paper. 

Once I have all the words, I'll need a letter tile for each letter in each word – I need 50 tiles to make all the words. With this particular list I would make my own tiles since there might not be enough 'Es' or 'As' in a set of CrowdWords(?). Then, here's the other time requirement. I want to include at least 15 to 20 extra letter tiles that ARE NOT in any of these words. So, I will make a couple of 'Js', a couple of 'Ks', and a few 'Ys', a couple 'Qs', 'Ws', 'Xs', and 'Zs'.

NOTE: If you are going to be working with less than 30 participants, you might not need as many words. Think of how many groups of three you will be making (and maybe there are one or two groups of two), and be sure to have a word for each team. For example, if you have a group of 16, you'll have four teams of three and two teams of two. You need six five-letter words.

Almost ready! Now that you have your letter set, place down your rope circle (or coned square) and place all the tiles, letter-side down, inside the shape of choice. This is the 'letter pool.' (See the header picture above.) Somewhere near the letter pool display the list of words your going to use with your group. Place down a spot marker for each team around the letter pool. Each spot should be about 5-feet from the pool. Now you're ready. 

Let's Play Word Building
When your group arrives, creatively divide them into small 'teams' of three (and some twos if needed). Invite each team to locate one of the spot markers and stand by it. They are ready for the rules. The rules for this limited version are just about the same as the original – just some minor additions. Your going to frontload the game this way:

"You are all on a small team. During this game, each team is required to gather enough letters to make one of the five-letter words on this chart." [Point out the chart.] "These words are related to some of the behaviors that take place within a cooperative community."

When you have purposefully planned time for this, discuss some of the words on the list – "How are these words related to a cooperative community?" You are priming the group with information about community behaviors. Some they might use during the activity, some they may not. Like this: Prime-Experience-Reflect. "What behaviors showed up for you and how were they helpful," for example. 

Then continue: "This is a timed event. Your group, all the teams, is challenged to complete the task as quickly, and safely, as possible. Time will start when the first person enters the letter pool in front of you. Time stops when every team has created a five-letter word. Here are the rules of play:"

RULES of PLAY

• Only one player from each team can enter into the letter pool at a time (e.g., if there are 10 teams, up to 10 people can be inside the letter pool).
• After entering the pool a player is only allowed to pick up one letter tile. 
• If a player chooses to take this tile from the circle, no one in the 'group' may look at the letter until it is flipped over onto the teams spot marker.
• All players on each team must take turns going into the letter pool - meaning, all players from a team must go into the pool once before someone can go in a second time and so forth. 
• If a team decides to keep the letter taken from the pool it is placed down on their spot marker and must be touching the spot or be touching a letter that's touching the spot.
• If a team decides NOT to keep a letter it is brought back into the letter pool and placed letter-side down inside the pool. In other words, if a letter is not wanted it goes back into the pool – letter-side down. This mean a letter tile may not be given to another team.  
• Each team may have up to six letter tiles at their spot - when the seventh letter tile is brought to a team's spot one must be taken back to the pool on the next player's turn and placed letter-side down before picking up another tile.
• When all teams have spelled out a five-letter word at their spot, the time stops.

Here's what I like about this variation:

• My educated guess is (I haven't tried this version yet), many groups will not have the foresight to assign each 'team' a different word from the list at the start. They do not yet know there are just enough of the right letters to make all the words. To discover this fact, they will have to fail, identify the problem, and solve for it before the next attempt. NOTE: I predict I will get this question at some point: "Do we all need to build a different word?" I will answer (repeating the directions), "Every team will need to build a word from this list." (I do not want to solve a problem I'd like them to solve.)
• There are resources that will not be needed to complete the task. What will they do with them? How will they discover they are not needed? What will they do with them? Will they be 'in the way' or will they put them somewhere so they they won't repeat work that is unnecessary? 
• When will they discover that helping each other, within the rules, is essential to getting 'better.' Who will discover this and how will it be accepted by others? 
• Will the participants focus more on the task, and getting faster, or will there just as much focus on the process and the people within the process – listening to and taking care of each other's needs. 

I'm guessing three or four games will shift the mental models needed and move groups to a faster time and acceptable interaction – process improvement. Check out the original post for some additional reflection questions I like to use with this activity. 

Let me know what you discover and if you find any other useful additions (or omissions). 

Thank you for what you do out there!! 

Chris Cavert, Ed.D.