Categories Game
One letter. A word for every column. Say STOP!
- Skills
- Vocabulary, Spelling, Categories, Speed
- Level
- A1 and up
- Players
- Any number
- Time
- 3–5 min a round
- You need
- A projector and phones
If you went to school in Azerbaijan, you played Ad, Soyad on the back page of a notebook: someone calls out a letter, everyone scribbles a name, a city, an animal, and the first to finish shouts “Stop!”. English speakers know it as Name, Place, Animal, Thing, or Stop the Bus. Here it’s the Categories Game.
Wordlyy moves the notebook onto phones and the checking onto the projector. You choose the columns, a letter appears and students type one word per column. The first one to fill every column presses STOP, and the others get a few seconds to finish. Then the class goes through the answers together, and that’s where the vocabulary sticks: Is a koala a bear? Does Çay count for C? (It doesn’t.)
How a round works
Pick the columns
Type 2 to 10 columns of your own or tap the suggestions: Name, City, Country, Animal, Food, Thing, Job, Colour, Sport, Car brand and more.
A letter appears
Random, or one you choose: English A–Z plus Ç, Ə, Ğ, Ö, Ş and Ü. Every phone shows one box per column.
STOP!
When every column has a word that starts with the letter, a student can press STOP. Everyone else gets a few more seconds (5 by default), then all sheets lock.
Check together
All answers go up on the projector. Words that don’t start with the letter, or are shorter than two letters, are crossed out automatically. Tap any answer to accept or reject it.
An example round: the letter B
| Column | Aysel | Murad |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Banu +10 | Bəxtiyar +10 |
| City | Bakı +5 | baki +5 |
| Animal | Bear +10 | Bee +10 |
| Food | Bread +20 | — +0 |
| Thing | Ball +10 | Book +10 |
“Bakı” and “baki” count as the same word (capitals and accents are ignored), so both get 5. Murad left Food empty, so Aysel’s Bread is worth 20.
Scoring
- 20 points if you’re the only one with an answer in that column.
- 10 points for a word nobody else wrote.
- 5 points for a word someone else wrote too. Capitals, accents and spaces don’t matter, so “Bakı” and “baki” are the same word.
- 0 for an answer that doesn’t count.
Settings you can change
- Columns
- 2 to 10, your own or from the suggestions.
- Letter
- Random or chosen. In later rounds you pick the next letter on the results screen.
- Rounds
- 1 to 10, each with a new letter.
- Time limit
- Up to 10 minutes, or no limit. 3 minutes by default.
- Time after STOP
- 0 to 30 seconds, 5 by default.
You can change the letter if a round turns out too hard, add 30 seconds, end the writing early, accept or reject any answer, and choose the next letter. N on the keyboard starts the next round.
Tips for the classroom
- For beginners, keep to 3 or 4 concrete columns (Animal, Food, Colour, Thing). Add Job or Country later.
- Use the review screen to teach: ask the class whether an answer should count before you tap it.
- Go easy on hard letters in the first round. Q, X and Ğ are fun once, painful three times in a row.
- Add a column from the unit you’re teaching, like “Kitchen item” or “Feeling”, to recycle this week’s words.
Questions teachers ask
Which letters can come up?
English A–Z plus the Azerbaijani letters Ç, Ə, Ğ, Ö, Ş and Ü. I covers both I and İ. Ç, Ş and the others are separate letters, so “Çay” doesn’t count for C.
Does spelling matter?
Only the first letter is checked automatically. The rest is your call on the review screen: accept a misspelt word or reject it.
Can students answer in Azerbaijani?
The game doesn’t check the language, so it’s up to you. A common rule: English words for things and animals, any language for names and cities.
Try Categories Game with your class
Teachers start the game from their dashboard. Students only need the code on the board.