Stop the Bus

I'm not sure why this game has this name, but we use the concept pretty frequently. It doesn't require prep, so it's great to use on the fly.

Explain to the students that you will put several categories on the board (I usually use 4). Divide the students into groups. I often use the following categories: Adjective, Food, Animal, Place. Explain that you will write one letter on the board. Each team is to work as quickly as they can to come up with a word for each category. The words must start with the letter you have chosen.

Example: "B"
Adjective...beautiful
Food...bananas
Animal...bear
Place...Berlin

The first team to finish wins that round. Write their answers on the board. With groups that have a little more skill, once we have several letters and their accompanying words on the board, we ask the students to write a story of 3-5 sentences, using 5 or 6 of the words on the board. They usually enjoy that.