Michael K. Milton: Musings on History & Education (mostly)

This post describes the design and evolution of Vocab Connect, a card-based vocabulary game built to get students talking through academic language. Inspired by the table-talk of Apples to Apples and grounded in tiered vocabulary, the game rewards students for making and defending increasingly complex connections out loud. This post highlights how the game has lasted nearly a decade in my classroom and how a recent redesign finally made it easy to build and share new decks.

Back in 2015, I purchased a new copy of Apples to Apples. Prior to teaching when I managed AmeriCorps teams, that was my favorite lunchtime activity. We played these epic games where the competition was fierce. 

But my favorite part wasn’t the winning – it was the table talk. I love table talk.

Making the case that your card fits best. Convincing others. Occasionally downplaying your own card when you were winning too much. Table talk just makes games better!  I was excited to revisit one of my favorite party games.

The social element stuck with me.

In the fall of 2015, I felt like I could breathe again after completing my Masters program. No more constant deadlines. No more coursework for a bit. It was a bit freeing and my mind had space to wander.

It was during this time that I had the idea for a card-based vocabulary game that incorporated the table-talk element of Apples to Apples. I wanted a review game that got students talking about vocabulary – making and defending connections between words. Around the same time, we had just done professional development on tiered vocabulary. This gave me the idea to tier the vocabulary for the game – opting for numbering the cards based upon complexity 1 – 5.

At its core, the game is a bit of the social element of Apples to Apples mixed with the card game Rummy. After being dealt a hand of cards, students lay down 2-5 cards to start their own connection piles or build onto the piles of their opponents. The bigger and more complex the connection, the more points it’s worth. A connection pile can grow to a maximum of five cards – anything more than that became unwieldy during early playtesting.

Scoring reinforces the same idea: add up the point values of all of the cards in a connection, then multiply that total by the number of cards used. Bigger, more thoughtful connections are rewarded.

But the most important rule has always been this:

You must make your connection audibly.

Every play requires an explanation to the group. Then the next player can build on that connection – or start a new one – but they also have to explain. I’ve found that students who are shaky on certain vocabulary words start to pick them up naturally as they hear classmates use them repeatedly and in context.

Sometimes students ask if they can use their notebooks while playing. Why not? The goal isn’t to stump students; it’s to get them playing with the vocabulary. If checking notes or receiving a well-timed hint keeps the game moving and the language circulating, that’s a feature, not a bug. This is especially true for some of the rarer 5-point words, which can be very specific.

When we play, students will often run through two rounds, and we sometimes highlight particularly high scores at the end. That little bit of recognition adds to the energy, but doesn’t overshadow the real point of the game: sustained, social engagement with academic language. 

Vocab Connect has consistently landed especially well with freshmen. My Juniors have also gotten into it, but freshmen tend to get competitive in the best way. I usually run four to five decks per class, with four to six students per group being the sweet spot (though you technically could probably play with two).