I'm a banana. What are you?

This activity could be used as a review of vocabulary for an exam or it could be an ice breaker for an upper level Spanish class. I found this activity at http://literacynetwork.verizon.org/TLN/fileadmin/print_resources/tt_banana.pdf.

Steps:
1. Decide how many categories of objects you want and what the categories will be. (See examples below.)
2. Make a list of items in each category. Categories should have roughly the same number of items, and the total number of items should equal the number of students.
3. Give each student an index card with one of the items written on it.
4. Ask students to walk around the room saying, “I’m a [item on the card]. What are you?” in the target language. Their objective is to find other students who belong in the same category.
5. Once students have identified everyone that belongs in their category, they should identify their category.
6. Some words may seem like they belong to more than one category. For example, chest might be a body part or a piece of furniture. In this case you will want to tell the students in the category they have too many people and let them figure out who can belong to another category.
7. Give students three or four minutes to brainstorm other items in the category.
8. When time is up, ask a member of each group to tell what category the group members belong.

Suggestions for categories:
• Buildings found in your community: bank, drugstore, library, post office
• People connected to government: mayor, judge, council person, police officer
• Modes of transportation: bus, car, train, truck
• People in a school: principal, teacher, aide, student
• Furniture: bookcase, coffee table, bed, dresser
• Parts of a body: arm, chest, foot, neck
• School supplies: folder, notebook, pen
• People working in a restaurant: waiter, hostess, chef, busboy
• Family relationships: aunt, uncle, niece, nephew
**The vocabulary would be based on the vocabulary that the students have learned in past levels or throughout the year. It would also be appropriate to put cognates on the lists.