School words for Alias — lessons, subjects, classroom

Bell, desk, homework and the test. Everything you remember from school, even if you would rather not.

A set about school life: subjects and classrooms, the things in the backpack, teachers, breaks, grades and everything that happens between bells. From chalk to the staff meeting. Words everyone shares: every person in the room went to school, and every one of them has a story about it.

Who this set is for

Even first-graders take the first level. Then come detention, essay and form tutor — words that bring back the teenage years. The third level is for people who remember what a participle and a theorem are, or who stand at the whiteboard themselves.

Who this set is for

A family group with school-age children — they take the easy words faster than the adults. Class reunions: nearly every word drags a memory behind it, and the game turns into an evening of stories. Teachers, careful: they know the third level too well and explain it as if in class.

Homework

Works: “the thing you suddenly remember at nine in the evening on Sunday.” A recognisable moment instead of a definition. Does not work: “tasks assigned to be done outside lessons” — the room says exercise, assignment, project and reaches the word at the last second.

Cheatsheet

Works: “a tiny piece of paper up your sleeve during the test.” Place and moment give the answer at once. Does not work: “a tool for copying answers” — too formal, and the room starts going through hint, answers, phone. Explain school things through what people do with them.

Break

Works: “ten minutes between bells when everyone runs to the canteen.” Through what happens during it. Does not work: “a pause between lessons” — pause sits too close, and the room gets stuck on synonyms.

Where groups go wrong

The first trap is subjects explained through other subjects: “like maths, but with letters” leads to algebra, but it will not work twice, because the room names every subject before you finish. Better to go through what you did with your hands in class: test tubes, maps, the vaulting horse. The second: words that pull each other along — grade, mark, score, report — are neighbours, and the explainer blurts out a forbidden one. The third is teacher vocabulary: you cannot explain a participle through grammar, but you can through a sentence everyone heard in class.

Explain school things through the situation: "paper up your sleeve during the test" is a cheatsheet.
Do not compare subjects to each other; recall what you did in class: test tubes, maps, the vaulting horse.
Grammar terms go through an example, not a rule: say a sentence everyone has heard.

Easy

Familiar words that land on the first clue. For warming up, for kids and for mixed groups.

school, class, lesson, bell, break, desk, chair, blackboard, chalk, sponge, pupil, student, teacher, headmaster, backpack, satchel, notebook, diary, textbook, book, pen, pencil, eraser, ruler, sharpener, paints, brush, sketchbook, glue, scissors, paper, grade, mark, homework, task, exercise, example, problem, dictation, test, answer, question, hand, poster, map, globe, canteen, cafeteria, cloakroom, gym, library, corridor, playground, uniform, sport, maths, reading, writing, drawing, music, singing, English, science, history, holidays, September, bow, bouquet, flowers, first, graduation, celebration, friend, classmate, neighbour, copy, hint, late, absent, truancy, sick, note, queue, lunch, bun, juice, gum, message, game, ball, running, jumping, relay, victory, diploma, certificate, medal, friendship, locker, timetable

Medium

Takes a few sentences and some imagination. The default setting for an ordinary evening.

gymnasium, lyceum, primary, secondary, senior, freshman, graduate, tutor, mentor, deputy, janitor, guard, nurse, counsellor, therapist, register, journal, report, transcript, semester, term, credit, exam, examination, ticket, essay, presentation, project, summary, topic, paragraph, rule, formula, theorem, table, fraction, equation, graph, coordinates, compass, protractor, stencil, calculator, microscope, beaker, flask, reagent, experiment, laboratory, classroom, geography, biology, chemistry, physics, algebra, geometry, literature, grammar, language, computing, drafting, crafts, sewing, workshop, bench, choir, orchestra, club, team, olympiad, contest, competition, excursion, hike, camp, duty, monitor, assembly, meeting, remark, reprimand, punishment, detention, cheatsheet, cheating, dunce, prefect, cram, learn, revise, memorise, forget, recite, silence, noise, roll-call, whiteboard, marker, dormitory, stapler

Hard

Rare or abstract words. More failed rounds, and more laughing at them.

participle, gerund, infinitive, conjugation, declension, subject, predicate, modifier, adverbial, object, conjunction, preposition, pronoun, particle, interjection, orthography, punctuation, phonetics, morphology, syntax, stress, apostrophe, idiom, metaphor, epithet, simile, allegory, hyperbole, climax, composition, binomial, logarithm, derivative, integral, sine, cosine, hypotenuse, cathetus, bisector, median, parallelogram, trapezium, polynomial, discriminant, modulus, progression, factorial, set, vector, matrix, molecule, valence, oxidation, catalyst, electrolysis, photosynthesis, chromosome, mitosis, cytoplasm, evolution, inertia, momentum, acceleration, potential, resonance, diffraction, optics, magnetism, semiconductor, isotope, meridian, parallel, atmosphere, lithosphere, erosion, relief, civilisation, reformation, feudalism, absolutism, constitution, parliament, anthology, didactics, pedagogy, methodologist, coach, extern, elective, specialised, assessment, accreditation, ranking, scholarship, applicant, curriculum, independent, practical, seminar, handbook