Word Bingo

• Word Bingo Generator
• Word Bingo App

Buzzword bingo, also known as bullshit bingo,^[1] is a bingo-style game where participants prepare bingo cards with buzzwords and tick them off when they are uttered during an event, such as a meeting or speech. The goal of the game is to tick off a predetermined number of words in a row and then signal bingo to other players.

Bingos or bingoes. A game of chance. See the full definition of bingo at merriam-webster.com ». You can easily make bingo cards with words using a bingo card generator. First, choose how many cards you want to make, depending on how many players you have. Select the word card level, type in any custom words you’d like to add, then click “create” to generate your card. What they say about Canva.

Concept[edit]

Buzzword bingo is generally played in situations where audience members feel that the speaker is relying too heavily on buzzwords or jargon rather than providing relevant details or clarity. Business meetings led by guest speakers or notable company personalities from higher up the pay scale are often viewed as a good opportunity for buzzword bingo, as the language used by these speakers often includes predictable references to arcane business concepts, which are perfect for use in the creation of buzzword bingo cards.

Turkey bingo requires the winner to ask a question or make a statement using his/her winning bingo words, thus signaling the win to insiders while ideally prompting the speaker to respond as if the question or statement were real. An alternate variation requires the person who has achieved bingo to raise his or her hand and use the word 'Bingo' within the context of a comment or question. Other versions of the game require actually yelling 'Bingo!' To avoid the reprimands that would likely result from doing so, participants may resort to looking at one another and silently mouthing the word 'Bingo' instead.

An example of a buzzword bingo card for a business management meeting is shown below.^[2]

Creation and popularization[edit]

By 1992, college students played a game called 'turkey bingo' where they guessed which classmates would dominate conversations in classrooms.^[3] This led to a variant popular in business schools called 'bullshit bingo' based on overused business lingo.^[4] The Buzzword Bingo name was coined in early 1993 in an internal Silicon Graphics tool made by principal scientist Tom Davis in collaboration with Seth Katz, and popularized in 1993 in the first public web version by fellow employee Chris Pirazzi ^[5][6] The 22 February 1994 Dilbert comic featured buzzword bingo in an office meeting.^[7][8]

One documented example occurred when Al Gore, then the Vice President of the United States, known for his liberal use of buzzwords in enthusiastically promoting technology, spoke at MIT's 1996 graduation. MIT hackers had distributed bingo cards containing buzzwords to the graduating class. Gore, who had been informed of the prank, acknowledged it during his speech.^[9][10]

In 2007, IBM created a TV advertisement that was based on the concept of buzzword bingo.^[11] A 2013 episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Episode 10 of Series 1: 'Thanksgiving') began with a game of 'Boyle Bingo'. Video gaming website GameSpot hosted a video called 'Executive Buzzword Bingo', in which they held a running tally of buzzwords uttered during Sony's 'PlayStation Meeting 2013' conference event on 20 February 2013.^[12]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'Former envoy makes devastating attack on Blair's 'bullshit bingo' management culture of diplomacy'. The Independent. 27 April 2007. Retrieved 2 November 2010.
2. ^'Buzzword Bingo!'. buzzwordbingo.org. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
3. ^Granfield, Robert (1992). Making Elite Lawyers: Visions of Law at Harvard and Beyond. Routledge. p. 81. ISBN9780415904087.
4. ^Anderson, Espen; Schiano, Bill (2014). 'How Should I Deal With Student Pranks?'. Teaching with Cases: A Practical Guide. Harvard Business Review. ISBN9781633691131.
5. ^MacDonald, Elizabeth; Nomani, Asra Q. (8 June 1998). 'Unsuspecting Executives Become Fair Game in 'Buzzword Bingo''. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
6. ^Pirazzi, Chris. 'Tom Davis's Buzzword Bingo'. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
7. ^Adams, Scott (22 February 1994). 'Dilbert comic for 1994-02-22'. Andrew McMeel Publishing. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
8. ^Scott Adams: Dilbert 2.0: 20 Years of Dilbert. Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2008, ISBN9780740777356, p. 203
9. ^'Al Gore Buzzword Bingo'. IHTFP Gallery. 7 June 1996. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
10. ^T. F. Peterson, Eric Bender: Nightwork: A History of Hacks and Pranks at MIT. MIT Press, 2011, ISBN9780262295017, pp. 126-127
11. ^IBM (13 February 2008). 'ibm buzzwords bingo'. Retrieved 18 August 2014 – via YouTube.
12. ^GameSpot (21 February 2013). 'Executive Buzzword Bingo at the PS4 Conference'. Retrieved 18 August 2014 – via YouTube.

External links[edit]

• Custom buzzword bingo generators: 1234
• Dilbert comic strip on 22 February 1994, which popularized buzzword bingo

Sight Words Bingo is our most popular sight words game. It takes the traditional Bingo game and replaces the numbers with words, motivating the child to read the sight words so they can play (and win!) the game. Children love playing Sight Words Bingo, and it is a great way to provide repetition opportunities in a large group setting.

Each child gets his or her own Bingo Card with a set of words printed on a grid on the face of the card. The adult calls out words one at a time, and each time the child hears a word that is on their card, they cover the word with a marker. When the markers line up to make a complete row (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal), the child yells “Bingo!” and they are declared the winner of that round.

To play Sight Words Bingo, you just need Bingo cards and some markers:

• Printer paper or cardstock (approximately 110 lb / 200 gsm)
• Printer
• Bingo markers or counters (approximately 20 per player)

Use our Bingo Card Generator to produce one Bingo Card for each child, and print them out (preferably on a heavy-duty cardstock paper). You want to use a mix of newer words that you are currently working on, as well as some words you need to review. The Bingo Card Generator will also create a word list that you can use to help you run the game.

If you will be creating multiple sets of Bingo cards, it is useful to label each set on the back so that you can easily sort out the sets if they get jumbled together. (We learned this the hard way!)

You need some Bingo counters to mark each of the squares as the child plays the game. The counters pictured were purchased, but you can also use pennies, bread bag tags, pebbles, or anything else you have handy. If purchasing plastic markers, we prefer the markers that are plain and single-colored; multiple colors often prove too much of a distraction.

Some people use a Bingo Marker that the child uses to color the square instead of a counter. This gives the children a bit of practice gripping the pens, but it also requires you to hand out fresh Bingo cards for each round.

Each child is given a Bingo Card and a handful of markers (approximately 20 per child). The children are given 90 seconds to read all the words on their card. If there are any weak readers in the class, the adult should take this time to work with those children to help them read all the words on their card; otherwise they are going to be lost for the rest of the game.

The adult takes the word list and picks a word at random from the list. The adult reads out the word, uses it in a sentence, then reads out the word again. For example, if the word was plate, the adult could call out:

Adult: Plate. I ate dinner on a round plate. Plate.

The adult then marks off the word from the list to help them remember which words have been called already. The adult takes a long pause between each word to give the children time to play the game.

When the children hear a word called out, they are supposed to look at their Bingo card and see if they can find the word on the card (not every word is on every card). If they find the word, they place a counter on that square.

Word Bingo Generator

To win, a child has makes an entire line (five vertical, horizontal, or diagonal squares). For the purposes of making a line, the center space (free space) is considered to be automatically filled. When a child has a line, they yell out “BINGO!”

When a child claims to be the winner, ask her to read out her four or five words that made a line (more reading practice), and check these words on her card and on your word list to make sure she actually heard and marked the words correctly. If she played correctly, that child is declared the winner, and we move on to playing the next round.

We start a new round by having each child pass their card to their left, so that each child has a new card and is given the opportunity to read new words.

You can make the game easier by reducing the number of squares from the standard 5-by-5 to 4-by-4 or even 3-by-3, and by using a majority of older, more familiar words. You can also allow each child to retain their card for a few rounds so they become more familiar with their cards. As we mentioned, you can help a weak reader at the start of the game by having them read the words to you, correcting any mistakes they have made.

You can make the game harder by using a majority of newer and less familiar words. You can also add some time pressure and increase the pace at which you read out new words, so that the children have to read the words more quickly. Speeding up the pace of the game helps children master the words, as they are forced to truly read by sight and cannot rely on crutches such as sounding out the initial letters.

Alternately, you can make the game last longer by not declaring a winner until a child covers all the squares on their Bingo card.

Bingo is not the best game for doing an assessment of individual children. But by observing the whole classroom, you can get a sense for which words are flummoxing the children and need more work, and the words that are becoming too easy and should be removed from rotation because the children have already mastered them.

Remember that if you are playing with multiple children, each child needs their own card that is different from everyone else’s. Otherwise, everyone will get BINGO at the same time! The pre-made templates below include 30 different Bingo cards made from the same word list, so you can use them for a whole classroom of kids or just one child playing multiple games.

7.1 Custom Sight Words Bingo Cards

Use the Sight Words Bingo Card Creator to create your own custom set of Bingo cards. This generator lets you select from both existing sight words lists (e.g., Dolch and Fry) as well as allowing you to add custom words (e.g., allowing you to add students’ names or words relevant to a unit you are currently doing). The creator will also create a teacher’s word list to help you run the game.

7.2 Blank Bingo Card Templates

7.3 Dolch Sight Words Bingo Cards

7.3.a Dolch Sight Words 5×5 Bingo Cards

7.3.b Dolch Sight Words 4×4 Bingo Cards

7.3.c Dolch Sight Words 3×3 Bingo Cards

Word Bingo App

7.4 Fry Sight Words Bingo Cards

7.4.a Fry Sight Words 5×5 Bingo Cards

7.4.b Fry Sight Words 4×4 Bingo Cards

7.4.c Fry Sight Words 3×3 Bingo Cards

7.5 Top 150 Written Words Bingo Cards

7.5.a Top 150 Written Words 5×5 Bingo Cards

7.5.b Top 150 Written Words 4×4 Bingo Cards

7.5.a Top 150 Written Words 3×3 Bingo Cards

To download a template, right-click and select Save As.

These materials are provided under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Essentially, this means you can do whatever you want with the resources, provided you leave the attribution hallmark on the resources. You may use these materials in the classroom, at home, as part of a for-profit tutoring business, to wrap fish, or for any other purpose your heart desires. You do not need to contact us for permission to use the materials. We want you to use them!