Divide the class into 3 or 4 teams.
Choose at random a page from a monolingual dictionary and tell the students the letter with which all the words begin. Start reading out the definition (or definitions) of each word.
Students shout out the word they think is being defined.
Examples:
1. C, a public carriage of various sizes and shapes; original: Horse-drawn, modern: taxi (CAB)
2. P, a piece put on to mend a defect; a pad for the eye; an amendment for a faulty piece of software; (PATCH)
3. E, to gain by labour; to acquire; to deserve. (EARN)
Words: Write up the alphabet. The first team can write any word they feel they know how to spell correctly. The longer, the better, because it's two points per letter if they spell it right. If it is mispelled, the team gets only one point per letter - for the correct number of letters of course. Erase one letter of the alphabet the team just used. The next player has one less letter to choose from. If you play this game a few times in a row, the kids will, on their own initiative, learn how to spell many huge words in no time at all. Pockets: describe what you have in them.