It is essentially a fiction book retrieval relay! It also requires some 
thorough planning before hand. 
Students need to be in small groups and work as a team. Each team is then 
given a collection of two different coloured cards. Green cards had a fiction 
genre written on them and a number on the back. 
The number correlates to the blue cards which has the same number and a letter 
of the alphabet. This letter is the first letter of the surname of an author. 
It is crucial that beforehand you ensure that there are books of a particular 
genre written by an author whose surname has the letter. For example,
"SCIENCE FICTION, 24" (green card) and "B, 24" (Blue card). Students would 
collect a science fiction book by R. Bradbury. Give each team a different 
selection to avoid mad crushes! 
Each member of the team takes it in turns to retrieve a book, according to 
the criteria on the cards, and when they return another member goes, etc. 
The winning team is the first team to retrieve all the correct genre and 
authors in their envelope. 
If this is as clear as mud, please contact me for clearer explanations!! 
Our students thoroughly enjoyed this lesson and have since applied their 
skills for finding books to read for pleasure. 
One small point to consider: our library has a colour code for fiction genres 
on the spine of the books! 
I hope you enjoy this activity as much as we did. 


Emma Austin 
emma@austin11.fs.net