# Sentence Race: a word order game for interactive touch screens > A word order race for the touch screen: two students tap the jumbled words of a sentence in the right order, and the first to build it right wins. Free. Source: https://olyclass.com/classroom-games/sentence-race/ · Updated 2026-11-01 Sentence Race is a word order game for English classes, made for interactive touch screens. Two students stand side by side at the board, one from each team. Each side shows the words of the same sentence, jumbled in a different order. The students tap the words in order to build the sentence, and the first to build it right wins the point. Both can tap at the same moment, because the screen takes many touches at once. ![Sentence Race after a round: both sides show "He takes a shower at seven o'clock every evening." in green, and Team 1's side glows because it finished first](https://olyclass.com/classroom-games/sentence.webp "Team 1 built the sentence first. Both sides now show it in the right order.") ## At a glance | Players | The whole class in 2–4 teams free (up to 8 with Pro); two students at the board each round | | Time | 5–10 minutes for 12 sentences | | Works with | English sets with example sentences (3 to 9 words each); every library set of sentence patterns has them | | Best for | Word order, grammar patterns, reading, interactive touch displays | | You need | A touch screen (a projector works with your phone as the judge), and your phone as the remote | ## How to play Sentence Race 1. **Make or pick a question set.** Open a sentence patterns set from the [library](https://olyclass.com/library/), or make your own set from a textbook page: Oly writes an example sentence for each word. 2. **Pick Sentence Race, set the teams and start.** Two students come to the board: the left one plays for the team on the left, the right one for the team on the right. 3. **Play.** The picture for the sentence shows at the top. Both students tap their words in order; each word jumps up to the sentence line. Tapping a placed word sends it back. When all the words are placed, the side checks itself: right wins the point, with stars and confetti. Then the next two students come up. ## Rules and scoring - **First right sentence:** 1 point for that team. - **Wrong sentence:** the words shake, that side freezes for a moment under a layer of ice, and the words fall back to be tried again. The other student can still win. - **A different order on each side,** so nobody can copy their neighbour. - **Clues:** capital letters and the full stop stay on the words, so "My" starts the sentence and "day." ends it. - **Three or more teams:** two teams face off each sentence, in turn, so every pair of teams meets. The corner of the screen says who is up. - **Double and triple questions** are worth 2 or 3. - **Settings:** a timer per sentence (off, 10, 20, 30 or 60 seconds; running out means nobody scores), hide the score, calm or no effects. ![Sentence Race during a round: the left side built "o'clock. seven at teeth my brush I" and is frozen under a blue layer of ice, while the right side still has all the words to place](https://olyclass.com/classroom-games/sentence-ask.webp "A wrong sentence freezes that side for a moment, then the words fall back.") ## What you can teach with it Sentence Race is English only: it is hidden for maths, science and other subject sets. - **Present simple at A1:** "I get up at six o'clock.", "She brushes her teeth." - **There is / there are, can, have got:** any sentence pattern your book practises this week. - **Questions at A2:** "Where do you live?" is great practice for word order in questions. - **Longer sentences at B1:** up to nine words, with time phrases and adjectives. ## Tips from the classroom - Line the class up in two rows, one per team, so the next pair is ready. - After each round, have the whole class read the sentence aloud together. - Ask the losing student to read the winning sentence: everyone practises, nobody is left out. - Start with short sentences for young learners. Sets with 5 to 7 words per sentence are the sweet spot. - On a projector without touch, the students say the words in order, and you tap the team that was first on your phone. ## Play it without a screen - Write each word of a sentence on a card, two copies of each, and shuffle both piles. - Two students race to put their cards in order on the board ledge. - The first to read out a correct sentence wins the point. - Keep the score in team columns. The screen version shuffles the words for you, checks the order, freezes wrong tries and keeps the score. ## Questions teachers ask ### Is Sentence Race free? Yes. Playing is free, with library games and your own typed questions. The free plan also includes 10 AI question sets a month (3 from photos). ### Where do the sentences come from? From the example sentences in your set. Library sets of sentence patterns have one for every item, and Oly writes them when it makes a set from a page or a word list. You can edit them in the set editor. ### Why can't I pick Sentence Race for my set? The set needs at least 3 items with an example sentence of 3 to 9 words. Add sentences in the set editor, or pick a sentence patterns set from the library. ### Do I need a touch screen? It is made for one. On a projector you can still play: the students say the words in order, and you tap the team that was first on your phone. ### Do students need devices? No. The class plays on one shared screen. Only your phone is used, as the remote. ### Can a team lose points? No. A wrong sentence only freezes that side for a moment. For more games made for the board, try [Word Swat](https://olyclass.com/classroom-games/word-swat/) or [Draw It](https://olyclass.com/classroom-games/draw-it/), and see [interactive whiteboard games](https://olyclass.com/interactive-whiteboard-games/).