Communicative Crosswords are not your ordinary type of crossword. They require two people to complete the crossword. Each person is given the same crossword puzzle but with only half of the answers (e.g. one person has the down words and the other has the across). The students must not show their sheet to the other person. Taking turns they need to think of a way to describe the answer to their partner without using the word. Their partner can see how many letters the word has on their own sheet.
For example: In a communicative crossword about Transport one person might have a list of words such as 'ship, truck, car, plane, taxi'. The other person might have a list of words on their crossword such as 'canoe, bus, train, cruise ship'.
The person with 'ship' might go first.
They describe a ship to their partner: "It's a type transport that goes on the sea but it is bigger than a sailing boat. It is used to transport heavy goods. You can see them bringing things into the harbour. They are really big."
The other person (hopefully) would guess 'ship' using the letter clues from the words already on their sheet and the number of letters.
Then that person would describe one of their words and it would go back and forth until the crossword was complete.
This activity could be differentiated for students with limited language skills to include the clue to say to their partner. The ultimate goal is that they build the confidence and language needed to explain the clue independently - but until then I find with some students, especially those who lack confidence, it is easier to give them the clues to say and then 'ween' them off.
Here is an example of what a communicative crossword might look like: