Teach English in Hulihaiyuanzhongfanzhichang - Tongliao Shi

Most teachers realize that games are motivating and fun for students of any age. Following I have compiled a list of games that can be adapted for teaching English in a classroom. For consistency and simplicity sake, I have geared all the suggested modifications for beginning English speakers who do not yet have a reading English ability. Obviously there are unlimited adjustments that can be made to each game, but below you will find a helpful list. BATTLESHIP - This seek and find game utilizes a grid of letters and numbers. It works best with students who have an understanding of maps recognizing how a specific location can be identified on a grid. Students can begin with a 10x10 grid and can hide four or five vocabulary “battleship” words on the grid. Working in pairs, students will alternate calling out a grid location, for example player one will say “A1”. If their opponent player two has hidden a battleship on that space, their opponent will reveal the letter that resides in that grid square. For instance, if player two has placed the word “yes” in that grid square and the letter “Y” is in the A1 grid, player two will announce “Hit!” and reveal which letter was discovered “Letter ‘Y’”. If player one selects a grid square without any letters in it, player two will announce a “Miss” and then play two will select a grid location like “J10”. Players one and two will alternate calling out grid squares until all the battleships are discovered. The first player to find and hit all their opponents battleships is the winner. This game allows the students to practice their language skills while working in pairs. BINGO - This classic game can be adapted to suit a multiple of classroom needs. For non-readers, a 5x5 Bingo board grid can be created with basic sight words. Each grid would have the same 25 words but they would be arranged in a different order on each grid. The instructor would then call out a word and then spell it on the board for all students to see. The students would then have to locate the correct sight word and cross it off the grid. The first student to get five words in a straight line crossed off would call out “Bingo” and would be the winner of that round. The challenge of this game engages the competitive learners while simultaneously exposing them to multiple words. For more advanced students who are able to read, the instructor could create the grid board and then distribute them to the students along with a list of 25 words. The students would then make their own grid boards by selecting which words to place in each square. The winner would become the next person to read off the list of words for the next bingo round. This process would allow the students to utilize all of the language acquisition skills of writing, reading, listening, and upon winning - speaking. CANDYLAND - This classic board game can be utilized as created for a unit on teaching colors. Students are required to say the color of the card they picked at each turn. Variations on this can include assigning parts of speech for each color, for example a red = nouns, blue = verbs, yellow = adjectives. To aid students in this modified version, vocabulary words relating to a specific topic should be discussed prior to playing the game. CHARADES - Charades is interactive and entertaining for all ages and therefore an excellent game to be used in the classroom. It can be played by using a single word, phrase, expression, or full sentence and requires very little advanced preparation. Students unfamiliar with the game will quickly catch on once the teacher models an example of how to play. New players may need to be reminded that the goal of the game is to elicit the words through silent physical actions, instead of by speaking. This is a great game for kinesthetic learners who need the physical action to reinforce learning. JENGA - I am recommending two variations on this block tower building game. In the first version, students will answer a question from a list prior to placing their block on the top of the tower. The question list can easily be updated to correspond with the teaching unit. In the second version which requires more preparation, a question is taped to each block. When the student pulls a block from the tower, they are required to answer the question prior to placing their block on top of the tower. Students learn while engaging their kinesthetic abilities. MUSICAL CHAIRS - With shapes, colors, or pictures printed on large sheets of papers, this game can be played by marching students around chairs with one item on each chair. Play music and allow the students to circle the chairs. When the music stops, each student should quickly sit down on a chair and grab their picture. Each student will identify their shape, color, or picture. Begin the music again and complete several rounds so students will have the opportunity to identify several of the pictures. This game is good to introduce or review several vocabulary words. SCATTAGORIES - The object of this game is to create a list of items that all begin with the same letter in one specific category. For example, animals that begin with the letter ‘C’ could include the words cat, cow, cougar, crow. This activity can be done in pairs, small groups, or as a large classroom during the Engage stage. TABOO - The object of the Taboo game is to have a student describe a concept or word to a partner without using a specific list of related words that are “taboo”. For example, a student tries to get their partner to say the word “forest”, however the taboo words that they are not allowed to use are “woods”, “tree”, or “Sherwood”. Once their partner guesses the correct target word, the students switch roles. Taboo is a great game to use to expand vocabulary and can be used in pairs, small groups, and teams. 20 OBJECTS (MEMORY GAME) - This game requires a little bit of preparation time to gather the 20 objects but is very versatile in its application. The instructor places 20 objects on a table and gives the students one minutes to memorize the objects. The objects are then covered with a cloth and students are asked to recall as many objects as they can remember. The instructor can choose objects that are related to the current module of student (e.g. all yellow objects) or that are somehow connected to the current teaching theme. After the students create the list of objects they remember, the cloth is then removed and the students can review the items. This is a great game to introduce or review several vocabulary words. Games are wonderful for both students and teachers alike. Games may engage quiet students who don’t typically participate in classroom discussion because everyone participates in playing the games. Games are also a useful way for teachers to observe the abilities of the students. Instructors can monitor student progress when students are engaged in pair or small group games. I highly recommend utilizing a variety of games in the classroom environment and the above list is just the beginning of how they can be adapted for ESL use. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. 4 of the Best Board Games for ESL Students in Class - TeachingNomad.com https://www.teachingnomad.com/discover-more/nomad-blog/item/365-44 of the Best Board Games for ESL Students in Class-of-the-best-board-games-for-esl-students-in-class 2. Adapted Board Games - By Paula Kluth and Sheila Danaher. http://archive.brookespublishing.com/newsletters/downloads/kluth_board-games.pdf 3. Top 10 Board Games for Your ESL Classroom - BusyTeacher.org https://busyteacher.org/7756-top-10-board-games-for-the-eslhttps://busyteacher.org/7756-top-10-board-games-for-the-esl-classroom.html-classroom.html