Using games in the primary Language classroom

1. By Rebecca Moody Georges River Grammar Using games in the primary Language classroom

2. Language games • Are motivating and challenging. • Provoke a reaction - amusement, challenge, interest, surprise, competition • Help students to sustain the effort of learning. • Provide practice in all language skills. • Provide a welcome break from the usual routine of the language class. • Encourage students to interact and communicate. • Create a meaningful context for language use.

3. Why do I use games in the Languages classroom? • Games are FUN! • Self esteem building • Involve the whole class • Gives everyone a chance to ‘shine’ • Help students learn vocabulary/structures • Great for revision • Students as facilitators of the game • Can be used to introduce new vocabulary • Can be used to informally assess students’ progress • Can be used as a reward or time filler • Fast finishers / extension • Learn through play

4. Preparation Grouping – May be in desk groups (at tables), teacher allocated to mix abilities, in a big circle, in small circles, lines on the floor, in pairs, or solo. I usually have different groups each time (unless it’s at their tables as it’s much easier to set up and pack up) Demonstration of the game is ESSENTIAL!

5. Resources • Large A4 laminated flashcards with TL text on the reverse, just a picture on the front. • Mini whiteboards, white board markers, and whiteboard erasers. (1 set per board) • Chalk, pointers, mini flashcards, counters, dice, puppets, toys, costumes… • Anything and everything!

6. Using props / realia • Use objects that are interesting / noisy / used for a different purpose.

7. Pin pon Maru (circle) = correct Batsu (cross) = incorrect Noisy and fun!

8. Fly swatter game • Students are divided into colour teams – eg, red, blue and green. They are then mixed (as equally as possible) into 3 circles. They are playing for their fly swatter colour. • Mini flashcards are spread out on the floor in their circle (have about 3 sets of cards per circle). • Explain rules to students: “Swatters up” until the word is called out, they can’t touch anyone with their swatter, tell them that if they fight with someone else over a card you will give a point to the opposing colour. • Call out a word and the students have to use their fly swatters to swat the cards. Do not let them pick up the card until you have checked it is correct. When you have checked, they can pick up their card and sit on it. Continue in this way until all cards are used. Students then need to stay in their circle and count their cards. Tally the points for each colour. Students then put their circle’s cards back in a plastic sleeve. • Can be used for any vocabulary.

9. Hedbanz Amazon $18 USE flashcards / text cards

10. B-I-N-G-O!

11. Pair games • Mini flashcards – bingo/snap/memory games • Labelling body parts

12. Sentence builder

13. Time Tracker Amazon $27

14. Buzzers • Can be used for lots of games / races. • Amazon – Learning Resources $14

15. Eggspert / Quizzard • Divide students into teams. Give students a find-a-word etc to work on when it’s not their turn. Use desks at the front to play the game. Position students in teams near their ‘egg’ so that it’s easy for them to get to their team’s chair. • Number players so they know when it’s their turn to play. • I usually ask about 3-5 questions before I change players so that it’s fast and keeps students interested.

16. Flashing and beeping fun! Eggspert – Amazon $38 Quizzard (Sale of the Century) Look on Ebay for old SOTC games

17. Let’s play!

18. Students as teachers / helpers • Pick a student to do the scoring on the whiteboard. I pick a ‘volunteer’ by asking the class a question – first correct answer is the score-person. • Pick a student (or a few students) to run the game – choose the words, check the answers, allocate points. They LOVE being the teacher!

19. Go outside! • Be seen around the school – “show off” your students’ amazing language skills • Students can move around and be noisier than when they’re in the classroom. • Sports games – country specific • Mini athletics carnival • Write vocabulary on concrete – how many words can your students write in 5 minutes?

20. Fruit salad • Fruit salad – 2 teams sitting opposite each other with legs out and feet touching (leave gaps between pairs). Can be used for any vocabulary. • Teams are in 2 rows and each pair is given the same word. The teacher calls out the word and they have to run over people’s legs towards the ‘end’ and then back up the outside of their row, and run over the top of the people’s legs at the ‘top’ of the row. • The first person to get back to their starting position and sit down gets a point for their team.

21. Number groups • Call out a number in the TL and students have to form groups of that number. Can also be used for shapes – students have to use all of their bodies to make a shape on the ground. • Students can also try to find the called-out number/shape in their classroom in a set time.

22. What’s the time Mr Wolf? • Students can practice asking and saying the time. • The ‘Mr Wolf’ student stands far away at one end, and the rest of the class stands at the other end, and they ask in the TL “What’s the time Mr Wolf?” • ‘Mr Wolf’ answers with a time (….o’clock) and the students take that number of steps towards ‘him’. This continues until either a student touches Mr Wolf, or Mr Wolf calls out “dinner time!” and turns and chases them back to their starting point, hopefully catching the next student who becomes ‘Mr Wolf’.

23. Simon says Teacher says the name of a body part in TL and students have to touch it. I usually have a ‘countdown’ of 10 seconds when they are beginning to learn the vocabulary, and then I reduce it to 3 – 5 seconds as they become faster at the game. Can also be used for verbs and adjectives – teach the students actions for each word, eg running on the spot for ‘to run’, arms wide open for ‘big’.

24. Around the world • Students sit in a circle (or at desks). Student A stands behind the student (B) next to them. The teacher shows them a flashcard/says a word in TL or English. • The first student to give the correct answer continues around the circle. The other student sits back down. • The winner is the student who gets the most correct answers. (If it is new vocabulary etc I will give a prize to any student that gets eg. 5 correct answers)

25. Spelling game • Each team has 3 sets of alphabet cards, and about 6 cards of each vowel. • The teacher calls out a word that the students know, and progressively calls out more difficult words. Depending on the class, you can call out unknown words to test their receptive and productive skills.

26. Cultural games Jan ken pon - Japanese Hompimpah

27. Cicak (gecko) game Students take turns to throw the die to draw body parts of their cicak. Students have to roll a 6 (main body) to begin. the First to complete their cicak is the winner.

28. Sut Gajah (Elephant) beats orang (person) Orang beats semut (ANT) Semut beats Gajah Sut ‘play offs’

29. Quick games • Play games that students already know the rules of. • Hangman • Use bingo cards to play snap/ memory/ whole class bingo • Simon says • Writing words on concrete with chalk • Scrap paper bingo – students quickly write some numbers etc on paper to play

30. Prizes • Merit system used by your school • Personal merit system • Small prize, eg stickers or jellybeans (check for allergies!)

31. Merit charts Students receive a stamp for completing class tasks / winning games etc. When they have achieved 10 stamps, they can choose a prize from the ‘Prize Box’.

32. Prize box • Students can choose a prize from the prize box when they have completed their merit chart. • Fill it with erasers, pencils, coloured pens, McDonald toys, sherbets, milky ways etc. Buy prizes at beginning of year back-to-school sales, and throughout the year when they’re on special. • My students are so keen to get stamps on their merit charts, that they will stay ‘on task’ and finish their work quickly just to get 1 stamp.