Games We Play

As a way to keep the classes interesting & give the kiddies a break from the monotony of our daily English lessons (plus maintain my sanity to some extent), I've integrated a variety of games & activities into the curriculum. I guess it's my belief that class needs to have a bit of energy & a fun element to help the kids with their learning and application of what they've learned. This obviously isn't breaking any new ground in the academic world but it's been interesting using it in a little different capacity than the Koreans are used to.

Of the games, Bingo is probably the resounding favorite amongst the little ones but they seem to like a memory/matching game quite a bit, too. They've even asked for Simon Says a couple times (some of the older kids were telling them about it) and it seems to be a more tangibly applicable activity for the kids who are a few years into their English language adventure. I've also done a little Go Fish & UNO type games with the older classes as well.

I was really surprised to see how many times they want to play Rock, Paper, Scissors just for fun, seeing how there isn't really much we can do with it in an academic capacity but it's good to help them decide who gets to go first when we write sentences/words on the board or do our question/answer activities.

Another one is hangman, which is pure genius since they not only get to play a game the last few minutes of class but they have to use words from the lessons we've studied in the book (we take about six weeks for each level book). I also make them use two different colored board markers, one for vowels & another for consonants as a way to help them differentiate.

Bingo serves about the same functionality but I gear it more towards the Phonics and lower levels. I hold up a picture flashcard, they have to identify the picture, then correctly spell the word on their Bingo card until we use all the words from the lesson & their card is filled up (9 or 16 spaces normally). Then we either roll a dice or they pick a card from the pile I'm holding (not showing the image or word on the back), they have to tell me (read) the word w/out looking at the picture. I can usually recognize pretty quickly which kids struggle reading the words or with their pronunciation. I've also added more complexity by having the kids list, for instance, all the words they think of that uses certain letters (like long vowel a - cake, bake, lake, take, etc), then from our list, they can fill up their bingo boards. This way they all don't automatically have the same words & there tends to be more disparity amongst the winners, rather than everyone winning at the same time.

Simon Says has become a great game for them to work on not only listening but also learning body parts. I've gotten progressively faster but the kids have become much more astute at the game, therefore making it even harder to get them out but I think that's probably a good thing - they're learning! The only predicament now is that the Otae school just hired a new Korean teacher & wouldn't you know it, his name is Simon.

I made a couple attempts at 'Heads Up/Seven Up' with a few classes, too but the 'complexity' of the game seemed a bit befuddling initially, so it wasn't much of a success. Hence, I never have gone back to modifying it to work more seamlessly but I've still got a couple weeks level, maybe I can still make a go of it!

Finally, I've worked with some of the older kids on a game where one student writes a word on the board (often, the first to go is obviously chosen through a rigorous game of Rock, Paper, Scissors), then another comes up & writes a word starting with the last letter of the previous word.

I know, you're probably wondering if all I've done this past year is play games, go to temples & take a bunch of pictures but, honestly, if education is done properly, it really can be fun for all involved....man I wish  somebody would figure things out in the Dept of Education - sure, tests are important but c'mon, people, give the kids a reason to want to actually go to school AND learn something. Anybody seen the latest worldwide standings on education? I haven't for a couple years but I do know America is WAY DOWN THE LIST!

Sorry, the last part was just a little educator rambling....

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving & the upcoming holidays are joyous, festive & safe for all.

Be well!