Bingo for Children An ideal way to reinforce children's knowledge of English numbers is to play Bingo. Instead of calling out the numbers in their own language, the teacher should say the numbers in English. The children will therefore have to translate the numbers to English and see if they have that number on their Bingo card. August 15, 2005 Flashcards Flashcards are invaluable for teaching vocabulary.  There are hordes of games you can play with flashcards, and once you present the vocabulary in the form of a game, the students will learn.  A few examples:     Memory Game     In this classic, you need to sets of flashcards.  Place them face down on the table or floor.  The students must find pairs.  Each time they choose a card they must say the vocabulary word.  When they find a pair, if they know the word, they keep the pair.  The student with the most pairs at the end of the game is the winner.       Find the...     Place flashcards face down around the classroom.  Say a word from the vocab.  The students try to find the correct flashcard.  The student who finds it keeps it, and the student with the most flashcards at the end of the game wins.     Go fish     Again, you need two sets of flashcards, and it is played just like the card game.  Students ask each other "have you got a ...", and try to make pairs.  With a small number of flashcards, this game can be pretty quick.  I like to play this game with ABC cards.  When the student matches a big letter to a small letter, they have to think of a word that begins with that letter.  When you use ABC's, you have 52 cards, just like a regular deck.     January 19, 2005 Secret Word Game   This game is a fun way for students to review vocabulary. To prepare for play, make vocabulary cards by writing words to be practiced on index cards. Explain to the class that the object of the game is for one team mate to try to guess the team's Secret Word after being given clues to the meaning by the rest of the team. The team that needs the fewest clues to guess its Secret Word is the winner.     To play:     1. Divide the class into teams. This game can be played with 2 or 3 large teams, Or several smaller teams.     2. Send the first student from Team One into the hall. Have Team One choose a word from the prepared vocabulary cards, and agree on several clues as to the meaning.     3. Have the student in the hall return to the class. Tell team mates to take turns giving vocabulary clues without actually stating the definition of the selected word. Have students give clues until the word is guessed. The team receives one point for each clue needed to determine the word.     4. Continue to play, and keep score, with members of alternating teams having a turn to guess their team's Secret Word. When all words have been used, the team with the lowest score is the winner.     Author: Irene Taylor     Source: http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/4221/91119 January 19, 2005 Beginnings and Endings   This is a simple warmer that can be used to recycle vocabulary. There are two basic versions: the spelling version and the sounds version.     Prepare a list of known words with each word written on a slip of paper.     Get the class to sit in a large circle. Start the warmer by choosing a student at random. Give them a word (for example, ‘elephant’ and ask them to repeat it.     The student next to them has to then find a word beginning with the last letter of the previous word. In this case an example might be ‘tiger’.     The next student then has to find a word beginning with ‘r’, and so on around the circle.     The game can be made more specific by focusing on a particular area of vocabulary such as animals, sports, countries and so on. It can also be played focusing on sounds rather than spelling. This is usually more difficult for the learners as it requires them to listen carefully and identify the final sound of each word.       By Tim Bowen     Source: http://www.onestopenglish.com/tefl_esl_warmers/beginning.htm   --------------------------------------------------------------------------------   January 17, 2005 Newspaper Bash All Levels     A variation on an old word association game. Choose the area of vocabulary, and stand your students in a circle. Say the topic area, e.g. food, and get the students to say one word/phrase to do with that topic. the only catch is that if they pause too long, make a mistake or repeat a words someone else has said, then they get hit (gently!) over the head with rolled up newspaper. It’s fun I promise.   August 18, 2003 Grouping Vocabulary One way we remember vocabulary is to put it into groups related by meaning. This can be personal, or more obviously logical. One way of doing this is to give your students the vocabulary to practise on individual pieces of paper, then get them to put the vocabulary into groups. Make it clear that it’s up to the students how they organise it, and when they have finished, praise every type of grouping. Encourage the students to look at each other's work as well, and to copy the ones they like if they want to. The finished results can be made into a word web type poster or sheet for the students to keep. April 11, 2003 Weekly Review Each week, keep a record of the key vocabulary you have taught. Then, sometime during the last day of the week, try one of the following revision activities.   Picture charades: Students form two teams. The teams play against each other, using the following procedure. One person from the playing team comes up and is given a word to draw. They cannot speak or use words or numbers. They have one minute to draw the relevant idea while their team has to call out answers. If their team doesn’t get it, the other team can have two chances to guess. Whoever gets it right, scores a point. Then the other team nominates an “artist”. For fun, try simple words like “hello” – which is surprisingly difficult to draw!   Words in a hat: Put all the words on pieces of paper in a hat (or a box). The students have to take words at random, then go back to their group and describe the word to their group without actually saying the word. You could make it more complictated, as in the board game Taboo, by specifying other words they can’t use – so if the word is Tree, you might say that they can’t use the words leaf, trunk, grow, tall, wood, wooden, paper. Although this is quite “preparation heavy”, if you use a regular coursebook or syllabus, you could prepare the cards to use again and again. April 11, 2003