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For my summative task, I wanted to write about my experience with games in the classroom. I have taught English as a volunteer for several years to all ages and cultural backgrounds. My most rewarding classes come from using games in the classroom. Not every student I taught wanted to be in my classroom or wanted to learn English. Things like grammar or pronunciation or parts of speech can be intimidating to the learner so I as best as I could, I always made the classroom a comfortable place to learn. This came from using games. In my younger elementary age classes, I used games like Fruit Basket that involved easy vocabulary words like colors or the days of the week. It was kind of like musical chairs but without the music. They loved it because it allowed for physical movement as well as word practice. They also liked chalkboard race games. I placed picture cards on the chalkboard and then the students formed two lines. I then said a keyword such as an animal, and the two students at the front of the line would run to be the first to touch it on the chalkboard. I think for younger students, getting out of the desk and moving will allow the information to stick longer and and they are actively seeking to learn the words so that they don’t let their team down. They also love charades, gesture games, role playing games, and shopping games which help with shopping phrases and numbers. I love teaching children because they when you get them engaged in a game then they absolutely want to learn it and do better and they can’t wait to play it again. When I taught adults, we usually weren’t able to do such physically demanding games that I did with the elementary students. We did things like Jeopardy or matching games. Normally, the adults actually want to be there to learn so they are always happy even when the lesson is about grammar and perhaps less engaging. When we do play games though, the adults like the more critically thinking games. Some that I have played involved the adults writing comics or stories and they would be chain stories. One person would start the story or comic and then they would write for awhile and then pass it on to the next person who would continue to write. This would go on until everyone got to write and then we could hear the story that was produced. They also enjoyed the speaking memory game where someone goes on a picnic and they are taking a certain food item, then the next person has to say the previous persons food item and add one on to the list. This went around until the last person and had to try to say the entire list of food that people said. This was an excellent game for vocabulary, pronunciation, and memory. It was very popular in one of the classes that I volunteer taught. Games are very important for the classroom with any subject, but I think it deserves a special spot in learning a language because of how intimidating it can be. they can be fun for the students and for the teacher as well.
