Below are some game descriptions for games that we use to help in classes. These games are useful for teachers and parents alike to help reinforce the material taught in the DVDs.
Each of the links below references a game description. This is just of a partial listing of many, many games that we have developed. Check back next month, and we will have more descriptions for you!
(Posted June 2008)
Response Games
Hammer Game
Minefield Game
Test-Try Games
What is a test-try game?
Hooks Game
Action Games
Do You Have? BINGO Game
Match Up Flashcard Game
Response Games
Hammer Game --
Materials: Two hammers, flashcards
Participants: Teacher and two students at a time
TEACHER: Lay out 8 or more flashcards on a table. Give hammers* to two students who are of similar levels. Then, name off one of the flashcards: Where is the "Apple" flashcard? Have the students race each other to try to hit that flashcard with their hammers first. Name off more flashcards. After a while, let the next pair of students take a turn, until everybody gets to go.
Students race each other to make the game exciting. The idea is not to keep score or to let students beat each other. Rather, you are trying to see if they can find the correct flashcard when you say the word.
Back to Top
Minefield Game --
Materials: Flashcards, open floor space
Participants: Teacher and one student at a time
TEACHER: Lay out flashcards in rows, face up, on the floor. For example, if you have 12 flashcards, lay them out in four rows of three. These flashcards are the "minefield" that the student is trying to get across.
Designate a starting point and a finishing point on the "minefield." (The starting point can be anywhere on the first row of flashcards, and the finishing point can be anywhere on the last row of flashcards). Have one student go to the starting point. Then, name a flashcard that is close enough for the student to move to. The student will then step off of the starting point and onto this flashcard. Once the student moves, name another flashcard. The student will move again. Name flashcards until the student gets to the finishing point.
If the student steps ANYWHERE ELSE but the flashcard you just named, the student has stepped on a mine and has to start at the beginning again!
Back to Top
Test-Try Games
What is a test-try game?
These games are called test-try games for a good reason. The name tells us what these games are all about:
TEST: The first part of the game isn't a game at all. As the teacher, you get to choose a set of flashcards that you have already introduced to the students in class. You want to know how much your students have learned, so you "test" the students one by one by showing them a flashcard and seeing if they know what it is. After you have tested them on several flashcards, it's time for the next part of the game.
TRY: In this part of the game, the students get to do an activity as a reward for their hard work. A simple example of an activity is ball toss: Students see if they can throw a ball into a basket from a distance away. The point is not how well the students do on the activity. In fact, the activity can be made harder or easier depending on the student. The point of the game is to give the students an activity that's not hard, but still a challenge.
Back to Top
Hooks Game
Materials: Mini plastic laundry hooks, table (and flashcards)
Participants: Any number of students, three or more is best
TEACHER: Place plastic hooks so that they are about half on and half off the edge of a table. Give each student a hook that they can use to pick up other hooks with, and have the students line up.
Test the first student with flashcards as usual. After the first student answers several flashcards, let him go to the table and try to use his hook to pick up another hook. Students are only allowed to pick up one hook per turn. THE OBJECT OF THE GAME is to get as long of a string of hooks as possible by the end of the game. Students are only allowed to hold onto to their original hook while they are picking up other hooks. As a result, if students aren't careful they can easily loose hooks off of the end of their strings.
Continue testing the next students while the first student is taking his turn. Students can go as fast or as slow as they want while picking up their hook each turn. However, if the first student does not go to the back of the line before the second student does, then the second student can cut in front of him.
The game continues until you run out of hooks. The person with the longest string of hooks wins.
Back to Top
Action Games
Do You Have? BINGO Game
Materials: BINGO sheets, flashcards that go with BINGO sheets, poker chips
Two or more students race each other to get a BINGO first
TEACHER: Take half of the deck of flashcards, and leave the other half for later in the game. Each student has a BINGO sheet.
To start the game, the first student chooses any one picture from the BINGO sheet and asks you a question from it: Do you have a WATERMELON? Look through your flashcards and see if you have the flashcard they asked for. If you do, they get to mark that picture with a poker chip. If you do not, they don't get to mark anything. Either way the first student's turn is over, and it is the second student's turn to ask a question.
Students are allowed to ask the same Do You Have? question as the student before them, but they don't have to.
The students race each other to see who can get a BINGO first. About halfway through the game, switch to using the other half of the flashcards just to change things around.
The game ends when one student gets a BINGO.
Back to Top
Match Up Flashcard Game
Materials: Flashcard set with pairs of the same flashcard
Two or more students (and teacher) compete to see who can get the most matches
TEACHER: Deal all the flashcards facedown on the floor or table. The first player chooses two cards and turns them over for all to see. The player says what each flashcard is. If the two card are a match, the player takes the pair and goes again. If not, it is the next players turn. The game ends when all the cards are gone. The player with the most pairs wins.
Back to Top
Remember! More games coming soon...
