Learning while having FUN
Yesterday I subbed for English/Language Arts classes for 6th, 7th and 8th grades. To make it a fun and exciting learning experience for the students, I played two games with them before getting them to write about a topic in their journals. Thanks to several wonderful web sites that provide tons of ideas about games for students, I decided on two. The first game was "Pass the Chicken" and the second one was "Spelling Bee".
For the first game, all students sit in a circle. The one who initially held the fake chicken must pass it to the person on the right and list 5 things before it comes back to him/her. Some of the students were quite nervous and had a time coming up with 5 countries, 5 things found in the backpack/kitchen/classroom etc. I encouraged the other students to help give clues to the one who was having trouble. I'm glad that all the students enjoyed this game while showing support for one another.
The second game was a way to help students revise some of the vocabulary words that they learned in the previous grade. Students formed into teams and compete against each other. Before and during the game, I reminded students to be supportive and positive about this game. For those who did not spelled correctly, I gave them the chance to re-spell the words so that they can have a successful experience in this game.
When I was playing the Spelling Bee game with the 7th graders, the school principal walked into the classroom. I was not aware that he'll be in my class so I was quite surprised to see him. Anyway, I invited him to join in the game and he accepted the challenge. He played two rounds with the students before he left the classroom. I'm glad that he participated enthusiastically in the game and students got to see the lighter side of him.
For the first game, all students sit in a circle. The one who initially held the fake chicken must pass it to the person on the right and list 5 things before it comes back to him/her. Some of the students were quite nervous and had a time coming up with 5 countries, 5 things found in the backpack/kitchen/classroom etc. I encouraged the other students to help give clues to the one who was having trouble. I'm glad that all the students enjoyed this game while showing support for one another.
The second game was a way to help students revise some of the vocabulary words that they learned in the previous grade. Students formed into teams and compete against each other. Before and during the game, I reminded students to be supportive and positive about this game. For those who did not spelled correctly, I gave them the chance to re-spell the words so that they can have a successful experience in this game.
When I was playing the Spelling Bee game with the 7th graders, the school principal walked into the classroom. I was not aware that he'll be in my class so I was quite surprised to see him. Anyway, I invited him to join in the game and he accepted the challenge. He played two rounds with the students before he left the classroom. I'm glad that he participated enthusiastically in the game and students got to see the lighter side of him.
posted by Jiru at
9:30 PM
