What the Wordle is a series of games for improving vocabulary that I made. They are very creative and meant to foster thinking skills of students as well as build vocabulary. You can get the PPT versions for most too! Edit and make your own editions…. Also a good example of using a Picasa slideshow to present information and make a game.
Find more in the Gems of EFL Classroom 2.0 series.
This “game” is based upon my first successful game “Who Is Speaking” which used the speech accent archive.
In it, you listen to the 1st Article of the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man spoken in a foreign language. Then you guess and see how you did. It’s quite the challenge! There are different versions based on length.
Give it a try or challenge your students.
Read all the “gems of EFL Classroom 2.0″ series, highlighted all this month.
I’m really proud of some of the creative games I’ve made. One that I really think is stellar is “Transl8it”.
I’ve recently updated it and get it through a now available “Big Screen” version. It is simple as pie to play and students love it. Maybe even get them to make their own games by visiting http://www.transl8it.com and putting in their own text which students can then decode.
[I'll be highlighting EFL Classroom "hidden gems" for the next month. Keep coming back for more!]
The “Top” games series continues! Today, in celebration of the forthcoming Earth Day, the top 5 games that focus on global/world issues.
Global Issues are something that students really get interested in. Very motivating for language learning and it brings the learning focus into the wider world and gets kids thinking, critically thinking. Even active. Further, these games are for the most part authentic. That can pose a challenge for many students but because of the strong context provided through visuals / text / audio in these game, that isn’t a big problem. One other feature of these games is that they will take time and are for the most part, script based.
So here are the Top (free / no need to download) games for learning about global issues:
1. Darfur is dying. A game where the student lives the life of a refugee camp member and has to make decisions in order to survive.
2. Sim’s Sweatshop. Students learn about life as a sweatshop worker. Really attractive and well put together. Students actually work, gain a wage and get to feel what life might be like for those in a sweatshop.
3. Spent. The player must make spending decisions as an unemployed worker and try to survive what life throws at them.
4. Finding Zoe. In two handy age levels, students try to find Zoe and deal with all the social relationship problems that come along. Promotes tolerance and good relationships between girls and boys.
5. Student Survivor. A student navigates through the quagmire that is university life and tries to survive.
Notable mentions: Ayiti the Cost of Life, Electrocity, Play the News and Quizzes with a social conscious (Aid to children, Free Rice, Free Poverty
All of these games and many more along the same lines (I’ll try to aggragate and make one category) can be found on EFL Classroom 2.0s game page.
The “Top” games series continues! It seems the categories are limitless…..
Today, I’d like to tackle “Game generators”. A game generator is a site or program that makes it easy for a teacher or student to make a game. (and I mention student because the optimum way to use a generator for language learning is getting students to make the games). Game generators can be elaborate or simple, they can be plain or full of sparkles. But what counts at the end of the day is that they function well and don’t take up a lot of the teacher’s/student’s time (nor have a sharp learning curve).
So here are the Top (free) generators as I see them….
1. Fling the Teacher. This game is super easy but generates a powerfully attractive and addictive game. Just add questions and answers/possible answers. Here’s an example. One of many on our Games page of EFL Classroom 2.0
2. QuizBreak. Brought to you by CLEAR (Univ. of Michigan’s – Center for Language Education and Research), it makes a Jeopardy style quiz game with the possibility of all kinds of multi media inserts. Works well and makes an attractive game. Will store your game permanently (you can’t download). Read my full review.
3. ESLVideo. This site allows you to make quick quizzes using Youtube videos. Students can share, teachers can embed the quizzes. Students email the results to teachers for tracking. It’s been around a long time but is still keeping up with the times!
4. QuizStar. Makes a very attractive quiz with photos/audio that you can show your students afterwords. Tracking of student answers and reporting is possible too. The drawback is that you need to assign a class / create a class. There is no fully public version. But the 4Teachers.org does a great job offering tools to teachers (like Rubistar).
5. Purpose Games. This site has been around a long while and developed well. Teachers can create very attractive interactive games (see this sample) and is especially effective for vocabulary. No registration except if you want to make a game.
Next up - Paid quiz generators and random generators!
Continuing on with the series of Top 5 games posts - today, I’m offering up the top games I’ve created. Games not based on any other concept but what I’ve thought up.
I got into making my own games simply because I saw so much “possibility”. A way for me to be creative in the classroom and prime my own teacher development. There is a lot that goes into making a great game;
1. Engagement. How to keep the students “there” and in the game.
2. Construction. How to make the game visually attractive and simple for a teacher/student to use/play.
3. Content. What to put in the game so it will be valuable for language learning.
Mostly, to make a great game, you have to really have a solid understanding of how students learn. That’s what excited me, to make something that better helped students learn because the game understood implicitly, what kept students ticking and piecing together language in their brains. To me, game making isn’t just Q and A – there is much deeper possibility.
I’m now risking boring you to death! So let the games begin – here are the Top 5 games I’ve made with an example and all available for download through the games folder on EFL Classroom 2.0.
1. One of These Things Is Not Like The Others. This game gets my top vote because of how it focuses and fosters student critical thinking skills while at the same time, keeping things simple. Students are presented with 4 images and must produce sentences stating why one thing is different from the others. Here’s a nice Picasa slideshow version I made (just pause and then use the arrow keys to advance) or try the flash version.
2. Top 5. In this Family Feud styled game, students brainstorm the top 5 words for a category. Then they check and get points depending on the rank of their answer. Worksheet included and check out the video a teacher made using the game. It can get noisy!
3. BAAM. Teachers have gone mad over this game. Possibly because it has templates of different length, possibly because in this game, any team could win right up to the last round/chance! Easy to put in your own content and a very simple concept. Simplicity is its key and strength.
4. What the Wordle. I’m really proud of this game (not really a game but a concept). I saw the power and beauty of Wordle and thought I could use that to make attractive games. The next key was to put it together using PicasaWeb. Bingo. You have a simple game of slides with hours of interaction / learning. See the whole directory here.
5. Lastonestanding. This game is a classic that you play with any audio or song. Students love it and it fosters great listening skills. Always a winner and a team winner!
Honorable Mentions. Transl8it.com / Story Dominoes / Pass the Paper / Bingo Basic
Still enjoying the series on games! Power point games are something I REALLY know a thing or two about. I have made hundreds and also designed dozens of my own games from scratch. They are great because a teacher can take any game, edit and then have personalized content for their own class.
There are many places to get this games around the internet. However, the games can all be found on EFL Classroom 2.0, shared by the teachers who’ve made them. See the list of all the games.
So, I’m linking my Top 5 examples there. It’s free, a quick sign up and then download as needed. Please share and post up those you have made yourself.
So let’s get started ………..
#1. BAAM. Without a doubt. This is a game I created. Very basic but engaging. It solves a problem with many games – how to keep students engaged when after a few questions/rounds, they know who’ll probably win? With BAAM any team could win, right up to the last moment. 3 sizes of templates. Really engaging and dynamic.
#2. Jeopardy. A Classic. Also flash versions are available. So many styles, many with the full sound/beeps and effects. Flash versions available too. If you are into making your own games – try Quiz Break for a great game generator for embedding audio/video into the game.
#3. Pass the Paper. Another game I created based on a regular game played in classrooms. Students in groups pass around a piece of paper while music plays. When the music stops, the person with the piece of paper must answer the questions on the screen or do what is asked. It’ll get noisy, be prepared! Here’s one of many flash versions also available for click and play.
#4. What the Wordle. Wordle brought vocabulary study into the web 2.0 age. What the Wordle is a series of vocabulary games based on wordle pictures. Lots of types and a real “thinking” style of game. See the picasa library here (non power point) – just set the play button to pause and use the arrow keys to advance/go back. Here’s an example. (also a creative way to use Picasa in education!)
#5. Top 5. This is the first game I ever came up with. Based on the Family Feud style of game but for language learners. Get the worksheet and play with it. Both group and individual point winners. Super engaging game that students can’t get enough of….
Get many templates here but you can also just download any game and then edit with your own content and use as a template.
Honorable mentions: Transl8it , The Price is Right, Guess Who, One Of These Things Is Not Like The Others
** Not your ordinary, endless list – just what’s number 1.
BAAM
I created this power point game a few years ago and since then, it has become a classic. Most visited resource on EFL Classroom 2.0 with combined downloads of 30,000! That’s a lot of BAAM games floating out there.
It is the perfect way for teachers to review their course content. Just put in your own questions / prompts into one of 3 templates (mini(10), medium (15) large (25)) and you’ll have a great time with students. Even better – get the students to prepare a BAAM game to play in class.
I came up with the idea after being told many times by teachers that the standard Jeopardy game was okay but the lower level students just lost interest and “tuned out”. I wondered to myself how I could create a simple game that would have an element of unexpected chance so to keep the attention of lower level (quite bewildered by a second language) students. BAAM was born. Even up to the last question, you don’t know which team has won.
One tip – get one student on each team to be their team’s scorekeeper or appoint someone to do it on the board. You are too busy doing other things as the teacher.
You can also play the low tech, non power point version of BAAM. Get all the materials, instructions – HERE.
Get instructions and all the BAAM games. Get all the games in our Power point Resources (thousands of already made games) on EFL Classroom 2.0 . Also – a close second is Fling the Teacher!
Larry Ferlazzo tweeted about a new BBC game called ONLY CONNECT. I tried it and found it terribly difficult! Too difficult for EFL students. However, it reminded me of my “One of these things is not like the other” game. and got me thinking that it would be a great concept as a thinking game.
** Not your ordinary, endless list – just what’s number 1.
There are many conversational games but I have found none so popular and powerful as “Pass the Paper”.
What is it? Basically, the students are in a group with one crumpled piece of paper among them. The music plays and they “Pass the Paper” . When the music stops, the one with the paper must do something preset by the teacher. It can be many things.
1. Answer the question on the ppt.
I’ve used this game to good effect at workshops as an icebreaker. See below and example of the many available in our resources.
Try “Pass the Paper”, it really lowers the affective filter of students and gets them relaxed and learning English without even knowing it!
** Not your ordinary, endless list – just what’s number 1.
TOP 5 is a power point game I made years ago and which I’ve received countless letters/emails in thanks. Really glad I made it and it is super engaging for students in the class. See below, a video a teacher made, showing the game in action! You can see how the students get more and more into the game as it goes along.
Basically, it is like the old Family Feud game. Students can either have a worksheet (preferred) to record their answers and score, or not. They are given a category and brainstorm their Top 5 answers while the “thinking song” plays. They have to be quick! Then, the answers are revealed and each individual scores. A group leader gets the score for the whole team and it is recorded. Continue playing as many rounds as desired.
A simple but fantastic vocabulary game! Get all the recently redesigned games in our Powerpoint game section on EFL Classroom 2.0! Instructions and worksheet included. Here’s a sample game. TOP 5 ELEMENTARY 2 THE TOP 5 worksheet
P.S. It is easy to play this low tech. Just print the slides (File – Print – Print Preview – x slides / page) and get the answers from the notes area in the powerpoint (right click each slide, select “notes”).
Tell us how you play Top 5 in your classroom!
This game, Guess Who’s Speaking, I designed using the Speech Archives and stock photos.
It could be a good listening activity for students (it provides repetition) and also a way to discuss stereotypes.
Basically, you first guess who might be speaking (these aren’t the real people but it is fun to think about this and gets us thinking about stereotypes too). Then, guess where they are from. Check. 20 questions plus one practice question.
This is based a bit on the Language Accent Game. This game is enjoyable but I find only useful with adv. learners. Thus, my own attempt…. (I’ll be tinkering with the game, changing, over the next few weeks as feedback is given).
I tried to do something different with this presentation of wordles. Simply GO HERE and see them. Play What the Wordle. It is in my Picasa web album – something teachers might use!
You can get a lot more Wordle games on EFL Classroom’s wordle page!
The powerpoint will be forthcoming so you can print these and use with a thinking song and answers.
I spent some time making a new word game. You could make your own too! I’m just testing this out and would like comments. Further editions will be “lower” in level and much easier. Just want to see how this might work as a concept. I got the idea from this blog I visited awhile back , Guess the wordle wiki – where they post one 3 wordles each week. Scroll down to hit “Today’s Wordle”
You can get a lot more Wordle games on EFL Classroom’s wordle page!
It’s called What’s the Wordle? Much like Guess the Google on our Games page. Students are shown a wordle [ a great place for you or your students to make word pictures!). They must guess the title or category/reference. they can make guesses then correct together. A correct guess gets a point or score as you see fit… Also points for adding to the vocabulary / wordle lists….Here is a worksheet but get the powerpoints with the “thinking song” to stimulate brainstorming and create atmosphere. Also , you can print the ppt slides as handouts (File – Print Preview – Print – page #- enter).
Here’s a large screen version.
Let me know what you think, comments appreciated. Now get What the Wordling!
