Job Discussion Forums

[gypsygirl1475]

Can board games like monopoly or shutes and laters, ect. be a good tool for teaching? How about using movies without subtitles?
(Last night I watched The King and I with Debrah Kerr and Yul Brynner this is an excellent film for student teachers.) Just wandering if anyone has used things such as these to educate?
The reason I am asking is that Wal-Mart has a huge clearance sale on these games and others. Would it be a good idea to purchase a few before we leave for Mexico? Most are kids games but they have a few for all ages.

[TheLongWayHome]

In short, yes. Especially Pictionary and the one where you have categories and you have to think of a word beginning with a certain letter of the alphabet for each one. Can't remember what it's called. There are a lot of games that can be used in class, even the kids ones. Anything that's competitive generally works well in Mexico, as long as there's a prize.

[dixie]

I would agree with TLWH. Choose cames that involve thought, and oral/writing skills...especially ones that you could adapt to use as a whole class activitiy.

Games like monopoly, etc. are more "fun, free time" games in my opinion. They are good for having the kids use their English, while "playing." I had "Guess Who?" in my classroom last year, and it was good as the kids have to ask their opponent (supposedly in English! ) questions relating to physical characteristics. It provides them with the opportunity to use English in a fun, non-graded manner.

Triva type games are also good, just make sure they are the appropriate level for what you will be teaching, and that they are not too full of questions that Mexican kids would not know (as they are typically geared towards Americans...and stuff like tv shows, etc. might be beyond them).

[MELEE]

It totally depends on the level and class size you will be teaching.

In my teaching situation in Mexico I find movies are not useful for use in class, but I encourage my students to watch them outside of class. Now in the age of DVDs (you can buy any movie in the world for like 15 pesos in Mexico) repetitively watching a movie they enjoy, with subtitles in Spanish, sound in English, then both subtitles and sound in English, repeating scenes, going back over things they didn't understand--is a great learning tool. The advantage of originals over pirate copies is the pirates often don't come with all or any of the bonus material, which is usually shorter and easier to manage in class--like interviews with the director or actors. I find that the full movie is too long and requires too much prep to make it meaningful as a classroom activity to make using them worth it for me--but I teach classes of 20 some low level university students. For a small group of advanced learners it would be better. Especially if you focus on a sceen.

As for board games, I do use a lot of board games, but I use games made specifically for English Language learning, again, mainly because I teach large groups of low level students. I need to have 5 or 6 boards to use in my class, and I need to control the language. Not possible with "authentic" board games for native speakers. We do have some in our language lab and higher level students sometimes come in a small group and play scrabble or wheel of fortune. 10,000 piramid is a great language game (you have to get your partner to say the word without using that word...) but I've made my own version with vocabulary from our lessons. I have a computer based version intended for native speakers, and my husband who is a very good English speaker, but has never been to the US sucks at it, because there is so much cultural information wrapped up in it.

[geaaronson]

My 600 TOEFL scoring yuppies loved Scrabble albeit it was somewhat difficult using the Spanish version. (There just are not so many words in English with double rrs)`
They actually beat me in one game. The cheaters.
I`ve also Charades for teenagers, and a guess the profession cards. There are 30 illustrated cards depicting common professions and jobs and each student gets a card that he does not get to see but the rest of the class does. He gets to ask yes and no questions about his own job category and the winner is the one who can guess correctly in the least number of attempts.

[ls650]

One possible use of video: find a scene on a DVD or youtube and play it for the class for just a minute or so - with the sound off. It helps if it's some very dramatic scene with lots of facial expressions and arm waving.

Then break the class up into groups and have them write the missing dialogue in English. Have students walk up to the front of the class and read out the dialogues they've written while you repeat playing the silent video.

It can be a lot of fun....

[danielita]

Jeopardy is a great came for reviewing any topic and my students LOVED scrabble. Also taboo is a great game because it forces the student to use different vocabulary to describe something--which is a great tool when you don't know the word!

[geaaronson]

Wot�s with these pets? Dixie has a rat and Danielita has a monkey!! I think i will get a picture of ET and put him on my monikker. Oops, he�s not in my closet anymore.
OK, so wot�s TABOO? Explain it girl, and not in chimptalk.

[Phil_K]

I came across (and used) a good game which doesn't use any equipment. The students can prepare before the class. They have to write 4 usual facts about themselves, of which one is not true (better if it is based on truth but inaccurate!). The teacher can join in too with his/her own list (essencial for a one2one class!). Each student in turn reads his list and the others question him/her to find out the false fact. Sounds too simple but is very entertaining and was succesful.

BTW, as an example, my list was

1) I have a cousin who is a producer of the Simpsons

2) I once ran the London Marathon

3) I failed English Literature at school (brave admission for a teacher!)

4) I didn't own a pair of jeans until I was 35.

...if anyone want's to play

[geaaronson]

The false statement is that you didn`t own a pair of jeans until you were 35.

Okeedokee, here`s mine!

1) I have a cousin who is a producer of Seinfeld

2) A relative was William Casey`s lawyer

3) The only other Geoffrey Aronson in the world is the director of a Mideast think tank.

4) I left my last pair of Raybans in the states before I moved to Mexico.

So which is false Phil?

[MELEE]

Good old 3 truths and a lie!

I think Phil's is 2 and Gearonson's is 4.

Here are mine.

1) My uncle is a nurse.

2) I once spoke on the floor of the House of Representatives.

3) My last dog lived to be 17 years old.

4) I have two less teeth than most adults.

[Phil_K]

Well done MELEE, I entered the Marathon but wasn't selected as there was a ballot for about 30,000 out of 100000. Gearonson's is 4 and MELEE 3.

[danielita]

OK, so here is a briefing of TABOO (straight talk, no monkey talk!! )

You give the student a word on a card for example: BARNEY (yep, the purple dinosaur). Around the word there are words that are TABOO, like purple, dinosaur, I love you, etc.

The student must then try to describe the word (BARNEY) but they can't use the TABOO words and they can't act it out. So they could say something like he is a violet extinct animal that children watch on television.
The students on their team then try to guess what the word is within a specified time limit if they can't, their opponents have the opportunity to steal the point. If at any time the student describing the word says any of the TABOO words, they lose their turn.
Of course the words and the Taboo words can be adjusted to the level of the students.

I hope that's clear enough...

D

[gypsygirl1475]

That sounds like a geat game for teaching English! It really makes your students think about what they have learned, and then they have to actually use it.