Korean Job Discussion Forums

[greedy_bones]

There have been so many posts I've seen mocking the use of hangman in the classroom. I would like to defend the responsible use of this wonderful game in the classroom.

In most of the classes I've taught, I usually use the last 2-5 minutes to play a game, if the students were well behaved and participated actively in class. Many times, the game I play, at least for lower level classes is hangman. Higher level classes, I do games like 20 questions, Mafia, or two truths one lie.

Hangman has a couple of advantages, I think. One is that, if you use vocabulary words from the day or week you taught them, it helps to reinforce those words. The second is that I believe it helps with reading fluidity.(I could be wrong about this, but hear me out.) When people read, they don't look at each letter and sound it out. They glance at the word and sound it out based on a few letters in the word.

"Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe. ceehiro." http://www.languagehat.com/archives/000840.php

I believe that if students can guess words like tiger or teacher when they look like t_g_r or t_ _ch_r, this might help in learning to read more fluidly. The principles behind reading with misplaced letters and reading with missing letters, may be different, but it seems that they are both using similar skills.

[losing_touch]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

There's nothing wrong with spending the last 2-5 minutes of a lesson playing hangman once in a while. However, when English camp teachers tell me that they plan whole lessons around it, I rather question their point in being here.

[MollyBloom]

I agree with the OP and YuBumSuk; I reward classes with hangman at the end of the class if there are a few minutes left, but never over use it. I have found that some students hate it because they tell me the adacemy teacher does it all the time

I have the students do it themselves (pick one student to think of the word and be up at the board) because I have more students speaking that way. I am usually impressed because they choose hard words to stump their classmates. One fifth grade class this week chose "encyclopedia," "disturbing," and "individual" as their words.

Sometimes to make it even more funny I draw a tree instead of the gallows and have them draw weird fruit or strange monsters instead of people!

[moosehead]

so I'm just curious here - do you also plan games around rape?? how about water boarding??

no seriously, how about lethal injection??

so why on earth does anyone think playing a game where execution is the end result is an acceptable method for of all things - teaching E??

oh yeah, I forgot, it is the language of the imperialists....

[Tobias]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[ddeubel]

There are many ways to play hangman without "hanging". Still it should only be used lightly, IMHO. But much better for students and self study. This is my favorite online version.

But your students will probably love Spiderman much better.

I have collected hundreds of the best online games on EFL Classroom 2.0. All for language instruction/learning. Try the Games tab or even better games in the Arcade.

Even a fun way to relax for those teachers who like language....

DD
http://eflclassroom.com

[MollyBloom]

[John_ESL_White]

[cruisemonkey]

[some waygug-in]

Basically, the game "Wheel of Fortune" is nothing more than glorified hangman.


My point.....

you can dress up any simple game and make it into something useful.

In the wheel version, no one get's hanged and teams compete for points. The students get a chance at utilizing other language related to the game, thereby using some language in proper context as well as trying to guess the vocabulary and structures in the game itself.

There is an online version if you like;

www.baryfunenglish.com

I think it's the 3rd or 4th game in the games section.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[aquaponics08]

I play hangman but let the students do it. The one who guesses the answer gets a piece of hard candy. They like it in the Middle Schools I work in.

[dean_burrito]

Nothing wrong with hangman. Good simple game I enjoyed as a kid. I also enjoyed playing it when I was learning Czech.
There is another good online version here, www.barryfunenglish.com ,
I like this one as the students get to compete in teams against eachother.
Use your head though, don't use it 24/7.