Games

Since learning a second language is hard work, the effort from the student is required and must be maintained. Games can help and encourage many learners to help maintain their work and interest. Teachers can also take games into building the perspective that language is useful, significant, and it has many advantages.  Some of the advantages of using games in the classroom: (from//“Six Games fro the EFL/ESL Classroom” by Aydan Ersoz)//

1. Games are a welcome break from the usual routine of the language class. 2. They are motivating and challenging. 3. Learning a language requires a great deal of effort. Games help students to make and sustain the effort of learning. 4. Games provide language practice in the various skills- speaking, writing, listening and reading. 5. They encourage students to interact and communicate. 6. They create a meaningful context for language use.

The approach I mostly identify games is the Literature Based Approach and the CALLA Approach.

I picked these two websites because they offer teachers a variety of games that can be used in the ESL and regular monolingual classrooms. I feel that a lot of these activities can be used in my Bilingual Kindergarten classroom because they come from activities and lessons that other ESL teachers have done in their classrooms. I have used some of the games provided by the two websites. One of my favorite games that I love to do with my young students is “Describe the Picture Game.” My students love to talk so I felt that this would be a great opportunity to use and practice their new language.

http://www.eslflow.com/games1.html

http://iteslj.org/c/games.html