Let’s face it, game time is awesome. It generally excites the students, gets them involved, and lets the teacher get a bit of a break. Most games take little to no prep time and can be played at any point during a unit of study.
Do you ever ask yourself how you can make game time more meaningful? Or maybe you want to know how to get the most reluctant student involved. I want to share a few ideas that I use that are easy to add to your teacher toolbox.
Candy
Everybody loves candy (affiliate link). Candy, or food of any kind, is always a hit with students. I keep a stash of small, unwrapped candy in a plastic container in my desk drawer. Depending on my mood, I give a piece to the winner or winners if they are competing in groups. It is a quick way to reward and is generally enough to get the students motivated to play.
Stamp It
With many school districts banning sugar during the school day hours, giving candy as a prize may not work for your classroom. If that is the case, then I have the solution to that problem. Use a sheet of paper to stamp each time a student wins a game. This one is great because it is FREE to you. Just copy one sheet for each student and give it to them at the start of the class (or in the middle of the year if you have already started class). Each time you have a winner, give them a stamp.
I try to use a different stamp each time someone wins so students can’t sneak in extra stamps they did not earn. At the end of the course, you can collect the papers and give extra points for the wins students accumulated during the year. I am not really a fan of extra credit but in this case, I feel like there was learning that took place and it is a justified grade. Also, the points are so few that it does not really change the student’s grade at all. But that is a secret I never tell the students. You can give half a point for each stamp if you really want to.
You can get all kinds of fun stamps on Amazon. These are some that I use although you can find more on Amazon.
Homework Passes
I give these out sparingly so when I bust out a homework pass for the win, students go crazy. They want that prize. I generally reserve these for individual winners and not groups. It makes game time very competitive.
Special Seating
If you have a cool chair or a couch in your classroom then put it out there for students to win. It can be special seating for a day, week or month. It really depends on how often you play games in your classroom.
Vocabulary
You want students to really get comprehensible input whenever possible. So make sure you are using the target language even during game time. Use words like WIN, LOSE, and TIE. Ask the students questions like “Who will win this round?” or “Is this a tie game?” “What will we do to decide the winner?”Make sure you use every opportunity to build their language skills.
Have fun and always include game time in your units of study.
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