The Olympics are here so I want to share with you how to bring Olympic vocabulary practice to your classroom. It’s no secret our students love to play games. As teachers, we should love incorporating games into our daily lessons. They are great for review and repetition. They make learning fun. With the Winter Olympics right around the corner, I thought it would be fun to incorporate some Olympic themed games into the classroom by creating an Olympic vocabulary challenge. Although this is focused on winter Olympics you can easily modify these activities for the Summer Games.
Let the Games Begin
The first step in creating an Olympic vocabulary challenge is to create excitement. This can be done in a number of ways but I like to set the thrill of the games by setting up a very large chart in my room. This can be a poster hung on the wall or a chart that is drawn on a whiteboard. If you plan to give prizes, these can also be set out in the room or displayed on a large table in front of the class. The goal here is to build excitement for the Olympic vocabulary challenge.
List on the chart the review activities you will be completing and let students know that there will be “medals” for first, second and third places. Medals are symbols placed on the chart unless you want to really give out plastic medals.
Olympic Procession
Establish teams in the classroom. I prefer to select my teams by choosing a selection of various skill level for each group. Try to make teams equivalent in skill by strategically placing weaker signers with stronger signers. Don’t place all the stronger performing students together. Give each team a country flag that represents their team. Or even better, let them create a flag that will become the first challenge.
First Olympic Vocabulary Challenge
The first “game” of the Olympic vocabulary challenge is to describe the flag. Each “Olympic” team will discuss how to describe their country’s flag. The team with the best description wins a “gold” medal. The following two teams win the silver and bronze medals. As always, you are the judge.
Other Olympic Vocabulary Challenges
Here are a few activities to use for your Olympic vocabulary challenge. The team with the most “gold” medals wins the games. While the second place team gets the “silver.”And the third place team wins the “bronze.”
- Fingerspelling challenge – the team with the highest number of correct answers wins fingerspelling gold. (see figerspelling ideas here)
- Vocab review – each team receives a set of cards with words on them. The team must describe the word without fingerspelling or give any part of the word. This is very much like the game Catch Phrase. Each group should have a set amount of time to answer.
- Javelin Throw – Teams receive a piece of paper crumpled up as their “javelin.” Each team member gets an opportunity to tell the English equivalent of an ASL sign. If they are correct, they throw the “javelin.” The furthest throw gets a point. If a team doesn’t get their word correct, they don’t get to throw that round. Complete as many rounds as needed for your vocabulary list. The top three teams win medals.
- Vocabulary Boxing – Set items that students should know the sign for in a box. The team must be able to name all the items in the box in order to win. The team with the most correct gets the gold.
- Basketball – Teams get a series of words signed by the teacher. Teams write the word on a whiteboard. For each correct answer, the team will receive a “basketball.” Basketballs can be stress balls, small balls, or wadded pieces of paper. At the end, teams get to shoot their ball into the trashcan. The team with the most baskets wins the game.
Here is another FREE idea for the Olympics.
Here is a complete unit on the Olympics for the ASL classroom.
Now go for the gold!
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