Chilidogs and Classroom Games

 The chili dogs went over well.  At least I think they did.  It's difficult because students are not inclined to tell me when they think I've done something wrong or bad.  In any case, they all ate the entire chili dog, a serving of cucumber salad, and an apple turnover.

After we ate we talked a little about cookouts and socializing at these events.  Then they wanted to play a game.  I hadn't prepared one, so I suggested Hangman.  The students enjoyed it, but I could see them struggle.  On the first word they got to "parr_t" and it took a long time for the last guess.  The vowels "e" and "i" had been guessed.  The second word they lost with "_a_on."  I don't recall the other letters (s was one), but I am confident had a native speaker been in the room they would have known the answer.

Some of these students want to be English teachers, so I explained the strategy of the game a little.  I also said some teachers played this with classes to help with vocabulary and spelling lists.  There are only so many ways we create words.  The students were unaware of the fact that in the vast majority of cases, English words will have at most 3 consonants next to each other.  More often it is 2 or fewer.  Knowing that "guideline" exists helps with thinking about spelling.  Aside from that, being a good Hangman player means a large vocabulary based on reading.  It requires good recall and strong pattern recognition.  It would be interesting to make that part of an English language examination.  Here is a partially filled Hangman board.  How many words do you know that will fit?

After Hangman we talked about other games.  I came up with Seven Up, Pictionary, and Charades.  I really struggled to remember any more than that.  I don't think Board Races makes sense.  For young kids, BINGO is a good game in a foreign language.  20 minutes of listening to numbers.

If you think of something played in elementary school classrooms, please let me know.  I'm looking for ideas for next week.  

I'm planning an early night.  I need some rest after the busyness of the weekend and the start of this week.