The methods used to teach English can make it a boring chore or an exciting, fun subject. Repetitive drilling and mindless listing of grammatical rules does not encourage anyone aiming to learn English as a second language. Middle school students are easily discouraged so an element of fun and games in class can work wonders.
Games for teaching English to middle school children are fun and encourage learning. Games can be adapted to include the vocabulary or grammar being taught. Many board games can be adapted to be used in the classroom. Games are a useful tool to reinforce concepts informally.
There are hundreds of English language games you can play with middle school pupils. The only limit is your imagination. Sometimes teachers get weary, and it is helpful to have a convenient list of games to consult.
Language Games For Middle School
Grade six to eight students can be challenging to teach. They are finding their independence, stretching their thought processes, and questioning why they should learn subjects.
Making English class interesting and fun will encourage them, motivating them to use English to communicate. It is critical when playing games with this age group that a child is not embarrassed. The students’ egos and self-images are fragile, and they need positive reinforcement.
Balderdash
Balderdash is a board game where the contestants provide a definition for a word supplied on a card. The real meaning and the student meanings are read out together, and each student chooses which they think is the correct definition.
Points are allocated in the following manner:
- One point is allocated if someone incorrectly chooses your meaning as the real definition.
- Two points if you choose the correct definition.
- Two points if your definition matches or is similar to the correct definition.
Balderdash can be played without the board game. It may be better for a middle school class to make up your own cards as the official board game cards are too difficult. You can keep track of the points and total them to find the winner.
In a large class, the students can be divided into groups to play Balderdash, or several students can be elected to supply meanings each round.
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Cloud Gazing
It is sometimes useful to escape the classroom, giving the students a break from the normal routine. Take the students outside and let them lie on the grass and gaze at the clouds.
The students must describe what they see in the clouds. Encourage the students to use as many different adjectives as possible. The students can be divided into groups so that every student has a chance.
Different elements of whatever is described can be noted down and a story can be developed surrounding those items.
Countdown
Countdown is an incredibly popular British words and numbers game, shown on late afternoon television. There are two types of word games. The first one involves players being given a set of nine letters and they have one minute to come up with the longest word possible.
The second game being a nine letter anagram called the ‘countdown conundrum’. On the show the games are played individually but you could easily do it in small groups, or as individuals.
It can be a lot of fun especially if you get your students used to playing it to the point where they may start asking for it.
Charades
Charades is a popular game that also requires no extra equipment or preparation. One student receives a word or phrase they must act out so the other students can guess.
Charades can be themed to match the vocabulary being taught in class. Some middle school students may be shy about acting. Do not force them to act; there will be plenty of others happy to take the spotlight.
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Hangman
Hangman is a versatile game that can be used in a middle school English class. It is excellent for reinforcing new vocabulary while emphasizing correct spelling.
Choose a word and count the letters in it. Write dashes on the board to correspond with the number of letters. The class chooses a letter. The teacher writes it in the correct space if it appears in the word. If it does not appear, the letter is written on the side, and the teacher commences drawing the gallows and hanging man.
You can make a variation by playing synonym or antonym hangman. The teacher gives a synonym or antonym for the hangman word as a clue.
Joke Of The Day
Humor is a wonderful way to hook children into the learning process. Encourage the students to collect English jokes and remember them or bring them in a written form to class.
As an icebreaker or at the end of the class, have ‘Joke of the Day time. Anyone with a joke to share can contribute. The teacher should keep some in reserve in case the students have forgotten.
The class can nominate the funniest joke. Humor is an excellent way of sharing cultural information as well as getting students to communicate in English.
Tell A Class Story
Telling a class story is an easy game that requires no preparation and can be tacked on at the end of a lesson if there is spare time.
The teacher or a chosen student begins the story. Each student adds a sentence or two to the story. Encourage the students to be creative and produce unusual content, as it makes the story more interesting.
The teacher and class can elect the student who produces the most interesting part of the story if the students need motivation.
The class story can follow a theme, such as a ghost story. The class story can be generated by giving a heading like ‘My most embarrassing school day.” The story may also be undefined and wander where the students choose.
General Knowledge (Scattergories)
Some people call this game General Knowledge, and others call it Categories. Each student must have a piece of paper divided into five or six columns. Each column is given a heading such as food, drink, furniture, countries or cities, animals, names, clothing, or whatever suits the vocabulary currently being taught.
The teacher chooses a letter, and each student fills in the spaces in their columns. Points are awarded for each answer. If a similar answer is not given by any other student, two points are given. The points are totaled at the end.
Directing You Partner
The aim of this game is for the student to direct their blindfolded partner around obstacles. A maze can be constructed in the classroom for this game, or it can be played through a building or garden.
The game can be modified if space is limited. The students can direct their blindfolded partners on constructing something, making artwork, or putting on make-up.
Spelling Bee
The New York Times websites contains the popular American game show Spelling Bee. A player is presented with 7 letters and they have to create as many words as possible.
Letters which are highlighted have to appear in each word to add a nice twist. The longer the words you make the more points you get.
Challenge your students by having them try to create a Pangram. A word that contains all seven letters.
There are upgrade options on the website for those that want to take the game a step further.
The highlighted letter must appear in each word, and all words must be four letters or longer. Smaller words get fewer points, and a Pangram that uses all seven letters gets you 14 points.
Whodunnit Games
Along the same lines as Cluedo or Alibi, this is a great way to practice past tenses and there is little preparation required. All the teacher needs to do is create a scenario, ideally one that is linked in some way to an area of recent study, and explain the crime that took place.
Choosing a particular point in history and a suitable location is a great starting point.
Some students are assigned roles as suspects and they must develop a story/alibi to explain their whereabouts at the relevant time. The suspects should try to remember the story/alibi in as much detail as possible.
Another group of students has to conduct interviews of the students acting as detectives. They are trying to find the suspect whose alibi is most different to each others, i.e. the person who can’t remember the alibi. They should make notes of points of differences in the alibis.
At the end the detectives consult with each other and decide who the perpetrator of the crime must be based on the number of differences they found between the original alibi and what was actually said by suspects.
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20 Questions
One student must thing pf a noun, normally an object, place, or person. The rest of the class/group have to to then find out what that noun is by only asking Yes/No closed questions.
A nice variation of this is sticking a post-it note onto the back of all student’s heads with a noun. Each student then has to wander around the class asking one question at a time to try and decipher what their noun is.
Noisy but nice!
Conclusion
Games are useful tools when teaching English to middle school children. They make learning more enjoyable for the students and the teacher.
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