GAMES IN TEACHING GRAMMAR GRADE 10

GAMES IN TEACHING GRAMMAR- GRADE10 PART I: REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE TOPIC Recently, teaching English has improved in method in the light of thecommunicative, learner-centered approach wh

GAMES IN TEACHING GRAMMAR- GRADE

10

PART I: REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE TOPIC

Recently, teaching English has improved in method in the light of thecommunicative, learner-centered approach which is adaptable to required objectivesand helps students have many opportunities to communicate in English However, atmany high schools, teaching English still has not developed students’ ability,activeness and motivation

For many years, versions of a claim that students remember “10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see, 50% of what they see and hear, and 90% of what they do” have been widely circulated among educators The source

of this claim, however, is unknown and its validity is questionable It is an educationalurban legend that suggests a willingness to accept assertions about instructionalstrategies without empirical support

A lot of new teaching methods have been applied in teaching foreign languages

in secondary schools As a teacher you are really annoyed when your students do not concentrate on your lectures It may be objective reasons such as climate and weather

or subjective ones as the lectures are not interesting enough Therefore, games are

very useful and effective They encourage being active, people like to win and they include some physical activities when participants stand up and move around.

As an English teacher, I really want to clarify the topic here with my knowledge

to analyze, understand the situation of teaching and learning English at high school;the application of games in teaching English at the school Thanks to it, I will find outlessons, experience for myself and make a small contribution to enhancing theeffectiveness in teaching this subject

"A good beginning makes a good ending." The saying is true for the TEFL

classroom as well Use effective warmers to start your interesting TEFL classes andgrab students’ attention So in this writing, I present some experience inapplying educational games in teaching grammar grade 10

PART II : REAL SITUATION BEFORE THESE SOLUTIONS ARE

CARRIED OUT

1 Advantageous conditions

- Parents and students are aware of the importance of acquiring a foreignlanguage

- Some students show a special interest in learning English

- English is one of core subjects, which are compulsory in final examinations atcertain stages of the school education system This will encourage students to investmore time in studying it

2 Difficulties

- Some students are not really interested in learning English

- Teachers do not have enough time to apply educational games in teaching inorder to motivate the students

PART III: CONTENT

Since motivation is not only a vital but also a highly complex factordetermining more or less successful language learning, it is necessary to examineapproaches to motivation in learning in order to bring about better insights into it.Learners’ motivation can change overtime and effect on their language learning.Various studies have found that motivation is strongly related to success in languagelearning

There is an interesting movement towards teaching English with games Itcreates students’ motivation in learning English Just imagine when coming in class,the teacher announces that it's time for a grammar lesson with games and instead ofmoans and whining, the teacher and the students get smiles and excitement

Students may wish to play games purely for fun Teachers, however, need moreconvincing reasons “Teachers need to consider which games to use, when to usethem, how to link them up with the syllabus, textbook or programme and how, morespecifically, different games will benefit students in different ways (Khan, J.1996)”.The key to a successful language game is that the rules are clear, the ultimate goal iswell defined and the game must be fun

Most classes should start with a “warm-up” activity to help the students relaxand settle into the class The warm-up is often a game, just to start things on a “fun”level The basic idea is to let the class play, have a couple laughs and some fun right

at the very beginning – work them very hard in the middle – and finish up the classwith some fun Following this process, where the class begins and ends with anxiety-reducing activities or games, we should find the students more motivated for theirnext class

 Circle

Teacher gives a word and each student in groups gives one word to make a fullsentence

 Unit 1: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF… – Pronunciation

Teacher gives the first word: THREE and asks students to give words

containing the sound /i:/ or /I /

Ex: Three sleepy sheep and a bee see Bill kick a big tin under the kitchen sink.

Unit 3: SCHOOL TALKS - Grammar

Teacher gives the first words (The) and asks students to give words to

make complete sentence having To infinitive or Gerund

Ex: The manager asked me to finish the report by lunchtime.

 Unit 4: SPECIAL EDUCATION… – Pronunciation

Teacher gives the first word: PAUL and asks students to give words

containing the sound Ο: và Θ

Ex: Paul wants to call his daughter not to pour water on the floor and watch

out the dog

The teacher gives a picture of a famous person

Students in turn make questions

 Unit 2: SCHOOL TALKS - Grammar (WH - Questions)

The teacher gives a picture of a famous person (Michael Jackson)

The teacher can ask the students to work in groups of 4 In 5 minutes, the group make more questions will be the winner

Ex: What is his name?

Students have to arrange the cards to make a story.

 Unit 3: PEOPLE′S BACKGROUND - Grammar (English 10)

The teacher copies and cuts up one set of cards (a murder story)for each group, shuffles them and places them face down in the middle of the group

Students have to arrange the cards to make a full story (they practice past tenses)

An old lady was found dead in her living room She had been hit on the head and jewellery worth five thousand pounds had been stolen from the house The murder occurred between seven and ten o′clock in the evening One of the principal suspects is Annie Hudson, the district nurse, who has the key to the old lady’s house, and who lives ten minutes walk away The cards contain details of Annie’s movements

that evening

The groups’ task is to read them and try to work out if she could havecommitted the murder or not Students should turn over one card at a time from thepile and discuss the probable sequence of events

After the groups have finished, let them compare their findings

How many cans can a cannibal nibble if a cannibal can nibble cans?

How many berries could a bare berry carry if a bare berry could carry berries?

/ b/ and / p /

If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,

Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

/ g / and / k /

How many cookies could a good cook cook if a good cook could cook cookies?

A good cook could cook as much cookies as a good cook who could cook cookies

 CHANGE SEAT IF …

This Game can be used at the end of the class after the students learnConditional sentence (type 1); so that your students go home with a smile on theirfaces; or you can play this game when you want to notice your students focus fading

Unit 8: THE STORY OF MY VILLAGE - Grammar

Procedure

To play this all you have to say is, Change Seats if

+ you have black hair

+ you have a sister

+ you like to eat hamburgers

+ you are sitting beside a boy

+ your favorite color is red

+ you like to do homework

+ you don't like to do homework!

if whatever you said is true about any student in the class , they must Change Seats

with one of the other students who also has to switch his/her seat This is one of the best Games to play with your class and every student will really be happy to play it;

and while you are playing this game you are also improving the students listening skills.

 If I…

This Game can be used at the end of the class after the student learn

Conditional sentences (type 1, 2, 3)

 Unit 8: THE STORY OF MY VILLAGE Grammar (English 10)

Unit 9: UNDERSEA WORLD Grammar (English 10)

 Unit 11: NATIONAL PARKS Grammar (English 10)

Procedure

- Divide the class into 2 groups

- One group make sentences beginning with IF I… The other will finish the

sentences

- The students put their paper into 2 hats one with IF I… , another with I At

the end of the sentences the students have to write their names The winner will be thepair has the most interesting sentence, the most meaningful sentence,

Ex: Teacher takes 2 pieces of paper 1 If I am a bird

2 I will be a monkey!

- Draw a noughts and crosses grid on the board

Supermarket Sournenir shop School

Post office Bookstore Movie theatre

- Divide the class into 2 groups : one is Noughts (0) and one is Crosses (X)

 Unit 2: SCHOOL TALK - Grammar (WH- questions)

 Unit 12: MUSIC - Grammar (WH- questions)

- Divide the class into two teams, and label the teams noughts or crosses

- Each team has to make a question correctly before they can place their

symbol into an appropriate place on the board

- The winning team is the one who gets a line of three of their symbols on the grid

Ex 1.What do you do in your free time?

2.What is your favourite sport?

3 How often do you watch TV?

4.Where do you usually go on a Sunday?

5 Who do you often spend your free time with?

6 Why do you morning exercises everyday?

7 Where do you go on holiday?

8 Where do you have free time?

9 Which sport do you prefer football or swimming?

Divide the students into two teams, the noughts and the crosses, and give out a worksheet like the one in the photo It consists of the nine squares of the noughts and crosses diagram, each containing the photo of an object or a person that the students will not know in English, but will be able to describe within the limits of the grammar(relative clauses ) and vocabulary that they have already learnt

The teacher can choose some students to play the games

 Unit 8: THE STORY OF MY VILLAGE - Grammar

The teacher can flip over a quotation card and the student whose turn it is reads the quote and reports what was said, heard, read, or thought For example, if the card

says it's a beautiful day then the student will say: He/she said that it was a beautiful day Every card has been designed so that the student can easily identify the pattern

quotation, the soccer ball advances one space (one player) closer to the opposing net If the student makes even the slightest mistake then the ball moves one space closer to his or her own net

 MIMING GAME:

Students use their bodies to convey the meaning of an action or an expression which the others have to guess It can involve all the members of class at the same time

Teacher can divide the students into small groups

One of the students in the group has to mime and the other groups have to guess

Unit 6: AN EXCURSION - Grammar ( The Present Progressive)

Students stand in front of the class and mime actions The other students must guess what the student is doing: She's driving a car, He's opening an umbrella in the rain, etc…

Unit 16: HISTORICAL PLACES - Grammar

I like to play a game where they search the class to find an item I have

requested The students are in groups, and I stand in front of the class As an example,

I ask for something smaller than a pencil The first group to bring me an item that fitsthe request gets a point Other examples include:

+ Something bigger than the textbook

+ Something older than the desk

+ Something newer than a new notebook

+ Someone better looking than the teacher (That always gets some laughs)

This game promotes the development of memory and observation skills

- The students try to remember what they have just read

b) Examples

 Unit 2: SCHOOL TALKS – Grammar ( Gerund - Infinitive)

 Unit 12: MUSIC – Grammar ( Infinitive)

Teacher’s activities & contents Students’ activities

•Have Ss play the game Explain the rule of the

game

•Post the poster on the board containing some

verbs followed by gerund:

Verbs Followed by a Gerund

finishforbidget throughhaveimaginemindmiss

permitpostponepracticequitrecallreportresent

resistresumeriskspend (time)suggesttoleratewaste (time)

•Put the poster down the table and give Ss 1’ to

discuss the answers

•Call on 4 members from 4 groups to go to the

• Look a the poster and check

board and write their answers

•Repost the poster to check the answers

•Announce the winners

 SIMON SAYS “Listen carefully to the articles”

 Unit 13: FILMS AND CINEMA – Grammar ( Articles)

When teaching articles, teacher often gives the rules of articles briefly and then asks students to do some gap filling exercises. SIMON SAYS is a well- known game

where students only do an action if the instructions are preceded by the words “Simonsays…” and otherwise stay still There is a fairly well known variation on this where students only do the action if the instructions are grammatically and logically correct, and this can easily be adapted to practice articles with instructions they should copy like “Look at the teacher”, “Point at the tallest student” and “Wink at a student”, and ones they shouldn’t like “Touch the student” (because they don’t know which one)

PART IV: ANALYZING RESULT

The table below expresses clearly the difference in the students’ understanding of thelessons with and without grammar games In fact, after some lessons with grammargames, the number of students who get marks 6 -7 occupies 40% while after some

lessons not having grammar games, this number of students is 10% Moreover, thenumber of students who get marks 7 -10 only occupies 25% in lessons withoutgrammar games compared with 40% of the students get these marks in the otherlessons The number of students who get marks under 5 here also occupies rather highrate (25%).

Numbers of students (12A9,10A3)

- During the game, most students feel interested, ready to cooperate to take part

in the game When playing the games, students express their motivation Moreover,students can revise the old structure and learn new one without being nervous or tired

- Although benefits and effectiveness of grammar games are proved, grammar games sometimes cause difficulties to teachers and students.

+ using grammar games loses a lot of time, so the teachers do not haveenough time to teach all content of the lesson

+ The class is crowded, so there are many difficulties both teachers andstudents including multi level learning and noise

In summary, learning grammar though games is a method both effective andattractive, and can apply in any classes

II Suggestions

Lin Hong, author of "Using Games in Teaching English to Young Learners",

explains that not all games are going to work to teach the students language skills Ifthe game is simply for fun and not linked to educational goals it may not be the bestuse of your time It is possible to have a fun game that is educationally sound,however To find out if the game is educationally sound, think about these questionsposed by Hong:

• Which skills do the games practice?

• What type of game is it and what is its purpose?

• Does the difficulty level of the game mesh with the students' ability level?

• Does the game require maximum involvement by the students?

• Do the students like it? Do you like it?