Games With Learning Objectives

Games make learning much more enjoyable.

Games with learning objectives are important for students because they act as an incentive for learning the lesson. They make learning fun and easier to enjoy, especially when the students are not very interested in the subject that is being learned. There are many games that different subjects and lessons can be tied in with to make learning fun. These games can be played in the classroom or in the home to make teaching lessons easier and much more enjoyable.

Hot Seat

Hot Seat is a game that is played with more than one student. It is best suited for a classroom atmosphere. In Hot Seat, the student chosen to play first sits in a chair with her back turned to the chalkboard. The teacher writes a word on the chalkboard and the rest of the students try to help the player guess the vocabulary word using clue words. This game helps retention of vocabulary words and also helps in social development of the students.

I Spy

I Spy is a game that has been around for a long time, and most people know exactly what it is when they hear the name. When playing I Spy, one student is chosen to spy first and that student searches the room for something to spy. When found, the student observes the color and proclaims, "I spy something (color of object)" to the rest of the players. Now knowing the color of the object, the rest of the players search the room and try to guess what was spied. I Spy teaches color recognition while letting the players deduce what the object could and could not be.

Popcorn Reading

Popcorn Reading is a very strong tool used to help students feel more comfortable reading aloud in front of other students. It is possible that this game is called many different names, but the game is the same. Books are passed out to all the students so that they can follow along and begin reading when they are called upon. To play Popcorn Reading, either the teacher or a student chosen will begin reading aloud from the book. At any given time during reading that student can stop and choose someone else to pick up where they left off by saying "Popcorn (name of chosen student)."

Multiplication Bingo

Multiplication Bingo is very similar to regular Bingo except that instead of numbers being chosen from a hat, so to speak, the students will need to complete a multiplication problem and look for the correct product on their Bingo cards. The teacher will either pass out Bingo printouts or have the students create their own Bingo cards from sheets of paper. The teacher will call out a multiplication problem and the students will have to solve the problem and look for the correct product on their Bingo cards. When found, the product is marked out.

References

• English 4 Kids: ESL Kids Lab, Games, Hot Seat
• Scholastic: Multiplication Bingo