Category: Geen categorie

Geen categorie, vocabulary

Vocabulary: Hot seat

Astrid van Houwelingen

In the past few weeks this site has featured a number of ideas on how to revise vocabulary. Here is one to add to that list: The Hot Seat. It is a game which students enjoy as it is the right mix of frustration and victory. It is a tightrope we are walking but the victory is that much greater when you succeed.

The Basics

Level: B1-C2 (Intermediate, Upper-intermediate, Advanced)
Focus: Revising vocabulary, listening, speaking
Time: 10-20 minutes
Materials: Vocabulary list, a large screen or large sheets of paper, seat facing the classroom (teacher position)

Aim

Students revise their vocabulary. This can be done either before a test or after you have set some vocabulary revision homework.

The task

A Hot Seat is a situation in which you put a student in front of a class, where they perform an act or share their knowledge in one way or another. In this case however, the student in the Hot Seat is the one who needs to figure things out.

  1. Prepare a slideshow or a set of papers with one word of the vocabulary list on each slide.
  2. Put one volunteer in front of the room with their back towards the screen or the paper signs.
  3. Instruct the class that they will have to allow the Hot Seat student to guess the vocabulary item by using descriptions, synonyms, antonyms and any other ways they might think of. They are, however, not to use the word itself, nor are they allowed to use parts of it.
  4. If the student in the Hot Seat guesses correctly a point is awarded.
  5. Repeat with another vocabulary item for as long as you want.

Additional ideas

If you want to add an element of competition you could put two or even three students in front of the room and divide the class into two or three competitive groups. The group that has the first correct guess wins the point.

If you want the students to have their spelling on point you could give them a piece of paper to write their answers on. They will only get the point if their spelling is correct.

If you want to discourage using the native language you could subtract points for each word or instruction used in the native language.

If you want to sit back and relax you could ask one student to select and hold up the vocabulary item to the class and another to be the ‘referee’. 😉

Over to you: There are many other ways in which Hot Seat could work in a classroom. Have you made use of it in the past? If so, how?

Have fun teaching! ^_^

Love,

Astrid

Geen categorie, vocabulary

Vocabulary: Revision Bingo

Astrid van Houwelingen

Getting students to revise their vocabulary often enough so it sticks can be a tough one. Students find it tedious. They feel like they know it all after having read through the list a couple of times. Getting them to be active and work with the vocabulary can be a challenge. But there is no better way to get students’ interest than the words let’s play a game. In this case: BINGO!

The Basics

Level: A1-C2 (Elementary, Pre-Intermediate, Intermediate, Upper-intermediate, Advanced)
Focus: Revising vocabulary, listening
Time: 20-30 minutes
Materials: Vocabulary list, empty bingo cards (or let your students make a grid in their notebooks)

Aim

Students revise their vocabulary. This can be done either before a test or after you have set some vocabulary revision homework.

The task

So if you have never heard of BINGO, it is a fairly simple game in which you listen out for the information in your grid and cross it out once your number, or in this case word, has been called.

If you want to get started quickly you can make the cards yourself beforehand and skip to step 3 or even four. However, if you’re more like me, you make your students do the hard work.

  1. Explain the game to students that have never done the game before. You might want to model it the first time.
  2. Give your students an empty card or let them make a grid in their notebook (3×3 or 4×4 or 5×5). The larger the grid the longer the game will take.
  3. Instruct them to fill their grid with words from the vocabulary list you are going to call out from. You can let them write down the word in their native language or the word in the target language.
  4. Once students have their bingo cards ready you will tell them when they have bingo. Is it one vertical/diagonal/horizontal row or the whole card. Agree with students what the ‘penalty’ will be for a false bingo. My class opted for singing a song in front of the other students.
  5. One by one, call the translation or definition of the words. The students will have to mark off the word that has the same meaning. Keep tabs on which words you have called to be able to check for false bingo.
  6. When a student calls BINGO! they will have to show their card to you to verify they were correct. If so, congratulate them or give them a small prize. If not, let them perform the previously agreed on penalty.
  7. You can choose to give other students a chance at bingo or let them have a go at filling up their cards.

Additional ideas

If you do not work with translations in your wordlist but words and definitions then this would work just as well. Let the students fill in the word and you read out the definitions. You could do it the other way around but that would take up some time when creating the bingo card. Nice homework task though!

If you do not have a vocabulary list per se but you do want to expand your students’ vocabulary you could let them play bingo with synonyms or even antonyms. You would need to agree on a set of words that are part of the game. A selection of words from a reading text could work well here.

Over to you: Do you have any other ways in which a game like BINGO could be used in the classroom?

Have fun teaching! ^_^

Love,

Astrid