INGLES 2014/15 )) ex Tero 18 woww.premires 3.2.1.- STRUCTURE GAMES. Many games provide experience of the use of particular patterns of syntax in communication, and these are called structure games. Among them, perhaps, the most suitable for our young learners are guessing games. We are going to see an example where they will have to brush up vocabulary, we can include typical British objects and to practise there's, there're. We bring a bag into the class. One of the pupils looks at the bag and asks the rest of the class “What's in my bag today?” The children guess, for instance “There's an apple/a fhamburger/a train ticket /a pound’ and the owner of the bag answers accordingly using "Yes, | there's a..." or "No, there isn'ta...” We can make the game more interesting putting pictures inthe bag. We should limit vocabulary to those words learnt, maybe, in the last week, so our pupils do not feel discouraged by wrong guesses if the possibilities are not strictly limited. 3.2.2 VOCABULARY GAMES. : Vocabulary games focus the learners’ attention mainly on words. We have included rnere number games, which are very commonly used with our pupils, but leave aside spelling ‘games as they present specific characteristics. We can see two examples: + Ispy'isan old and simple vocabulary game, but it s really effective. A pupil says: “spy With my lite eye Something beginning with A/B/C...(any leter)” Others guess what the object is. The object must be visible in the room or in a wall picture. Instead of using spy we can use the following rhyme: “One, two, three, What can I see? Something inthis classroom Beginning with A/B/C... (any letter)” ‘+ There are plenty of number games, the most well known is Bingo. In this example we hhave written several numbers on the blackboard, something this: "Its the English equivalent of our Veo, veo Pag-15MAESTROS INGLES 2014/15 Tema 18 2 wow premir.es PREMIR The numbers chosen will of course depend on our pupils’ knowledge. There are two teams and one member of each stands at the board, coloured in hand (each team has 2 different colour). Another pupil stands by the blackboard and calls out one of the numbers. Immediately the two look for it, and the first to put a ring round it scores a point. Those at the blackboard should be replaced after each correct guess after three wrong guesses, 3.2.3.- PRONUNCIATION GAMES. Pronunciation games should be help up regularly, but not for long periods -we must remember that our pupils’ span of attention is very short-. With our youngest pupils we must "use pronunciation games based on isolated words and sounds, as their range of vocabulary is rather restricted. Our pupils can act as conductors of the game if their pronunciation is reasonably good. It is interesting that inability to make their classmates understand what they are saying does a lot to convince our pupil of the shortcomings of their pronunciation. We now see two examples of pronunciation games: one at word level, suitable for our ‘youngest pupils, and one at sentence level, suitable for the third cycle. To play pronunciation bingo, first you need to think up a bunch of words that sound similar (bath, bass, Beth, Bess, bus, but, bat, path, pat, bit, pit, etc, etc]. Now, make up a stack of cards with all your words and bunch of bingo boards (each student has a set of six, and she usually can use them with groups of 20—it usually does not matter if some students the same board. Because it is rather challenging to distinguish between similar sounds, we normally do not have more than one winner). For the really adventurous teacher, you can have the bingo winner read out the words for the next game. Next, we call out a series of words, corresponding with what is in the pictures, and the players look at their cards and their loose pictures, to see whether they have what is called. If they have the picture both in the card and separately they put the separate picture on the card. The first to have all the pictures on their cards covered raise their hands. ‘Spoken messages, or Chinese whispers, can be used with our oldest pupils to show them the difficulty of passing a spoken message unchanged from one pupil to another. We ‘ive the message orally to the team leaders and at the word GO they must whisper it to the next member of the team, and so on. The last member of the team writes the message he has received. The team which has managed to pass the message through with least change ‘gains 2 point. Messages should be neither too difficult nor too easy and should be interesting and relevant to our pupils. Pag-16INGLES 2014/15 ) Pera Tema 18 www.premires 3.2.4. SPELLING GAMES. Spelling games should not be played as if they were only a test. Every spelling game should include a short period of study. As a general rule we must not make our pupils spell what they cannot say. Stepping stones is quite an entertaining game. A river is drawn on the board and the task is cross it by the stepping stones. Pupils must spell a word correctly in each stone. If ‘we want to do it with more than one child at the same time we can draw more than one set of stepping stones, if you have a lot of space you can draw stepping stones on the floor and the pupils hold the word-cards of the words they have spelt. 3.2.5 UISTEN/ READ AND DO GAMES. Nowadays it is an accepted principle that language learning occurs not only when our pupils are producing but also when are engaged in meaningful reception. The examples, one listen-and-do and one read-and-do games, are specially suitable for our youngest learners 5 they can show understanding without needing to produce a verbal response. These games are widely used in the Total Physical Response method. In doing what you are told, 2 command or a series of commands is given, which someone must obey, e.g. "Touch a notebook. Hold up a ruler...” This activity can be used with our oldest pupils. We can stick two pieces of paper facing each other with the words ‘make and do written on them. Our pupils stay in the middle of the class, we say words which ‘normally take one of the other and the pupils must go to the side they think correct. We do this several times until only a reduced group remains and they are the winners. ‘The same activity can be used in written form once our pupils are used to giving and ‘obeying commands orally. We can make flashcards with commands such as: = Open the door. — Walk to the blackboard, = Open your notebook. We can also write a set A of cards with some questions and another set, set 8, with the appropriate answers. A pupils in Team A holst up and a pupil in B must answer it 3.26. MIME AND ROLE PLAY. Children in general like any sort of play-acting. Role-playing helps to bring the language to life and to give our pupils some experience of its use as a means of communication. ‘Miming can be to teach our pupils many actions that cannot be performed in the classroom, such as washing your face, knitting and swimming. A traditional singing and miming game which our youngest pupils may enjoy is The mulberry bush. Our pupils join hands and run or dance round in a ring singing: Pag:17Tema 18 wwww.premir.es MAESTROS INGLES 2014/15 yy PREMIR Here we go round the mulberry bush, The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush, Here we go round the mulberry bush On acold and frosty morning. Then they stand still and pretend to be washing their hands: Thisis the way we wash our hands, Wash our hands, wash our hands. Thisis the way we wash our hands (On acold and frosty morning, We can also use dry our hands/clap our hands/brush our teeth, We can mix mime and role-play in the game called lost voice. The basic idea is that somebody, having lost his voice, has to communicate with others by means of gestures. For ‘example, we give the role of hotel receptionist to the class as a whole. We show one pupil a piece of paper with his instructions: The telephone in your room does not work. You want to have two sandwiches and a coke sent to your room. The class -as a hotel-receptionist ask ‘the mimer questions. The mimer replies to suggestions with shakes or nods. a - GAMES AND ICTs. Nowadays children are increasingly exposed to new technologies and the Internet. Computers are more and more present in their lives at earlier stages every year. They have ‘become an important tool in the teaching -learning process we should take advantage of in our classrooms. Technology is an immense source of realia and games and its use with children is supported by a substantial body of research. A large portion of this research focuses on the use of computers to enhance social, language, and cognitive skills (Seng, 1998). Studies highlight the opportunities for language use and social interaction that technology offers, along with increased motivation. Computers also make possible experiences and representations that cannot take place in the real world, providing new experiences and improved understanding. A Sot and Emotional Development: Technology cannot and should not replace human interaction or relationships, or take the place of activities such as reading stories together, sharing conversations or playing physical games in the open ait. Properly used, however, computers and software can serve as catalysts for social interaction and conversations related to children’s work. A classroom set up to encourage Interaction and the appropriate use of technology will increase, not impair, language and literacy development. Strategies to build socialisation into computer use include placing two seats infront of the computer to encourage children to work together, placing computers close to each other to Pag 18) INGLES 2014/15 )) Prem Tema 18 www.premir.es facilitate sharing ideas, and locating computers in a central spot to invite other children to Participate in the activity. Advantages of computer use: * Computers are intrinsically motivating for young children, and contribute to cognitive and social development. + Computers can enhance children's self-concept and improve their attitudes about learning * Children demonstrate increased levels of spoken communication and cooperation during computer use. ( + Children share leadership roles on the computer, and initiate interactions more frequently. B. Language Development: The variety of rich experiences that promote early literacy, including conversations “with caring adults, storytelling, drawing and painting, and pretend play, is critical in the development of both oral and written language. Everyday, playful experiences in printrich environments expose children to the processes of reading and writing for real purposes. Technology has a place in this environment; language and literacy development are major strengths of technology use with young children through the opportunities and motivation it provides. While critics express concems that computer use will inhibit language development and lead to social isolation, rather than isolating children, research shows that: ‘+ Computer play encourages longer, more complex sp fluency. + Children tend to narrate what they are doing as they draw pictures or move objects and characters around on the screen. © Young children interacting at computers engage in high levels of spoken it ion, such as turn-taking and peer collaboration. ch and the development of . Physical Well-Being and Motor Development: Fine and gross motor skis develop at varying rates, and learning to write can be