Let’s talk vocabulary games! Games are a fantastic and fun way to tailor Get Ready! instructional routines to your teaching style and to the needs of your multilingual learners.
Why Games Matter
Games offer more than just a break from traditional instruction. They create authentic contexts where students can practice language in a way that feels real and relevant. By lowering the affective filter—the emotional barriers that can inhibit learning—games promote deeper engagement and understanding. They also provide you with opportunities to assess your students in real time and make those all-important instructional pivots.
Perhaps most importantly, games serve as shared experiences that foster a sense of community. When students play together, they connect with one another on a personal level. Games also allow students to connect with you in a different way too. These connections are the foundation of a classroom culture where everyone belongs and feels ready to take risks—a culture where mistakes are seen as necessary steps on the path to proficiency.
Well-thought-out implementation is key to reaping all the benefits games have to offer— and to avoiding mayhem, of course!
Making Games Work for You
- Inclusivity Is Key: Choose games that allow all students to participate at their “i + 1” level to fuel growth. Every student should feel they have a role to play, regardless of their current proficiency level, perceived social status, or whether they’re in the “silent period.”
- Balance Competition with Collaboration: Both approaches have their place, but your choice should align with the atmosphere you want to create. Consider how different games facilitate connecting and belonging.
- Celebrate Proficiency over Mastery: Create an environment where the journey toward proficiency is more important than immediate mastery. Encourage mistakes as learning opportunities—this helps build resilience and a growth mindset.
- Carpe Diem: Take advantage of this opportunity to observe what students do and do not understand about the instructional goals (the vocabulary word or grammar function, for example). Provide reteaching as needed. Have students revise their notes or vocabulary journal to reflect new levels of understanding after the game.
- Set Clear Expectations: Make sure students understand the rules, procedures, and expectations. Model the desired behaviors or actions. Equally important, but often overlooked, is modeling the undesirable, as well as the almost-but-not-quite behaviors or actions. Then have students model the desired behaviors or actions. (Never ask students to model what you are not looking for—only build neural pathways for positive behaviors!)
A Game to Try: Vocabulary Match-Up
Preparation:
Write a vocabulary word on one index card and its corresponding definition, synonym, or antonym on another.
Gameplay:
- Distribute Cards: Shuffle the cards and distribute them randomly. Each student should receive one card.
- Find Your Match: Without revealing their cards, students mingle and ask each other questions to find their match. They can use categories (e.g., “Is it an animal?”), descriptions, or examples as clues.
- Match and Act: Once a pair finds their match, they perform a short skit or gesture showing the meaning of their word.
Variation: Question & Answer
Adaptability is another benefit of games! One adaptation is to write vocabulary-related questions on one set of flashcards and corresponding answers on another.
When chosen thoughtfully and incorporated strategically, games can be the secret sauce for creating a connected, engaged classroom where multilingual learners thrive.
By Debbie Simões, National Language and Literacy Consultant
Also read:
5 Spanish Games to Kick Off the School Year
Phonics, Fluency, and Vocabulary: Expanding to the Next Level
