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Hiroyoshi Murasaki Shogawa JHS Teaching with Playing Cards

The Wonderful World of Playing Cards

Target Audience: Typically elementary school kids, but this is always fun for everyone

Objective: The first thing we are told at ES is to “make English fun.” I have by focusing on a fun way to teach any language points to students at any level, in a way that never gets old.

Materials: Playing cards (trump, uno); cards from the back of the text book; a computer, template, printer, card stock and scissors; a marker, cardstock, and scissors; etc. Be creative and resourceful. You can even use English pokemon cards, etc. for high level students.

Procedure: Don’t turn your nose up at the humble card game just to pursue grander ideas. We must be resourceful and realistic with our time at ES since we see our kids on average less than once a week. Rather than reinvent the wheel weekly, I try to use what’s not broken to full effect. These games/ activities take no time at all to set up since supplies are basic, and the kids know the rules as they are often adapted from their non-English classes or playtime.

We are expected to teach the material in the book, but if you don’t like a part of the book, take the material that is being covered and turn it into a game. Create your own, get ideas online, or use traditional games that they know and make them English related. Note that the cards themselves just need to represent the current study material (i.e. a set of ABCs, Numbers, pictures of animals, etc) and each child should have their own set of cards. One set or multiple sets combined will be used in a pair or group. It’s nice because the cards can be used interchangeably for different activities. Furthermore, grammar points or key phrases can be implemented easily by making the kids use them in order to communicate. (For example: Question: “I want an “A” card/ Do you have an A card? / I would like an “A” card, please.” Answer: “No/ No, I don’t/ I don’t have an “A” card. Sorry.”) Now, let’s talk about types of games.

Single child activities: Flash cards: Self-explanatory, self-study (or in pairs to add a fun social element) Solitaire study: Child spreads the cards across the desk top, teacher announces which card to remove, and then the child removes them. The rules of Bingo can be applied to this also. Backwards Madlibs (advanced): Have separate containers of nouns, verbs, etc. and pass them out. Have the kids make short stories using those words.

Pair and Group card games: Karuta: A traditional Japanese game where a single set of cards is laid out before a pair or small group and the kids race to grab the card corresponding to what the teacher calls out. The touching of the wrong card is called Otetsuki and results in a predetermined penalty. Go Fish: Classic game of matching that can be done with as few as two sets of cards for a fast easy game, or as many as four sets for a long but epic struggle.

Typical Lesson Plan: Warm-up chants, learn/ review key phrases to be used as questions and answers in game, learn/ review material on cards, unleash the game! To make the kids even more competitive, add some kind of prize (tangible or intangible). Stickers always work.

Additional Information: Make sure that you keep the groups and pairs evenly matched, so you don’t worry about a really fast kid making a slower kid cry (the only real downside that I have encountered with any of these activities). The only other potential downside is that the kids enjoy the activity so much that it can get really fun but noisy, causing neighboring teachers to discreetly, but noticeably peek in at you and then close the door. An unintentional benefit is that when the game goes past class time, it leaves the kids wanting more English!

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