Lesson Resource of the Month: Board Games for the Classroom II

Board Games for the Classroom II by multiple contributors

Are you a board game fanatic looking for ways to bring your love for some of the classic games you played as a child into your ESL classroom? Well, look no further. Fulbridge’s Lesson Resource for this month is jam-packed with ideas for adapting board games in fun and engaging ways to help strengthen your students’ English abilities. Ranging from Boggle to Connect Four to Clue and more, these games can be adapted for students of a variety of ages and English skill levels. (We previously featured a Lesson Resource of the Month on adapting card games for the classroom. You can find that resource here.)

 Boggle

This simple scrambled-letter game can be used to help students practice spelling and dig up vocabulary words they have learned in the past as they attempt to link letters to create the largest number of valid English words. This game can be played both with and without technology. You can view different versions of Boggle which ETAs have used below.

1. “Letter Grids” by Hillary Veitch, Secondary South Korea ETA
2. “Boggle” by Robyn Kincaide, Secondary South Korea ETA

Clue

This classic murder-mystery game can be used just for fun, or it can be subtly re-worked to help students practice certain grammar constructions. Check out some of the materials ETAs have used in their classrooms below. 

1. “Christmas Clue” by Sara Caudill, Secondary South Korea ETA
2. “Passive Voice Clue” by Robyn Kincaide, Secondary South Korea ETA (adapted from Sara Caudill’s materials)

 Connect Four

This game in which two students or teams strive to be the first to get four pieces in a row can be used to help beginner-level students with reading or vocabulary, or slightly higher-level students with constructing complete phrases or sentences. It is possible to play this game with or without technology, depending upon what resources you may have available in your classroom. You can find some of the ways ETAs have used Connect Four in their classroom below. 

1. “Story Time: The Very Hungry Caterpillar with Connect Four” by Grace Lee, Primary South Korea ETA
2. “‘I’m getting tired of…’ Connect Four” by Christine Oh, Secondary South Korea ETA
3. “Play/Do/Go Connect Four” by Robyn Kincaide, Secondary South Korea ETA

Pictionary 

Pictionary is a classic time-filler game used in ESL classrooms to help students practice or review vocabulary terms they have learned, but if you’re looking for a game board and cards in order to play a more extended version of the game with your students, check out the materials contributed by Hillary Veitch, Secondary South Korea ETA here.

This Lesson Resource of the Month post is Part II of a two-part series. You can find Part I here.