Teaching Games

Today’s Tip comes courtesy of Eva Bellinger, Literacy Network super-tutor. A home schooler with long experience, Eva conducted an in-service workshop to teach tutors and teachers how to use and make teaching games. With limited time and space, I can tell you about a little bit of what she covered.

Take a look at one kind of item she showed us:

The idiom card pack lets you play games to teach the many colorful idioms of English. Here, take a look at a few of them. The cards below teach the idioms, “He’s blowing his own horn,” “She’s pulling my leg,” and “She has a heart of gold.”

The other card pack pictured, “Pragmatics,” teaches language and behavior specific to North American culture. Learners discuss with their tutors what to say when, for instance, someone offers an invitation or tells them bad news. Categories in the pragmatics deck include “Politeness, Problem Solving, Expressing Feelings, Giving Information, Asking Questions and Telephone Manners.” Eva has donated these two card packs for our library—thanks again, Eva! Look for them with the games on top of the middle bookshelves.

Visit here if you’d like to buy these card decks or other resources for yourself and your learner: http://www.superduperinc.com/whats_new.asp