Games activity at the foreign language lesson as one of the basic ways of learning English at primary school
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My cat has three eyes Three eyes has my cat And had it not three eyes It wouldn’t be my cat I have developed a variety of festivals, where students get together and play different classes. One of the developments I represent. Seasons Good afternoon, dear boys, girls and our guests! We are very glad to see you today. Welcome to the country of seasons! Who made the first calendar? We don’t know. People in all countries know the seasons of the year. How many seasons are there in the year? We say that there are 4 seasons but people in some countries say that they have 5 or 7 seasons. The seasons are not the same in all countries. The seasons in our calendar are spring, summer, autumn and winter. Each season has 3 months. What are winter (spring, autumn, summer) months in Russia? Today we have the season-competition. There are 4 teams: spring, summer, autumn and winter. 1. Introduce yourselves, please. What is the best season? Приветствие команд. (5 points) Let’s sing a song “Jingle Bells” 2. Your task is to make up the sentences. Each right sentence is 2 points. 3. Your task is to find rhymes to the words on the topic “Seasons”. Each rhyme is 1 point.
4. Let’s draw a snowman. One member from each team. Who will be the best and the quickest? (3 points) 5. Your next task is to find mistakes in the sentences and correct them. Each mistake is 1 point. There are 11 months in the year. We celebrate the New Year in February. March is the second spring month. There are 31 days in September. June comes after August. There are 5 seasons. Winter is the warmest season. In summer it snows. 6. Who is the cleverest? Guess our riddles. Each right answer is 1 point.
7. Let’s cut the snowflakes. Who is the quickest? The best snowflake will get a prize. 8. Let’s make a puzzle. It’s the coldest season of the year. It’s the season when children go to school. It’ the season which is colder than summer but warmer than winter. What fruit do children like to eat in autumn? It shines brightly in summer. It’s the season when pupils have long holidays. What is spring, summer in another words? It may be cold, warm, cool. Much water, usually in autumn and in spring. It’s blue in spring, where the sun shines. It’s white and cold. It’s much in winter. 9. Your task is to guess the words. (1 point)
While our jury is summing up, let’s sing a song “We wish you a merry Christmas”. The jury announced the winners and award them. Our party is over. Thank you very much for your participation and attention. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Using the game as a form of learning, the teacher must be sure whether its use should determine the goal of the game in accordance with the objectives of the educational process. Educational games should be a system that presupposes a certain sequence, and their gradual complication. The participants should be provided with teaching materials, game assignments, instructions, training materials, etc. Using his work teaching the game, every teacher should be aware of these requirements. The teacher should constantly improve the learning process, allowing children to assimilate effectively and program material. It is therefore important to use the elements and game play in the classroom. Indeed, the use of games up for information overload and organize the mental and physical rest. If you find the right approach, the training of a difficult and tedious necessity can become a fascinating journey into the world of unfamiliar language. One of these approaches is the game, the strongest factor in psychological adaptation of children in the new language space, which can solve the problem of the natural introduction of the child to the fascinating world of language. After all, just look in the happy eyes of their students that go to the tutorial to understand that you are on the right track and should go further, so as not to lost the joy in his eyes, and disappeared interested students to the subject. A game is a structured activity, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more concerned with the expression of ideas. However, the distinction is not clear-cut, and many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports/games) or art (such as jigsaw puzzles or games involving an artistic layout such as Mahjong solitaire). Key components of games are goals, rules, challenge, and interaction. Games generally involve mental or physical stimulation, and often both. Many games help develop practical skills, serve as a form of exercise, or otherwise perform an educational, simulational or psychological role. According to Chris Crawford, the requirement for player interaction puts activities such as jigsaw puzzles and solitaire "games" into the category of puzzles rather than games. Attested as early as 2600 BC, games are a universal part of human experience and present in all cultures. The Royal Game of Ur, Senet, and Mancala are some of the oldest known games. Games can be used at any stage of the lesson once the target language has been introduced and explained. They serve both as a memory aid and repetition drill, and as a chance to use language freely and as a means to an end rather than an end in itself. They can also serve as a diagnostic tool for the teacher, who can note areas of difficulty and take appropriate remedial action. The pedagogical value of games in language learning at all levels has been well documented. Apart from their motivational value as an enjoyable form of activity, they provide a context in which the language is embedded. This context is ‘authentic’ in the sense that the games create its own world: for the duration of the game, it replaces external reality. Games also create the circumstances for meaningful repetition. Furthermore, the ‘same’ game can be played many times yet never produce identical outcomes. Needless to say, games also ensure that the players interact with each other, and this interaction is usually played out in the language. For younger learners games have even greater appeal. Children are curiously paradoxical. They can be both committed to co – operation and, at the same time, fiercely competitive. They love the security of routine and the predictability of rules, yet they are often amazingly unpredictable and creative. They love to have fun, yet they dedicate themselves with deadly seriousness to the activities they engage in. It is not surprising therefore that are so popular with children; games too involve both co – operation and competition, rules and unpredictability, enjoyment and serious commitment. Games are fun and children like to play them. That in itself is a strong argument for incorporating them in the EFL classroom. Playing games is a vital and natural part of growing up and learning. Through games children experiment, discover, and interact with their environment. Not to include games in the classroom would be to withhold from the children an essential tool for understanding their world; a world which the language teacher seeks to enlarge through the experience of a foreign language. Games add variation to a lesson and increase the motivation by providing a plausible incentive to use the target language. Remember that for many children between four and twelve years, especially the youngest, language learning will not be the key motivational factor. Language can provide the stimulus. The game context makes the foreign language immediately useful to the children. It brings the target language to life. The game makes the reasons for speaking plausible even to reluctant children. Many experienced textbooks and methodology manuals writers have argued that games are not just time – filling activities but have a great educational value. W.R.Lee holds that most language games make learners use the language instead of thinking about learning the correct forms. He also say that games should be treated as central not peripheral to the foreign language teaching program. A similar opinion is expressed by Richard – Amato, who believes games to be fun but warns against overlooking their pedagogical value, particularly in foreign language teaching. There are many advantages of using the games. “Games can lower anxiety, thus making the acquisition of input more likely” (Richard - Amato). They are highly motivating and entertaining, and they can give shy students more opportunity to express their opinions and feelings. They also enable learners to acquire new experience within a foreign language which are not always possible during a typical lesson. Furthermore, to quote Richard – Amato, they, “add diversion to the regular classroom activities,” break the ice, “but also they are used to introduce new ideas”. In the easy, relaxed atmosphere which is created by using games, students remember things faster and better. Further support comes from Zdybiewska, who believes games to be a good way of practicing language, for they provide a model of what learners will use the language for in real life in the future. Games encourage, entertain, and promote fluency. If not for any of these reasons, they should be used just because they help students see beauty in a foreign language and not just problems1(l. p 12). Games are often used as short warm – up activities or when there is some time left at the end of the lesson. Yet, as Lee observes, a game “should not be regarded as a marginal activity filling in odd moments when the teacher and class have nothing better to do”. Games ought to be at the heart of teaching foreign languages. Rixon suggests that games be used at all stages of the lesson, provided that they are suitable and carefully chosen. At different stages of the lesson, the teachers’ aims connected with a game may vary: Presentation. Provide a good model making its meaning clear; Controlled practice. Elicit good imitation of new language and appropriate responses; Communicative practice. Give students a chance to use the language. Games also lend themselves well to revision exercises helping learners recall material in a pleasant, entertaining way. All authors referred to in this article agree that even if games resulted only in noise and entertained students, they are still worth paying attention to and implementing in the classroom since they motivate learners, promote communicative competence, and generate fluency. There are given many definitions of the word “game” by people who studied it. Ludwig Wittgenstein was probably the first academic philosopher to address the definition of the word game. In his Philosophical Investigations, Wittgenstein demonstrated that the elements of games, such as play, rules, and competition, all fail to adequately define what games are. He subsequently argued that the concept "game" could not be contained by any single definition, but that games must be looked at as a series of definitions that share a "family resemblance" to one another. French sociologist Roger Caillois, in his book “Les jeux et les hommes” (Games and Men), defined a game as an activity that must have the following characteristics: fun: the activity is chosen for its light-hearted character separate: it is circumscribed in time and place uncertain: the outcome of the activity is unforeseeable non-productive: participation is not productive governed by rules: the activity has rules that are different from everyday life fictitious: it is accompanied by the awareness of a different reality2 (l. p. 21). "A game is a system in which players engage in an artificial conflict, defined by rules, that results in a quantifiable outcome." (Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman) "A game is a form of art in which participants, termed players, make decisions in order to manage resources through game tokens in the pursuit of a goal." (Greg Costikyan) "A game is an activity among two or more independent decision-makers seeking to achieve their objectives in some limiting context." (Clark C. Abt) "At its most elementary level then we can define game as an exercise of voluntary control systems in which there is an opposition between forces, confined by a procedure and rules in order to produce a disequilibrial outcome." (Elliot Avedon and Brian Sutton-Smith) "A game is a form of play with goals and structure." (Kevin Maroney) “There is no valuable mental development without games. Game – is a large bright window, through which flow the life – giving stream of imagination and conception to the child’s inner world.” V. A. Suhomlinskii “The one of the most important ways of upbringing the children is the game. The grave and responsible game must take up a great position in the life of child’s group. And all teachers are obliged to know how to play” A. S. Makarenko “Game is a world, in which the little child grows up and develops.” K. Sh. Ahiyarov “If the child doesn’t play and sing, how can he grow up?” A. Kunanbayev “Children must to play as their world requires it.” S. Toraigurov “The most intensive development of all children’s functions will appear at 7 – 9 ages, and that’s why the necessity of the game at these ages is very important, and the game turns into the type of activity, which is managed by the development. Game forms the child’s personal characters, his attitude toward the reality, the people.” Sh. A. Amonashvili1(l. p.19). Definitions of game on the Web: a contest with rules to determine a winner; "you need four people to play this game" a single play of a sport or other contest; "the game lasted two hours" an amusement or pastime; "they played word games"; "he thought of his painting as a game that filled his empty time"; "his life was all fun and games" animal hunted for food or sport (tennis) a division of play during which one player serves (games) the score at a particular point or the score needed to win; "the game is 6 all"; "he is serving for the game" the flesh of wild animals that is used for food plot: a secret scheme to do something (especially something underhand or illegal); "they concocted a plot to discredit the governor"; "I saw through his little game from the start" the game equipment needed in order to play a particular game; "the child received several games for his birthday" your occupation or line of work; "he's in the plumbing game"; "she's in show biz" crippled: disabled in the feet or legs; "a crippled soldier"; "a game leg" bet on: place a bet on; "Which horse are you backing?"; "I'm betting on the new horse" frivolous or trifling behavior; "for actors, memorizing lines is no game"; "for him, life is all fun and games" willing to face danger3. Games as a means of development the pupil’s cognitive activity Educational games are games that have been specifically designed to teach people about a certain subject, expand concepts, reinforce development, understand an historical event or culture, or assist them in learning a skill as they play. The objective of any educational game is achieving a didactic goal while maintaining the entertaining value any game is expected to provide. Games in the elementary school classroom work best when they are built upon the premise of relaxation and reward, but in reality are strengthening skills already learned. Once teacher finds out which game works best, the effective teacher can then utilize this game as a means to get students on task and focused. As long as the games are conducted in a fair environment, and full inclusion is achieved, the elementary students will reap many benefits from playing games during some of their unstructured class time. Games motivate a classroom to learn and memorize. Elementary children love the group competition in games. They will listen and cooperate to help their team win! There are many games a teacher can incorporate into the study and review of material to teach the students. Most students learn from visual aids. This is the reason for the history of the chalkboard in the classroom. But some students also learn by actually doing work with their hands (kinesthetic), while others learn from hearing (auditory). Teacher must consider incorporating some games to motivate and teach the class based on their ability to learn. Discipline during a game. In all games it is best to use the game to discipline or motivate co-operation. The team players will not want their team to lose because they did not co-operate during the game. For example, an out is called in Baseball if someone on the batting team is out of order. If it is a student on the opposing team is out of order, an out is marked on the board to remind them they already have one out when their team is up to bat. Baseball batters can only make one base at a time as they are bumped forward as a batter makes a correct answer. If the batter misses an answer it is not an out unless the opposing seated team can raise their hand and get the answer correct. This motivates the opposing team to listen to all questions and answers. Any subject could be used in this game. Many teachers use entertaining and didactic games on their lessons for increasing the pupil’s activity, which is the most important way of acquiring solid knowledge, skills and abilities. Didactic games are the one of the most important means of mental and moral education of children. The principal type of didactic “entertaining” are the games, which form stable interest for learning and which remove the tension. They form psychological qualities which are necessary for educational process as thinking, attention and memory. They also form the skills of educational work. Teachers make the condition for assimilation social roles in those circumstances in educational process, where they teach pupils. Generally, the didactic game is used not only for solving one task, but for the all set of tasks. Didactic games must be constructed in such way, where incompleteness of subject provides an easy transition from concernment for carrying out the school tasks, for example: the anecdotal games which are realizable on educational material. “The fabulous hero Chippolino comes and brings numbers. He asks you to make examples.” Summarizing and analyzing psychological – pedagogical and methodical literature of software tools of playing teaching material, teachers can make a conclusion that syllabus contains developmental character. All playing syllabus can be divided for: educational games which depend on teaching material; entertaining games, which characterize by puzzles, logical games, games for quickness of wit4(l. p.46); The main advantage of educational didactic games consists of that teaching tasks come disguised. When the child plays, he obtains the knowledge, acquires the definite skills, and at the same time he doesn’t realize that teacher teach him for something. The playing syllabus in the primary school is explained, first of all, by psychological – pedagogical peculiarities of children of younger ages. The particular significance of game contains its role as the means of adaptation children for learning. That’s why it must become the essential part of the educational process in primary schools. The developmental playing sphere of cognitive character is used to develop logical thinking, imagination, and the quickness of wit. There are some entertaining games as puzzles, crosswords, enigmas, riddles, games with geometric figures, and others. In these games the main part is not speed, but the right solution. These games promote the development of constructive thinking, forming the skills of creative types, and the development of spatial thinking. As the experience of teachers’ works of using the playing syllabus shows that if teachers organize the educational process of cognitive character in the form of game, they can quickly increase the effectiveness of teaching. An elementary school classroom is a wonderful dynamic that needs to be continually cultivated. The lessons that these children learn will carry on with them for the rest of their academic careers, and into their adulthood. Games can be a viable strategy for teaching life specific lessons. A fantastic game to be played in the elementary classroom is called Tribes. In the game of Tribes, the class is split up into different teams, and they are forced, through a series of tasks and challenges, to form bonds, and to learn to work together, creating a sense of community and an overall atmosphere of mutual respect. This game challenges players to become leaders or followers, and overall, the game will promote friendship and co-operation. The game is terrific, especially when played under the guise of fun instead of learning. This is a great game if teacher can find it, which should not be too difficult. Yüklə 126,75 Kb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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