<p>I'm looking for some board game ideas to use with my intermediate adults class. </p>
<p>First I'll share one. My board game is arranged like a race track and I use it regularly with my students to practice vocabulary for each life skill unit (personal identification, health, consumerism, transportation,etc) or grammar point I'm trying to snip it in below but the server doesn't seem to want to upload it. (I'll post it on my Google Drive so you can view it. <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M6jhF1WSQb38A8prVknz0DfbnC_VSQzj/view?… </a>)</p>
<p>I've created multiple sets of question cards so that I can use the game occasionally throughout our entire six-month cycle. Student A 1) roles a die 2) moves the number of spaces on the die with a colored pawn 3) takes a question card, reads the question out loud and answers the question. Students B-E continue play in the same manner until someone reaches the end and wins the game. I usually have classes that range between 25 and 35 students so groups of 4-5 play at 6 or 7 tables. The game is very effective at stimulating conversation either about the process of playing the game, the life skills that the question cards address, or the grammar point they are practicing with the game. I will say that playing the game is NOT intuitive for some students. Just rolling a die can be a new experience. </p>
<p>I wanted to share my idea but also see what other ideas are out there. What board games have you created that engage adults in communicative practice? And, how do you use them? Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Ellen</p>
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<p>Ellen Clore-Patron, REEP volunteer teacher and Hamline graduate student in ESL</p>
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Comments
Ellen and all, I have much experience with games and have been studying board games, card games and table top games of all sorts for decades and offer a perspective from my personal experiences.
There are many game mechanics available in the world and some of them get conversations going very well. In working with adults and gaming, especially with those who have low language ability, I have found that it is most important to get adults playing together comfortably first. It seems like many of us stopped playing games as a past time in our early teens and almost never find time to play with others. As a result, many of use forgot or never really knew how to play challenging and socially interactive games with other adults. Here are some games that easily help adults enter the vast world of gaming and learning about each other. You will note that most of these games use almost no text in their game play. I have many Hispanic players that have found these games very easy to get into. Just the process of getting together with others and the general talking that goes on helps establish a safe learning zone and improves language ability. We find ourselves quickly asking things like, "How do you say ...?" and practicing those game based phrases with each other.
Games list for easy entry into gaming:
Splendor - 2-4 Players use different colored gems to buy up gem factories that produce even more gems. First person to accumulate a set amount of points wins. In addition to individuals building their own little gem factories, players can interfere with the plans of others leading to much laughter and positive frustration.
Sheriff of Nottingham - 2-4 Players. Each turn one person acts as the Sheriff who is charged with making sure no illegal goods get into town. Of course the other players are trying to lie, manipulate and persuade the sheriff that the goods in their wagon is perfectly legal and normal goods. Lots of laughter and good players start learning so much about human behavior and the many ways deception can be used.
Ticket to Ride - 2-5 Players. Each player secretly gets 3 tickets that show two geographic locations that need to be connected by train tracks before the end of the game. Players accumulate different colored cards that act as currency needed to claim tracks between cities all over the US and Canada (Great geography side benefit). Players are all struggling with the choice of getting more resources or claiming the limited number of tracks available. So often in this game, players need to adjust their plans and strategies as other players mess up the paths they hoped to use. If there is such a thing as an adult version of Candy Land that had a high level of competition, Ticket to Ride might be that game.
Settlers of Catan - 2- 4 Players. In this game, players try to build up cities based on where resources are at while trading with other players. Since land is limited and resources are constantly changing hands, players are always talking to each other and trying to logically better their situation. Players almost always ask to play this game again after their first game.
Kingdom Builder - 2-5 Players. The mechanics of this game are quite simple with each player simply placing three of their houses on a map to claim areas. Every game the players have different ways to score points so the game is always fresh and challenging. Additionally, the lands you have available to play on ensure that almost no game is ever similar to another.
There are so many other games to share, but I think these are the games that I have had people with many language abilities and challenges be able to play together while having a blast. As players get comfortable with each other and with the languages everyone is using, we progress into other games that have more language interplay. Young or old, we all benefit from challenging, social play time with others. I hope you all have opportunity to experience some of this with others. Perhaps I should start streaming our local gaming sessions online so others can see all the fun they are missing :)
HI Edward and all,
This is great stuff and I'm so pleased you answered so thoroughly. I'd love to also read about games you use that involve more language interplay. Have you made any that you can share? How do you integrate them into a curriculum?