Games make us laugh! We all like to laugh. Pleasure is very motivating. Laughter makes us more awake and relaxed-and not only I say so, so does the Department of Cognitive Psychology, University College, London.
Laughter raises blood pressure just along enough to increase oxygen and blood supply to tissues. It alters the breathing cycles so that more oxygen is inhaled and carbon dioxide is exhaled. Muscles throughout the body tense and relax during laughter in exactly the same way as with stress reduction techniques such as yoga.
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If we find something funny, it is often memorable as it strikes a resonant chord within us.
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Many games are competitive and while I do not like the idea of making children feel like faiures when they do not win, team games promote co-operation and if teams are regularly mixed up, everyone's a winner.
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Some games rather than being amusing, encouraging us to use our knowledge of the world around us rather than linguistic knowledge, which brings the world into our classroom.
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if lessons are long or daily we need to have plenty of variety, while while still focusing on English language development-games provide variety.
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Games can be used as a 'carrot' with less motivated students.The promise of a game at the end of class may encourage them to complete less inspiring activities well.
There's a game there
Many activities can be made into games by making them competitive. For example course books usually have grammar exercises. I get my students to work on these 'teams'. The teams with most right get a ponit on the board during a lesson, so that points from later games and exercises can be added.The team with the most points at the end is the winner. I rarely give prizes (teachers are not rich!) but the joy of winning is enough. Again I must stress that I mix up teams form one lesson to the next so that the same students are not always the winners.
The games
Of the games given here, not all may be suitable with all ages, especially with the under eight year olds. You know your students and what their language level is, but dont underestimate what they are capable of especially when it's presnted as a game.
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An English teacher in Canada Mr. Noble Augustine is currently working with Calgary Catholic Immigration Society. He started his career as a teacher in English in 2001 after completing his M A in English from St. Berchmans College, Changanacherry .He secured the first rank for M Phil from School of Letters, Mahathma Gandhi University in 2003. His subjects of interest are Theory and Practice of Translation, Modern and Postmodern poetry, Postcolonial Writing, Literary theory, and Communicative English. He has presnted many academic papers in various national and international seminars. Gothic Romance: Emile Bronte's Wuthering Heights, Moby Dick: A study in Megalomania, The Comic Paradise: A Rereading of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Ernest, Politics and Geography in the Poetry of Kamala Das, The politics of Deconstruction, Rasa and Dhwani: the Essence of Eastern Aesthetics, The Trend of Multi-generic Parody in Malayalam Fiction:A Reading of Contemporary Short Stories in Malayalam. Facilitation Techniques for Adult Language Teaching etc, to name a few. He has translated into English Aalakampadi (The Escort) a novel by B Murali, a well-known writer in Kerala, India . He worked as lecturer in English in two Libyan Universities: Omar al Mokhtar University, and University of Bengazi , where he also chaired the committee of Quality Assurance, Assessment and Accreditation. He guided and supervised the dissertation of Undergraduate Students and chaired the Viva Voce Examination. . He has also trained, supervised and assessed teacher education students in their practical teaching. In 2011 he obtained his certificate as a Teacher of English as a Second Langauge from Oxford Seminars. He spends his free time in volunteering as the Financial Secretary of Knights of Columbus and as the president of St.Mary's Family Unit in the parish of Mother Teresa Syro Malabar Church, Calgary, Alberta.