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Reflection about Digital Games and Teaching

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Reflection about Digital Games and Teaching

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"What do you think about using digital games in the ELT classroom?" (show understanding of the potential and challenges of digital play and acknowledge sources)

I think that using digital games in the ELT classroom can be very helpful for students because they are in contact with technology all day long. There are new ways of learning vocabulary and grammar points by using these games, and according to Graham Stanley, the problem is not that the games cannot be used in the classroom, but that teachers (usually) do not even try to come up with new ideas for  the new generations in the digital era. Although there can be difficulties at the moment of engaging in activities with the use of computer games (most schools do not have wi fi access, or computers that work), a teacher can always find a way to include technology in the classroom with what they can find available, it is a matter of creativity and not of resources. For example, most children have cellphones, and that is something a teacher can work with if he/she has no access to computers in a classroom.
Digital games are helpful because they are something children are used to and something that catches their attention, and teachers well know that the more the children like the way a grammar/vocabulary topic is presented, the better they will internalize what they are learning.

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Context: One student

He’s 8 years old, in 4th grade.

I teach him in his house.

Level: Elementary.

TK: Online game chosen: Happy Family Dress up. The student will be able to choose clothing items for the members of the family.  I have access to a computer, a tablet and wi fi.

PK: I found it useful and visual to revise clothing items and family vocabulary, as well as the grammar point “have got”. It is much easier for a student to remember vocabulary and grammar points if he can be creative and choose something he likes (in this case, items of clothing). Also, the student will internalize meanings and structures easier if he can relate them to images and interactive activities (in this case an online game which consists in dressing up a family).

CK: My student will be able to refer to his family members and to say which clothing items they have got.
Family Members vocabulary.
Clothing items vocabulary.
Grammar point: To have got.

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Activities (prepare to play- play- play on)

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Activities (prepare to play- play- play on)

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Before playing without looking at the game: I will teach my student clothing terminology, and relate them to the vocabulary topic “family” and the grammar topic “to have got”. E.g: I will show him flashcards with clothing items and then ask him what clothing items he has got and which of them are his favourites, and which clothing items his family members have got.

Before playing but looking at the game already:

1)I can ask my student “Which members of the family can you see in  the game?”

The answer would be “A sister, a brother, a mother and a father.”

Then, I will ask my student to point each member of the family and say it out loud.

While playing the game:

1) I will ask my student to choose items of clothing for one of the members of the family, and name them orally, describing which items the person has got. E.g: “The father has got a black shirt, a white hat and blue trousers.”

2) Then, I will tell my student he will have to choose items of clothing for each member of the family except the one we already described and remember how to name them, because later on he will have to write what he has done while playing the game, without looking at the way the vocabulary is written.

After playing the game:

1. My student will have to write a text describing the items of clothing the members of the family have got. E.g: “The mother has got a pink dress, small shoes and sunglasses. The brother has a green shirt and a blue watch.”

Disclaimer: Vocabulary involving colors has already been tackled in other classes with my student.

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Happy Family Dress up - Free online games for Girls and Kids

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Happy Family Dress up: This is the Victor Family which consists of a mother, father, a son, a daughter, and a puppy. They love spending quality time together and they even have a family board game night each week.