Games and songs: A good way to motivate students

From my point of view, using games and songs in an ESL context is a good way to catch the attention of our students and make them want to learn more.

As a teacher in an academy of English, I realized that the best way to learn, motivate and make children protagonists and participants in their learning is using games and songs.

Songs help children remember what they have learned and develop meaningful memory. It is also an activity that students enjoy.

Games get the student interested in what they are learning. They also learn to work cooperatively.

Now, I want to record here some games for children that can be adapted for any level and content:

-         Find a partner with the same card à Students take a card and read it. They mustn’t show it to anybody. They have to walk around the class and find a partner with the same card.

-         Answer the telephone à Children pick up a piece of paper and write their telephone number and their name. The teacher collects the pieces of paper and chooses one of them. Then, he/she pretends he/she is phoning one of the students. The student whose number has been chosen must answer the phone call. (Hi. This is Pablo…).

-         Simon says à The children should follow the instructions the teacher says. The teacher says “Simon says…” and then the pupils do what the teacher asks. However, if the teacher doesn’t mention the words “Simon says” the students shouldn’t do anything. The child that follows this last instruction loses.

-         What’s missing? à The teacher draws some objects on the blackboard. One student goes out of the class. Then, another student rubs one object out. The other child comes into the class and has to guess which object is missing from the blackboard.

-         Guess what’s in the bag à Students try to guess what is in the bag, based on the descriptive language used by their classmates.

-         Bingo à It is a gambling game, played with several students, in which numbers selected at random are called out and the players cover the numbers on their individual cards. The first to cover a given arrangement of numbers is the winner. Numbers is the common topic, but it can be another one.

-         Memory à Match card pairs. Cards can be of different topics.

-         Hangman à The word to guess is represented by a row of dashes, giving the number of letters and category of the word. If the guessing player suggests a letter which occurs in the word, the other player writes it in all its correct positions. If the suggested letter does not occur in the word, the other player draws one element of the hangman diagram as a tally mark. The game is over when the guessing player completes the word, or guesses the whole word correctly; or when the other player completes the diagram.

-         Pictionary à The team chooses one person to begin drawing; this position rotates with each word. The drawer chooses a card and tries to draw pictures which suggest the word printed on the card. The pictures cannot contain any numbers or letters. The teammates try to guess the word the drawing is intended to represent.

-         Telephone à One person whispers a message to another, which is passed through a line of people until the last player announces the message to the entire group.

-         Mimic à Imitate some actions, objects, animals… using only your body. You cannot talk and make noises.