Bingo is actually a pretty good educational game. I’ve played it with my traditional ESL subject classes and with my math classes.
For my low level math classes, I’ve played classic Bingo. This helps those students match the number words they are hearing with the numerals on their Bingo card. I’ve also played what I call “Math Bingo”. The playing card looks the same as a traditional one. Instead of calling out numbers, I use addition or subtraction problems. You could also use multiplication or division, depending on the level of your students. I’ve also played with colors and shapes. However, I haven’t been able to locate the site I used in the past to generate the Bingo cards.
For my other classes, I have a blank 5×5 Bingo grid. I give my students a list of words based on their current material. They have to take those words and write them in the grid. From there, the game is played just like regular Bingo. If you don’t have a lot of time, you can use various websites to pregenerate the cards for you and just hand them out. But the nice part about having the kids make their own Bingo cards is that they also get to practice writing (and there is no whining that things are unfair).
For my lowest level students, once we’ve finished learning the alphabet, we play ABC Bingo. The idea behind it is the same as playing classic Bingo with my low level math classes. Students match what they hear with what they see. One level up from this is using Bingo cards with just letters on it, but calling out words rather than letters. So if I call out the word “apple”, students will have to cross off the “A”.
I discovered through Google a custom Bingo card generator that can handle words and numbers. It’s pretty basic, but it’s fast and easy to use and it just gets the job done. You can find other sites out there. Many of the teaching sites that have a puzzle or game section will often have Bingo, but the question is whether it’s only offered to paid subscribers. Personally, I do fine with the site I linked. If there’s a list of words I want to use in the future, I’ll just save it as a CSV text document. Then I can copy and paste it into that site.
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Comment by Raven on September 30, 2007 at 7:16 am
Bingo would be a great way to learn. I wish someone had used it for me when I was taking foreign language classes… although first they would have had to teach me how to play. :|
Comment by katiesue on September 30, 2007 at 2:25 pm
Yeah. Part of the challenge is that you sometimes have to teach the kids how to play.
I think it works well as an educational activity because it stresses both listening and reading skills.
Comment by JJ on January 7, 2008 at 6:38 pm
I play bingo a lot and I have found I have to ask for numbers to be repeated often, I thought I just had a bad memory but its apparently because I’m dyslexic and my mind struggles to take in what I have heard! But apparently this in not a rare problem as this is a mild symptom of dyslexia and a lot of people have it! Plus bingo is supposed to be a good brain trainer for me according to my shrink but I find it easier using a Bingo Game Online. Anybody else have this problem?