Bingo Online » Educational Games

Long Division Bingo

admin — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:36:23 +0000

Division is often the last of the basic arithmetic operations that students learn. Of course, when students first starting to doing divisions, they will begin with very simple problems such as dividing 4 by 2, dividing 6 by 3, or dividing 8 by 4. The next stage is to learn how to divide multi-digit numbers by a single digit one, and only after mastering this can students advance to long division (dividing one multi-digit number by another). Good and patient teaching is of course essential for students to progress, but by itself it is not enough: students also need plenty of practice at performing divisions.

It would probably be fair to say that in days gone by, some math teachers were not too concerned about finding fun and interesting classroom activities for their students – as long as students practised their sums, the teacher would be satisfied. Teaching methods have fortunately moved on since those days. Today’s teachers know that students who are engaged with their class tend to learn better, and hence interesting classroom activities and educational games are becoming increasingly popular. One such educational game that has become increasingly popular in recent years, is bingo.

It turns out that bingo is ideally suited for use in math class: it’s adaptable to a wide variety of classroom situations and styles of play, it’s incredibly easy for students to play (but still enjoyable), and importantly given the financial constraints that teachers often work under, it doesn’t require expensive materials or resources. The mechanics of the game in educational versions of bingo are basically the same as in normal bingo, but there is one key difference: instead of using bingo cards containing numbers, items relating to the topic of the lesson are used instead. So, obviously in a math class, math problems such as long divisions would be used. Students are then required to write in the answers to these questions, rather than simply mark items off their cards.

So what if you’re a teacher, and you’d like to try bingo out with your students? Well obviously you’ll need some suitable printed bingo cards – but where do you get them? Actually it’s very easy – you can print them yourself using your computer: download some bingo card creator software, and it’s a snap to print as many bingo cards as you want, on any subject at all.

By: Sunil Tanna

Arithmetic Bingo

admin — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:04:46 +0000

Arithmetic is the oldest and simplest branch of mathematics. It also the first branch of mathematics which students encounter, beginning with counting, and then graduating to simple calculations such as adding, subtracting, multiplication and division. Eventually of course, students will encounter other branches of mathematics, such as geometry, trigonometry and algebra, but nevertheless understanding arithmetic continues to be an essential skill. After all, arithmetic is an essential foundation not only for other branches of mathematics, but also numerous areas of everyday life, including business, science and technology.

Like so many other things in life, practice makes perfect in math – the more math and arithmetic that students do, the better they get. While practice can certainly help many students, the other side of the coin is that excessive repetition can soon get boring – and bored students do not learn very well. Good teachers are however very well aware that new styles of presentation, interesting activities, and educational games, can all be used to provide some variation in classroom routines, enlivening what might otherwise seem mundane. One such activity that more and more teachers are turning to, is in fact the game of bingo.

There are many ways that bingo can be uses in math classes – one of the most attractive things about bingo is that it can be very easily adapted to different situations. Perhaps the most popular way of playing bingo in math classes, is for the teacher to act as bingo caller, and the students to each be given a specially printed bingo card containing math problems – instead of marking off items as they are called, students must fill them out with the correct answers.

The main thing that you need to play math bingo is of course the bingo cards printed with math problems. Fortunately that’s easy – you can simply print them from your computer – free ready-made math bingo printables, or easy-to-use bingo card creator software makes the job easy.

By: Sunil Tanna

Chemistry Bingo Cards

admin — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:31:38 +0000

Science has an image of being about theories, laws and mathematical formulas. As a result, we don’t always think about studying science subjects, we can easily forget they also involve learning many facts and details. Chemistry is in fact well known for the amount of facts that students studying the subject need to be familiar with. This includes, for example, the names, symbols and properties of elements, chemical formula, and of course the terminology that chemists uses to describe various chemical reactions and processes.

Students who don’t know the key facts of chemistry (such as names of elements, etc.) will of course struggle with the subject, so good teachers tend to seek out ways to assist their students in learning these essentials. Fun, engaging and enjoyable classroom activities offer one of the best ways to learn, so many teachers actively seek out new activities for their students. Educational games turn out to be one of the most popular, and effective, classroom activities. And, one of the most popular educational games is in fact bingo.

Bingo is an almost ideal game for educational situations. Partly this is because almost everybody already knows how to play the game, and those few who don’t can quickly learn how, as well as the fact that the game can be adapted to teaching almost any subject, including chemistry, by using bingo cards printed with squares containing the items being taught, instead of numbers. Also, the game of bingo has the advantage that it does not require expensive specialist materials, which is very important given the financial constraint that teachers work under these days.

To play bingo in the classroom, the teacher plays the part of the bingo caller, each student is given a bingo card, and then you play the game. Of course, the teacher has the option of modifying the style of play if she wants, for example by encouraging classroom dicussion after items are called out, or by requiring students to describe the items that they have marked off from their cards.

Of course, if you’d like to play chemistry bingo in class, you will need to get some bingo cards printed with items related to chemistry. The easiest way for a teacher to obtain such bingo cards, is simply by printing them from her computer. This is simple enough even for computer novices, because of the availability of ready-to-use bingo printables that are available online, and of easy-to-use bingo card printing software, which can print any types of bingo cards that you might need.

By: Sunil Tanna

Phonics Bingo

admin — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:32:11 +0000

Phonics is a popular method of teaching children to read that is based around the child learning to connect sounds with letters or groups of letters. For example, the child would learn that the hard “k” sound is associated with the letters “c”, “k” or “ck”. To be fair, using phonics as a method of teaching reading has not been without controversy, particularly in the United States of America, at least since the mid 19th century, and especially since the reemergence of phonics in the 1950s.

Those teachers who do use phonics, generally use them in a variety of different classroom activities, not just when students are reading from books or writing. For example, phonics and phonics-based skills can be incorporated into many different classroom activities and educational games, including, for example, bingo.

Phonics bingo is played like the traditional game of bingo: Each player (student) is given a card containing a five by five grid of squares, and aims to mark of a line of items (horizontally, vertically or diagonally) in response to items called out by the bingo caller (teacher). The different however between phonics bingo and traditional bingo, is that the cards, instead of being printed with numbers, are printed with words appropriate to the subject of the lesson. Additionally, game play may be modified in a variety of different ways.

Some ideas for phonetics bingo include:

1. Partial word bingo – The teacher says something like “find the word with ‘pin’ in it”, in response to which the students would have to find “spin”.

2. Blending bingo – The teacher reads out a word slowly, for example “sss-nnn-aaa-p”, and the students must find the corresponding word.

3. Rhyming bingo – The teacher reads out a word, and students need to find the word that rhymes with it.

4. Silent E bingo – The teacher reads out a word like “pin” and asks what what word you would get by adding an E.

It should also be remembered that phonics is not a complete solution to learning reading. Students must also learn to recognize some common words which can not be sounded out (the most common list of such words is known as Dolch Sight Words). Many teachers also emphasize learning to sight read other common words (such as “is” or “it”) as this can improve reading fluency. Therefore as well as playing phonics bingo, you can also play sight word bingo in class.

By: Sunil Tanna

Easter Bingo Cards

admin — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:35:08 +0000

Easter (also known as “Pascha” or “Resurrection Day”) refers to both the Christian religious feast celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, and the season of the church year beginning with Easter Day and lasting either 40 days until Ascension Day (traditional Easter Season) or 50 days until Pentecost (modern official Easter Season). The date of Easter within the calendar varies from year to year, because its date is based on a complex calculation based on the cycle of the moon – this is because of the feast’s links to the Jewish Passover. Several methods of calculating the date of Easter have been used over the centuries, this has in fact been a matter of controversy among Christians. Today, Easter falls sometime between late March and late April each year according to Western Christian traditions, and between early April and early May according to Eastern traditions.

Although Easter has its origins in Christianity, the period is also celebrated today as a secular holiday. The period is often marked by sending greeting cards, and giving and consuming confectionery including chocolate eggs, candies, marshmallows, etc. Another activity that is popular during the period is for children to paint the shells in boiled eggs with brightly colored paint.

Different countries have different traditional ways of marking the holiday. In the United Kingdom, it is traditional to eat hot cross buns (spiced buns with a cross marked on the top) during the Easter period, and for families to exchange chocolate eggs on Easter Sunday. In the United States however, chocolate eggs are delivered by the Easter Bunny (a rabbit character) who hides them while children are sleeping.

Easter is often marked in schools, and it is also an occasion at which both families and church groups come closer together. While there are many traditions already associated with the holiday, one thing that you may wish to consider is the possibility of playing educational games. These games provide an opportunity for educating young people about Easter traditions as well as being fun for people of all ages.

Ideally the games that you select will not only be educational and fun, but simple to learn, easy to play, and affordable (no expensive materials required!). One game that I would suggest is bingo. Pretty much everybody already knows how to play bingo (and if they don’t they can learn quickly), plus there are no major expenses since you can print the bingo cards yourself using your computer. Obviously you want the game to be themed around the holiday, but you’ll be surprised at just how easy that is: you can simply download free Easter bingo printables, or purchase affordable and easy-to-use bingo card maker software which you can use to print customized (on any topic at all) bingo cards whenever you want.

By: Sunil Tanna

Bingo Cards For Teaching

admin — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:38:40 +0000

Most people are familiar, or failing that at least aware of, the game of bingo. We’ve probably either played the game ourselves, or seen others play the game. What many people do not know however is that the game of bingo, with only a few minor modifications, can be adapted for educational use, and has been introduced by many teachers into their classrooms.

As you are no doubt aware, the traditional game of bingo is played using bingo cards printed with squares, each square containing a different number. Players mark off squares from their cards as numbers are called out, and the winner being the first player to achieve a winning pattern (the required pattern may vary depending on the variant of rules being used, but is typical one or more lines of marked off squares across the card).

Educational games of bingo are basically played in the same way, with the teacher acting as bingo caller, but instead of being printed with numbers, the bingo cards are often printed with items specially chosen by the teacher, for example:

* In a game of math bingo, the squares on the bingo cards may be printed with mathematical problems, and students must mark off squares by writing in the correct answers.

* In a game of foreign language bingo, the squares of the bingo cards may be printed with French, German, Spanish or Italian words that the students must recognize when the teacher calls out words in English (or vice-versa).

There really no limits on what teachers can come up with, but the common element required for all these ideas are bingo cards printed with items of the teachers of choice. Here there are really two options. The first option is to prepare the cards by hand – a tedious and potentially time-consuming task. The second option is to use a computer, because, with the help of some bingo card maker software, it’s a surprisingly easy job to print custom bingo cards.

By: Sunil Tanna