Teachers are always on the look out for fun, interesting and engaging classroom activities. Classroom games, obviously providing they have sufficient educational content are particularly welcome. This desire for interesting classroom activities extends to teachers of all subjects, including teachers of modern languages such as Italian.
One such activity that an increasing number of teachers are turning to is bingo. The reasons for this include the facts that bingo can easily be adapted to teaching different subjects, is very easy to learn and play, and that the game does not include any expensive or specialist materials.
There are many ways that bingo can be adapted to teaching Italian, here are a few possibilities:
1. You could play bingo using numbered cards (e.g. squares contain “5″, “34″ and “66″), but the teacher calls out numbers in Italian (e.g. “cinque”, “trenta quattro”, and “sessanta sei”). This type of game offers an excellent opportunity for students to practice their Italian numbers.
2. Instead of playing with cards containing numbers, you could play using cards containing times, dates, or letters of the alphabet. As with the previous type of game, you play Italian.
3. You could play with vocabulary. In this type of game you can use bingo cards either containing English or Italian words, but all calls are made in the other language.
In order to play these types of bingo there is really just one thing you need: bingo cards containing the appropriate item. At this point many teachers would probably start to worry about the cost of being specialist printed materials – however there is no need to worry – teachers can simply print the cards themselves using their computers. Teachers can download get ready-to-use free bingo printables from the Internet on a variety of topics, or alternatively can purchase affordable computer software for printing bingo cards which allows them to print cards containing any combination of items that they want in effectively unlimited quantities.
By: Sunil Tanna
As you probably know, Saint Valentine’s Day (often known as simply as “Valentine’s Day”) is a holiday celebrated on February 14th. On this day, it is common for lovers to exchange cards, gifts or flowers, for proposals of marriage to be made, and people to give to charity, or give each other candy.
These days of course, children also want to get into the spirit of Saint Valentine’s Day. Kids love to create Valentine’s crafts, send each other Valentine’s Day greeting cards, and play Valentine’s games. Parents and teachers will therefore want to be on the lookout for activities and games that are suitable for February 14th.
One idea for a suitable activity is to play bingo. However, instead of using bingo cards containing numbers, cards containing words chosen specially for the occasion (such as “Admirer”, “Chocolates”, “Cupid”, “Kiss”, “Perfume” or “Sweet Heart”) are used instead. The kids are each given their own bingo card, the teacher or parent acts as caller, and you’re ready to play! The beauty of bingo, is that it’s easy to learn and play, can be tied in with the theme of the day, and, most importantly, is a lot of fun!
Of course in order to play the game, the main obstacle that needs to be overcome is getting suitable bingo cards. In the past, this was often a problem as you had to send off for preprinted cards, and these weren’t always cheap or easy to obtain. Today, however things are much easier – parents and teachers can simply print bingo cards from their computer: free Valentine’s bingo printables are available on the Internet, or you can download affordable and easy-to-use software which makes it incredibly easy to print custom bingo cards.
By: Sunil Tanna
