Most adults are familiar with the game of bingo. Most of us have either played it ourselves, or at least seen it played. For those few people who have not, the rules are simple and easily learned – you are given a bingo card which is printed with a grid of numbers, and cross off squares as the numbers are called out by the bingo caller – the goal is to be the first person to achieve a winning pattern of crossed out squares (the exact definition of the a winning pattern varies depending on the variant of the game being played).
One thing that you may not have considered however is because bingo is so simple, it can be played by children, and with just a few modifications can easily be adapted into a powerful but flexible learning aid. Many teachers have noticed this (not to mention the fact that bingo does not require expensive materials or specialist resources), and thus have introduced variants of the game into their classrooms. Today bingo is being used to teach a variety of K-12 school subjects including English (vocabulary, reading, etc.), math, foreign languages, and even science and history.
In most classroom variants of bingo, the game is played using bingo cards printed with items chosen by teacher. Additionally, game play may be modified somewhat. For example, in a vocabulary version of bingo, the bingo cards contain words that the teacher wants students to learn, the teacher calls out definitions of words rather than the words themselves, and the students must match the definitions to the words. Similar ideas can be used for reading practise, math problems, and foreign languages (calling out words in one language and require students to match printed words in another).
The main requirement for all these educational variants of bingo is the ability for the teacher to give each student a bingo card with items appropriate for the particular lesson. Fortunately this is quite easy – a PC and some bingo cards generator software can print a set of bingo cards containing whatever types of items the teacher wants, in just a few minutes.
By: Sunil Tanna
Most of us, are, I think, familiar with the game of bingo. Pretty much everyone knows how to play, even those people who are not dedicated bingo enthusiasts. Something that is less well known, is that modified versions of bingo are nowadays being used in many classrooms to help teach a diverse range of subjects.
One of the biggest challenges facing today’s teachers is how to engage with their students and sustain their interest. The fact that bingo is an enjoyable game can perhaps be of some help. Furthermore, the game play mechanics can easily be adapted or modified by the teacher, depending on the particular subject being taught. Finally, the fact that bingo does not require a large investment in expensive materials or specialist resources is of course important given the financial constraints that most teachers work under.
The most common way to adapt bingo to classroom use, is by varying the contents of the bingo cards. In the standard game of bingo, the cards are generally printed with numbers, however in educational versions of the game the bingo cards are printed with words, phrases, or even math problems of the teacher’s choice. Additionally, game play mechanics may be varied: in an introductory reading class, students may simply be required to simply locate words printed on their cards, but in a language class they may be required to find a French or Spanish word when the teacher says the English equivalent, and in a math class, the students might be required to solve the math problems on their cards as they are called out.
By: Sunil Tanna
