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Bingo Cards Generator

admin — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:37:36 +0000

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

Fractions Bingo Cards

admin — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:27:45 +0000

Today’s teachers are no longer satisfied with rote learning and boring classroom activities. As a result, fun, engaging and challenging educational activities are very much in demand, and one such activity that has become extremely popular in recent years is bingo. This is because bingo is ideally suited to educational environments – apart from being enjoyable, it’s very easy to play, it’s extremely flexible and adaptable, and it doesn’t require lots of expensive materials or specialist resources.

The traditional version of bingo is played using bingo cards containing a 5 X 5 array of numbers. Each players goal is to try to get a line (horizontal, vertical or diagonal) of items marked off their card – they mark off items as they are called out by the bingo caller. Educational versions of bingo use broadly the same rules (although teachers may of course vary the rules if they wish), but the bingo cards are instead printed with items specific to the particular subject or lesson – for example, place names in a geography class, historical figures in a history class, authors or book titles in an English literature class, and so on.

While it is true that bingo is can be used in many different subjects, one subject where it has proven especially popular with teachers is math. Usually math teachers will use bingo cards containing math problems, and ask the students to write in answers to these questions (as the questions are called out), but that isn’t the only way to play. You could use bingo cards containing numbers which serve as the solutions to various math questions – when the teacher calls out a math question, students must mark off the square containing the solution. Another idea when teaching fractions and/or decimals is to have cards containing the same number written in different ways – when a teach calls out “a half”, students may tick off a square containing 0.5, 2/4, 3/6, 4/8 or any other other representation of a half, regardless of format or base.

If you’re a teacher and want to use bingo in your classes, then obviously you’ll need to get the appropriate bingo cards. There are specialist publisher who offer preprinted materials, but these are sometimes expensive and also limit your choice of items and themes to those chosen by the publisher. It would be a lot more flexible if you could print the cards yourself – and installing some bingo card maker software on your PC will allow you to do exactly that.

By: Sunil Tanna

Bingo Cards in Education

admin — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 19:18:01 +0000

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