Teaching with Word Games

Word games are an incredibly important part of our culture. As children we spend long hours playing Boggle, Scrabble, and hangman with friends, and solving crosswords, word jumbles, and word searches on our own. One of the longest running game shows on television, Wheel of Fortune, is even a word game. So why so much fascination with words? Letters and words can be combined into seeming endless creative patterns, much like musical notes, and colors. They tickle our creative funny bone, and inspire our minds. Most of all - - word play is simply fun. For this reason, they are a wonderful medium for use in the classroom or homeschool. Teaching the technical aspects of phonics, spelling, and grammar can be tedious at best, but incorporating word games into learning can be surprisingly entertaining for children, and can even foster a love for language itself! Students learn words by using them, and using words within the framework of games is less intimidating and more engaging than traditional forms of learning. The games provide motivation to practice word usage, and practice increases fluency. Word games can enhance the learning of many different language arts skills including recognizing sound-letter relationships, connecting words with ideas, understanding word usage, identifying word families, developing spelling skills, and increasing their vocabulary. While these skills can be taught with rote memorization and drill and repetition, word games make these tasks more engaging and interactive. And for students with reading and spelling difficulties, they can provide the necessary review while not taxing the child's patience or self-esteem. Almost any language skill can be enhanced by word games. Here are some examples: · Spelling Skills - Hangman for specific spelling words; Word Wall Games and Word Concentration for sight words; Word Searches for spelling order; Word Jumbles for word attack and differentiation· Vocabulary Skills - Scrabble, Upwords and Boggle for building vocabulary; Crossword puzzles for context building; Acrophobia (online game) for word usage and understanding acronyms; Scattergories and Charades for word categorization· Phonics - Rebuses for younger children; Word Mazes, Phonics Bingo, Phonics Card Games and Hooked on Phonics or similar items for teaching phonics concepts Other benefits of words games in the classroom is that they they give students a break from traditional worksheet review, they require logical thinking, they are mentally challenging, and they often require a cooperative effort. Teachers find that in the relaxed atmosphere of game-play, learning often takes place more readily and is retained longer. Word games add variety, increase motivation, and encourage learning. Click on this link to access free word games for your students or homeschoolers.