Some experience of using games in english lessons grade 5

THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCAITON AND TRANING

Office of education and training Thanh Hoa city

WORK EXPERIENCE

SOME EXPERIENCES OF USING GAME
IN ENGLISH LESSONS
GRADE 5

Performer: Tran Thi Huyen
Job:

Teacher

School: Dong Hai 1 primary school
Subject: English

THANH HOA YEAR 2019
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CONTENTS
Content

Page

1. INTRODUCTION
2.SOLVING PROBLEM

1

3

2.1.Theoretical basic

3

2.2.The actual situation

5

2.3. Solutions

6

1. Which game to use

6

2. When to use the games

7

3. Using some simple games in English lessons

9

a. Falling clouds

9

b. Big Describer

11

c. Unmusical chairs

12

d. Find a Person Who….

14

e. Dictionary

16

2.4. Results

18

3.CONCLUSION

20

3.1. Experience lessons

20

3.2. Suggestions.

20

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1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Reasons of choosing the topic.
Language has always held a central place in the primary curriculum and
since the foundation of the State , both Vietnamese and English have been
taught to all students. Language teaching has a number of dimensions , which
include the development of oral expression, written skills, literature and
creativity. All are part of the language curriculum in our schools. Our aims in
primary schools is to encourage and assist students to use language fluently and
freely to express their ideas clearly. We teach children to read both for
information and for pleasure. Early learning is based on sensory experience.
There is a growing body of evidence that children begin to form concepts at an
early age. This is based directly on a range of interactive sensory experience.
The rate and extent of children's learning in the early years is greater than at any
other period in life.
Therefore, improving the quality of education in general and quality of
English in primary schools in particular is one of the prior concerns in current
education. Teaching English in primary schools gives children the capacity to
use English, forms the basic English skills to communicate. Through the English
classes , students can develop thinking and form good qualities such as : charity,
love, respect, love of humanity..............
However. How to make students pay attention to learning is not an easy
problem Enthusiastic, creative teachers always concern to find out the best
methods for their students to improve educational quality and effect.
In fact, many teachers in Vietnam apply the old and traditional teaching methods
in which the teacher is the primary speaker and the learner is the primary

listener. This method creates boredom in learners and encourages a passive
study habit. On the other hand, teachers are also under high pressure to strictly
follow the curricula governed by the Ministry of Education and Training ,which
are dense and out of date. Such a curriculum limits the creativity of teachers and
constricts teaching capabilities and effectiveness.
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From given reasons above, I decided to write topic "Some experiences of
using games in English lessons -grade 5" to contribute to improving quality of
teaching and learning English in Dong Hai 1 Primary School in particular and
in educational career in general .
1.2. Purpose of studying
Encouraging students to use English in English lessons through some
simple games and applying for other grades next years.
1.3. Time and place of studying
The topic is carried out from August 2018 to March 2019 at Dong Hai 1
Primary School, Thanh Hoa.
2. SOLVING PROBLEM
2.1. Theoretical basic
In recent years language researchers and practitioners have shifted their
focus from developing individual linguistic skills to the use of language to
achieve the speaker's objectives. This new area of focus, known as
communicative competence, leads language teachers to seek task-oriented
activities that engage their students in creative language use. Games, which are
task-based and have a purpose beyond the production of correct speech, serve
as excellent communicative activities (Saricoban & Metin 2000). On the
surface, the aim of all language games is for students to "use the language";
however, during game play learners also use the target language to persuade
and negotiate their way to desired results. This process involves the productive

and receptive skills simultaneously.
Games offer students a fun-filled and relaxing learning atmosphere. After
learning and practicing new vocabulary, students have the opportunity to use
language in a non-stressful way (Uberman 1998). While playing games, the
learners' attention is on the message, not on the language. Rather than pay
attention to the correctness of linguistic forms, most participants will do all they
can to win. This eases the fear of negative evaluation, the concern of being
negatively judged in public, and which is one of the main factors inhibiting
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language learners from using the target language in front of other people
(Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope 1986). In a game-oriented context, anxiety is
reduced and speech fluency is generated--thus communicative competence is
achieved.
Games are also motivating. Games introduce an element of competition
into language-building activities. This provides valuable impetus to a
purposeful use of language (Prasad 2003). In other words, these activities create
a meaningful context for language use. The competitive ambulance also makes
learners concentrate and think intensively during the learning process, which
enhances unconscious acquisition of inputs. Most students who have
experienced game-oriented activities hold positive attitudes towards them
(Uberman 1998).
The benefits of using games in language-learning can be summed up in
nine points.
Games....
•

are learner centered.

•

promote communicative competence.

•

create a meaningful context for language use.

•

increase learning motivation.

•

reduce learning anxiety.

•

integrate various linguistic skills.

•

encourage creative and spontaneous use of language.

•

construct a cooperative learning environment.

•

foster participatory attitudes of the students.
Among numerous sources of students’ interest in the language learning

process, games seem to be very important. Obviously, there are a lot of other
sources, such as pictures and stories. Pictures serve as a visual stimulus, while
games use both visual and oral channels and activate language production and,
sometimes, physical movement.

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Young learners love to play, and they participate in a game with more
enthusiasm and willingness than in any other classroom task. Yet, games are
sometimes perceived as entertaining activities, playing which students are not
really learning. There are teachers who fail to realize the importance of games,
considering them not a wealth of various techniques and an opportunity for real
communication but an uncontrolled and noisy waste of time. However, students
in general learn better when they are active. Thus, when learning is channeled
into an enjoyable game, they are very often willing to invest considerable time
and effort in playing it. Moreover, in view of diverse learning styles and
preferences the students display, benefits from games seem to care for everyone
as children find playing activities much richer language studying work than
doing other kinds of practice. If games are properly designed, they may become
an excellent and essential part of a students’ learning program
The more variety we can introduce into teaching, the more likely we are to
meet the needs of all the different learners. For games are activities with rules, a
goal to achieve, and an element of fun; they seem to be challenging and
interesting enough to keep the young students occupied and eager to complete
the task. Furthermore, as they use English for real purposes, they make the
children play and learn at the same time. Moreover, games help to create a

context in which children’s attention is focused on the completion of a task
without realizing that language items are being practiced. As a result, language
learning takes place in a context that children can directly relate to. However, it
is always necessary to keep in mind the interests and needs of the learners.
Games can provide a valuable learning experience in which the children
practice and revise language only if they are carefully chosen, according to
students’ styles of learning.
II/The actual situation
1.General situation
Many students do not pay much attention to learning English, prepare the
lessons sketchy. Since then, they ignore studying English. In class, most students
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sit passively, are lack of flexibility, afraid to read, speak English and less raise
their hands to give their ideas.
Vietnam has a serious shortage in teaching staff in quality. Many teachers do
not meet the requirements of teaching. Teachers often do not have time to do any
further research .improve their skills or broaden their knowledge to improve
their teaching skills.
Most schools in Vietnam do not have qualified labs, libraries for students.
With the cooperation of various industry sectors and the investment from society
as a whole, the school infrastructure has been upgraded day by day, but it is still
not enough to significantly change enrollment and the learns' needs, especially
in the remote mountainous and isolated areas of the country
2.2. Situation of teaching and learning English at Dong Hai 1 Primary
School.
Students do not concern much about the subject. They as well as their
parents consider English as an optional subject. However, many students are
interested in learning English. They find out happiness and excitement in

studying. By myself's effort, I tried to look for games on the internet or in books
,I

used

some

simple

games

to

warm-up,

check

vocabulary,

grammar......Surprisingly, students enjoy playing and play excitingly. They also
participate in more activities .Although results are not really high but what I
gained is not little.
Examination results at the beginning of the school year.

Grade
5

Total
72

Quality
Exellent Percent Good Percent Average Percent Weak
15
20.8
22
30.6
30
41.7
5

Percent
6.9

I realized that this result was not high, so during the lessons I applied
some methods in which some simple games have been used to improve
education's quality and efficiency.
2.3. Solutions
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1.Which Games to Use
Teachers should be careful about choosing games if they want to make
them advantageous. First of all the teacher should decide on the purpose of a
game. A game may seem appropriate and useful. However, when its value is
considered from the view point of foreign language teaching, it may have little
or no purpose. Nedomová (2007, p.19) underlines the fact that we “should
consider whether the game-like activity is for children only to make the lesson
more attractive and protect them from being bored or whether we tend to revise
and practise some particular part of grammar, vocabulary, etc.” when they
choose a game.

Considering the level of the game is equally important while choosing
games. Teachers must decide whether the level of the game fits students’
language level because a game may become difficult when it is beyond the
learners’ level or it may become boring when learners find it too easy to
carry on. When a game’s value in grammar teaching is considered, teachers tend
to use them for practice or to reinforce a specific grammatical aspect of
language only if a game is suitable for learners’ level so that the grammatical
knowledge can be used easily as they are playing the game.
The fact that games enable social interaction and participation is also
important. Learners, especially the young ones, learn better when they interact
with their peers. Some games may include both cooperation and competition
together. While students cooperate within a team, they, at the same
time, compete against another team (Rixon, 1991, p. 5). Hence, what teachers
should consider while choosing a game is the fact that children learn best with
games which require physical action, interaction, competition and participation.
In addition to all these, there are many other factors such as the size and the
physical properties of the classroom, the equipment, materials and the time
available for a game (McCallum, 1980, p. 12). In conclusion, teachers should
take all these factors into account while choosing a game because a game which

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seems to be most appropriate may turn into a complete failure in the end.
2.When to Use the Games
Games are mostly used when there is some time left at the end of the
lesson to keep students quiet. However, Lee (1979, p. 3) proposes that “games
should not be regarded as a marginal activity, filling in odd moments when the
teacher and class have nothing better to do.” With this in mind, games should be
put into the center of classroom teaching and they should not be treated as a

merely warm-up activity. Rinvolucri (1990) clarifies that a game can be used in
any of these three stages while using them as a part of grammar instruction or
revise vocabulary.
Teachers should be well aware of their roles while using games in their
classes. Since it is rather difficult to find a game that meets all the needs of the
learners, careful preparation of the teacher is necessary. McCallum (1980, p 21)
suggests that the teacher should organize the game before the instruction. The
teacher may need some extra equipment or materials to play the game and most
of the time these equipment and materials are not available in the classroom.
Before explaining the rules to the class, the teacher should first understand how
the game is played. Especially when working with children, the teacher should
always be prepared to adapt the game to the givens of the class. After choosing
the game, the teacher should explain its rules to the learners in a direct and noncomplicated way. Especially for young learners, it may be necessary to use the
mother tongue because if these learners cannot understand how to play the
game, there is no educational purpose in playing it. Therefore, demonstrations
may be beneficial because they can help young learners understand the rules
clearly and easily. Moreover, the teacher is not recommended to interrupt a game
to correct the mistakes of young learners. According to Celce-Murcia (1979, p.
54), “interruptions should be as infrequent as possible so as not to detract from
the student’s interest in the game. An alternative to immediate correction is to
make note of errors and discuss them when the game is over”. In other words, as
sudden interruptions may distract learners’ attention, it is better to wait until the
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game is over to discuss and correct the mistakes of the learners. In addition,
appropriate class organization increases the success of a game. Many games
require the class to be divided into groups or pairs. This gives the teacher a
chance to monitor the activity of the learners while they are playing the game.
McCallum (1980, p. 12) asserts that learners should be in the same team during

the year because it both saves the teacher’s time and helps learners develop team
spirit that promotes exchange of ideas among themselves. Pair work is also
beneficial as it develops learners’ communication skills. In short,
dividing class into pairs and groups enables learners to improve their language
and communication skills while promoting competition among the teams or
pairs. As such, the teacher may find more time to focus on students’ language
development.
3. Using some simple games in English lessons- grade 5
After looking for games on the internet, TV or books, I renewed them to
match with my students. Then I organized and guide them to play. Below ,I am
going to present some games I always use in the lessons and the efficiency is
outstanding.
a. Falling clouds
This is a game for learning English focusing on vocabulary items. You
listen to the sound or read the word and then point to the matching pictures. It’s
really easy, fun and hopefully a great way to learn and review words.
Example:
Unit 18-What will the weather be like tomorrow?- Lesson 1.
I use this game to check new vocabulary
+ Time allowed: 3 minutes
+ Preparation
7 pictures describing 7 different kinds of weather and stick them on the board.
7 words about the weather: rainy, cloudy, snowy, windy, sunny, foggy, stormy

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+Practice
Choose 10 students then divide into 2 teams
Let them stand at the equal place .

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After teacher reads a word- sunny , Student have to run as fast as possible to

reach the right picture.
Continue to the end.
+Result
The team which is faster and has more correct words is winner.
Games are fun and children like to play them. Through games children
experiment, discover, and interact with their environment. (Lewis, 1999)
b. Big Describer
In this game you practice English reading. You have to read the brief description
and then point to the image that is described. First you choose a set of images
and the quickly read the text and point to the matching picture. This game
practices reading for understanding and hopefully can be used to learn some new
vocabulary too.
Example:
Unit 2- I always get up early, How about you?- Lesson 1.
I use this game to check new structure
+ Preparation
6 pictures with 6 different activities and 6 sentences presenting those after that
stick them on the board.

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6 sentences about activities
1.She always brushes her teeth in the morning

2. She sometimes watches TV in the evening.
3.She usually cooks dinner in the afternoon
4.He always listens to music in the evening
5.They often do morning exercise in the morning.
6.They usually brush their faces in the morning.
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+Implementation
Divide class into 2 teams
Let them select sentences at random“She usually cooks dinner in the afternoon”
After that point to the correct picture which are described in those picture as fast
as possible
Continue to the end
+Result
The team which is faster and has more correct words is winner.
Through playing games, students can learn English the way children learn their
mother tongue without being aware they are studying; thus without stress, they
can learn a lot.
c. Unmusical chairs
This easy listening game works great with young learners. Arrange
chairs as if to play musical chairs. Students will walk around them, they will
be a conversation Students walk around the chairs as you play the audio and
the student/s who hear the answer to the question sit/s down. Stop the audio.
Those who are seated answer the question, and if it’s correct they will remain
seated. If several students sit down at the same time, that’s fine, but ask them
to whisper the answer in your ear to make sure they all heard the answer
from the audio.
Example
Unit 18- What will the weather be like tomorrow? –Lesson 2

I’lI use this game to consolidate all the lesson
+ Preparation
A short conversation about the weather
Peter: It’s so hot today. Is it always like this in summer, Nam?
Nam: Yes, it is.
Nam: It’s ussually hot in summer. And it rains a lot.
Peter: Really? I like summer here because I can swim in the sea.
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Nam: What’s summer like in your country, Peter?
Peter: It’s cooler than here. But it’s very green. There are lots of flowers and
plants.
Nam: Really? I’d like to visit your country in summer
+Practice
Choose 5 students
Have them stand at an equal place
First, Teacher read the question: What’s summer like in your country?
Next, Teacher plays the audio
Students run round the chairs as the teacher read the student/s who hear the
answer to the question sit/s down. Pause . Those who are seated answer the
question, and if it’s correct they will remain seated.
Continue to the end
+Result
Person who is faster and more correct is winner.
To learn English, you have to speak in English but not every student is
comfortable blurting out unfamiliar phrases, taking risks or making mistakes.
The teachers want everyone to be involved, so how can the teachers reach out
the shier, quieter students? The teachers will use every games

they know to help their students paricipate in learning
activities more actively.

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d. Find a Person Who….
Build confidence by starting with a comprehension game. There is less speaking
involved, but everyone will have to pay attention, understand what is
being said, and interact with the class. Have everybody begin in a big
circle. The teacher calls out:
“Find a person who is wearing glasses.”
Everyone runs to grab the hand of a person wearing glasses. Assuming each
student has two hands, only two people can be partnered with each glasses
wearer.
Whoever is left without a hand to hold stands in the middle. The youngest one of
the middle group must now call at the next turn. Possibilities are endless!
Find a person who:
Is wearing red.
Has words on his/her shirt.
Can curl his/her tongue.
Can touch the floor without bending knees.
The teacher can have a prepared list of finds or can ask the students to make up
their own.
The shy person either must be quick to follow the English instructions or find
themselves in the middle, where must take a turn at calling out the next “Find a
Person.” Either way, all students are engaged.
Example
Unit 17- What would you like to eat? –Lesson 2
I’lI use this game to warm up

+ Preparation
- Some cards about the drink and food

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+Practice
- Let some students hold the cards about food and drink and the other don’t.
- Teacher calls out:
-“Find a person who is holding two bowls of rice
-Everyone runs to grab the person holding two bowls of rice.
-Who find the person holding two bowls of rice is winner.
-Continue to the end
+Result
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Person who is faster and more correct is winner.
e.. Dictionary
Don’t worry about the more vocal students taking over. Every student gets to be
the leader and judge in this game. If you’ve played the game Balderdash, you’ll
recognize Dictionary.
Divide your class up into groups of five or six. If your class has fewer than ten
students, you might be able to play with everyone at once.
Give each group a packet of sticky notes and the biggest dictionary that you can
find. You can also create your own advanced vocabulary list for the class to use.
For each group, select a leader and a judge. You can pick the most shy students
to steer the group. The leader finds a word in the dictionary (or vocab list) that
he or she does not believe anyone else knows. The leader writes the correct
definition of the word on the sticky note. Then, he or she spells the word out

loud, and everyone except the judge will write the word down.
The other players make up definitions of their own and write them on sticky
notes as well. They can be funny and come up with a silly definition. They can
try to guess the correct definition. They can try to fool the judge with something
that sounds convincing.
The leader collects all the definitions and hands them over to the judge. The
judge reads each definition out loud. If your judge has a flair for the dramatic,
all the better.
After reading all the definitions, the judge decides which definition he or she
thinks is correct.
The leader identifies which answer is really correct. If the judge picks the
leader’s answer, then the leader gets a piece of candy or other taken. If the judge
picks another player’s answer, then the player gets the candy.
Here’s a rundown of how this might play out:
The leader picks the word “sundry.” She tells all the players the word and spells
it for them.
The leader writes the correct definition on her note, “miscellaneous.”
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Another player thinks about literal meaning and writes, “wet clothes left outside.
Another player guesses and writes, “popcorn.”
Another player decides to be silly and writes, “lying to your teacher.”
The leader mixes up the definitions and hands them over to the judge. The judge
reads each definition out loud, and if all goes well, everyone gets a good laugh
out of this. The judge in this case decides he likes the “wet clothes left outside”
definition. The leader awards the player who wrote this definition with the candy
and explains that the correct definition is miscellaneous.
The roles switch up and the judge becomes leader in the next round.
Play as many rounds as you can so that every student has a chance to be the

judge and the leader.
The nice thing about Dictionary is that you can adapt to most English learning
levels. And students who are shy about speaking out loud in class may be more
comfortable in these smaller groups.
Example
Review 2
I’lI use this game to recover all the vocabulary they have learnt from unit 1 to 10
+ Preparation
- a lot of cards of words and phrases they have learnt from unit 1 to 10

- Divide class into 6 groups
-Give each group a packet of sticky notes and the biggest dictionary
- The leader pick up one word and spell it aloud, all of them write the definitions
down.
The judge choose the best definition.
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-Continue to the end
+Result
Person who has more correct definitions is winner.
My experience creating a competition for our students taught us that games
stimulate communicative skills. Competitors revealed that they felt less afraid of
using their English during game play. I also observed that they were more
willing to ask questions and think creatively about how to use English to achieve
the goal. The competition gave students a natural opportunity to work together
and communicate using English with each other. Furthermore, by integrating
playing and learning, students practiced the learned linguistic knowledge in a
vivid and meaningful context. And finally, the competition stimulated their
interest in foreign culture.

2.4. Results
Through the application of simple games integrated into the content of the
lessons in the process of teaching English at Dong Hai 1 Primary School. I
noticed the obvious changes of attitude in learning English. A number of new
words students have are increasing remarkably . Students have applied grammar
structure to do exercises more exactly, some of them speak English more selfconfidently. English lessons are becoming excitingly, most of them enjoy
learning English.
When applying those measures, I realized that the result is getting better
and better. The number of excellent and good students has been increasing
considerably while weak students have been decreased gradually. Especially,
some excellent students got high grades in English contests .
At the of March-2018-2019 school year ,I gained result as following.
Quality
Grade Total Exellent Percent Good Percent Average Percent Weak Percent
5
72
20
27,8
28
38.9
24
33,3
0
0

3.CONCLUSION
3.1. Experience lessons
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-Teacher must love career and children
-T must have various knowledge
-Preparing lesson plan carefully before class
-Using visual aids to enrich , strengthen the lessons
-Organizing simple games to enhance vocabulary and practice structures. Games
add variation to a lesson and increase motivation by providing a plausible
incentive to use the target language.
-Encouraging and gifting children who have made progress
-Making plan to help weak students so that they participate in class activities
without any shyness and less difficulty
3.2. Suggestions
In order to improve quality and efficiency of English lessons ,I would like
to give some suggestions as following:
- Providing more materials for teaching and learning English.
-Holding more professional meetings.
-Sharing out excellent experience initiatives so that the other teachers consult.
These are some experiences that I’ve applied at Dong Hai 1 Primary
School and achieved spectacular results during the last teaching . Although they
are not very excellent ,they, in partly, motivate students to practice English day
by day.
I hope teachers and colleagues will contribute to my topic so that it is
becoming better and better and will be applied widely.
Confirmation of headmistress

Dong Hai, March 3,2019
I assure that this is my experience
Initiative to write,do not copy other
people’s content.

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Tran Thi Huyen

REFRENCE BOOKS
+ Student’s book – English 5
+Teacher’s book- English 5
+ Method of teaching
+ Doff, A 1998 Teach English : Trainer’s Handbook Cambridge
+ Material guiding teachers Phonics –Learning Box UK
+Materials of Institute for Research on Educational Developments –Copyright
by IRED 2011.
+Uberman, A.1998. The use of game: for vocabulary presentation and revision .
English teaching Porum 36.

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