Vocabulary Game for English Language Learners (ELL students) Essay

Vocabulary Game for English Language Learners (ELL students) - Essay Example The game in this presentation is one that focuses on the use of prepositions and adjectives. This experience can be related to what I have learned about ELL and how they interact with material as well as the benefits of face to face interaction. It also relates to things like the development of literacy. â€Å"There is a growing concern over the ability of the educational system to meet the needs of the increasingly diverse multiethnic, multilingual classroom. Prominent among these needs is the acquisition of literacy skills. In recent years, researchers have begun to challenge simplistic notions about the development of English as a Second Language (ESL)1 literacy skills† (Geva, 2000). The game is basically a variation of tic-tac-toe. Most students, even those from other countries, are familiar with tic-tac-toe, and if they are not, it does not take long for the teacher to explain it, and for them to catch on during play. The game begins with the teacher using a whiteboard and marker to draw the tic-tac-toe grid. In each square of the grid, a preposition and adjective are placed, with the â€Å"to be† verb added where necessary. For example, in the first round, the grid may be â€Å"be afraid of,† â€Å"vote for,† â€Å"be confident in,† â€Å"be married to,† â€Å"take from,† â€Å"fight for,† â€Å"dream about,† etc., with one phrase in each square. The students then pair into twos. One student is X; the other is O. The students take turns using the preposition and adjective in their own example, to get the square. When the game is over, the winning student can play the next student up, in a round robin, if necessary. If there is no winner in the tic-tac-toe game, the teacher should move on to another group of two students. Overall, this is a more effective game to play in classes of ten or fewer students, because this still