Materials: a basketball and hoop
Note: This is great for summer camps when you want to teach some basic English, and are outside playing with some kids. This could be adapted for the indoor classroom if you think creatively.
Description: During the summer I would meet with some kids in the park on different days and we would do simple games that involved basic English, (counting to 20 and backwards, days of the week, months, seasons, etc.) The first day I tried to do something with basketball, but none of the kids were very good at shooting hoops. So later that summer, I decided to bring the basketball back and try something else….
Basically, you just have a small number of kids, maybe try to keep it to 6 or 7, and make them stand in a circle in front of a basketball hoop. Then, you give the basketball to one kid and tell them to pass it, say 5 times to the right, and each kid has to say the subsequent number when he or she gets the ball (1!, 2!, 3!, 4!, 5!) until it reaches the fifth kid. Then that kid gets to take a shot with the ball at the basket. If the kid makes the basket, he or she gets one point, then returns to the circle and the ball is passed another five times, each kid saying the next subsequent number when he or she passes the ball (6!, 7!, 8!, 9!, 10!), until another kid gets the ball. Then that new kid gets a chance at a shot. You can make them count as high as you want, say 100, 150, 200, whatever, and once the count reaches that number, whoever has the most points wins.
Basically it just helps kids count in English while teaching them how to play a little basketball as well. Most of the kids I did it with seemed to enjoy it, and I got beat often times. I think I need to work on my jump shot. The only caveat is making sure whatever number they count to before someone gets to shoot, say to 5, or 4, or 6, you just have to take into consideration how many kids are in the game. If you have an even number of kids playing, say 6, then you have to make the fifth kid shoots, otherwise it would be the same kids shooting all the time, and some would get left out. Simply consider how many kids are playing beforehand and run a scenario through your head real quick as to what number the should count to before they shoot to see if everyone would have a chance.
-Brent F.
Filed under: Level: Beginning, Skills: Conversation/Speaking
