Vocabulary Hopscotch

Today, I would like  to refer  to  the potential of HOPSCOTCH to engage students, as well as to facilitate the acquisition of factual knowledge (English vocabulary) and to improve the attitudes of students towards learning English as a second language. I can assure you that,   students remember and correctly spell about the same number of new vocabulary words after learning with HOPSCOTCH as they do after a teacher-centered lesson. Importantly however, they enjoy playing this  game very much and they report better attitudes towards studying English after learning vocabulary with HOPSCOTCH and games in general, compared to traditional teaching.

All that is required for this fun game is a few sight words -or anything else that we teach eg numbers- and sidewalk chalk or masking tape.

On rainy days, consider using masking tape on a floor and write each sight word on a piece of tape or index card – just make sure kids do not slip on the index card while playing the game.

Hopscotch activities I have found online and some of my own invention

INSTRUCTIONS:

What You Need:

chalk (multiple colors work best) for outdoor play

or use colored tape & bring the fun indoors

rock or bean bag

What To Do:

1. Using chalk make a hopscotch board.

2. In each square write target sight words, spelling words, letters, etc…

3. Child should throw rock or other item eg a bean bag,onto hopscotch board.

Whichever word the rock/bean bag lands in, is the word to be read.

4. Repeat until all words have been read/used, at least once.

Different Ways to Play:

We play this a few different ways aside from the basic way listed above.

 Some rounds we read every word we hop on or

use the word in a sentence (this is especially useful for homophones)

Other times, we try to spell the target word after reading it.

Sometimes, we sing-spell the word she lands on to the tune of B-I-N-G-O.

Variations:

1. You can play with letters to help aid recognition

or practice letter sounds .

2. Use numbers to aid in number recognition.

3. Use colors to help with color recognition.

4. Play with spelling words.  Have child read word,

then look away and practice orally spelling the word.

5. Play with vocabulary words –

child tells you definition of word they land on.

6. Play with English words and mother tongue

For example, write color words like red

and child has to tell me word in mother tongue..

7. Spell hopscotch:Give each student a word to spell as she jumps through the boxes. If she spells the word wrong, she must repeat that word on her next turn. The first person to get through the entire board wins a point for her team.

8. Word hopscotch:Method: ƒ Draw a simple hopscotch outline on the floor with chalk or use tape. ƒ Children take turns to hop (walk or jump) from square to square ƒ On each square they say a word that they know. These may be words in general, or words associated with a particular topic or theme, counting etc. ƒ When they run out of words they must ‘give up’ Variation: ƒ Teacher puts pictures /flashcards of familiar objects on each square ƒ Children must name the objects as they hop onto the square More difficult: ƒ Children must say something about the object in the picture

9.I sometimes use the class vocabulary dice,too.

Do you want to read more about how to play hopscotch? Here is goes…

One player goes first and begins by tossing his marker, e.g., a pebble or beanbag, into the first square. The marker must land in the square without touching the lines. If the marker does not land in the first square, his turn is over. If the marker lands in the first squares, he must hop over the first square and then continue hoping through the hopscotch pattern saying each sight word as he lands on that square. When he gets to the last square, he must turn around and hop back saying each sight word again. He must pick up his marker without touching the first square and then complete the course by hopping on it. If he successfully completed the course, he would proceed to the next square by tossing his stone to the second square and continue hopping as stated above. He must do this for each square.

A player must hop on one foot on the single squares and straddle the double squares. If a player does not hop with the proper foot, hops on the lines or looses balance while picking up her marker, her turn is over. She would begin her next turn on that square. The first player to complete the course wins the game. For younger players, consider adding a neutral square, e.g., home and allow players to rest at the end of the course. While resting they can recite the alphabet.

– See more at: http://www.sightwordsgame.com/sightwordgames/hopscotch/#sthash.kZ8ypggS.dpuf