Board Games to Use in the ELA Classroom to Reinforce Learning and Increase Engagement

 


Board games can be an engaging way to support English language learning in the classroom. Games help students learn in a hands-on way, motivate students to participate, create opportunities to practice concepts previously learned in class, allow students to build collaboration skills with their peers, and give immediate feedback on comprehension of content learned in class. Here are some fun ideas for incorporating board games into your classroom routine: 

Vocabulary Games

Games like Scrabble and Bananagrams are great ways to support word recognition, spelling, and vocabulary skills. Here are a few to consider adding to your class collection: 
  • Boggle
  • Balderdash 
  • Scattergories
  • Taboo
  • Bananagrams
  • Scrabble

Grammar Practice

Mad Libs and Grammar Gorillas are fun activities to practice identifying parts of speech and developing gramatically correct sentences. Here are some games to incorporate into your classroom game set: 
  • Sentence Cube Game
  • Sentence Scramble
  • Grammar Bingo 
  • Mad Libs
  • Grammar Gorillas 

Reading Comprehension

Help students develop their reading comprehension abilities with these fun games: 
  • Trivial Pursuit 
  • Apples to Apples Junior 
  • Word on the Street 
  • Clue 

Speaking and Listening 

Help students build their English speaking and listening skills with these fun activities: 
  • Hedbanz
  • Speak Out
  • Apples to Apples Junior 
  • The Game of Things 

Creative Writing 

Check out these creative writing board games: 
  • Snake Oil
  • Dixit 
  • Once Upon a Time 
  • Rory's Story Cubes 
Overall, playing games in your classroom will create more interactive learning experiences that help students reinforce skills and concepts they are learning. 

What games would you add to this list? Leave a comment below to share your ideas! 

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