| Body | Play has long been lauded as a powerful learning mechanism. As we explore L2 literacy, we thought it would be interesting to synthesize some ways in which play could be utilized as a powerful tool for literacy development. This week we highlight five of our favorites, some which are long standing traditions and others which rely on emergent tools.
- Move, Move, Move: Use physical movement to build literacy skills by having learners write high frequency words, a set of words grouped by topic, and/or a set of their selected words on scraps of paper or index cards. Then, depending on the age of the learner, spread the cards on the floor of a room, a gym, or a field. Then, call out words and, in groups of 4-5, have learners race to each of the words. Expansion ideas: (a) Have learners themselves take turns calling the words. (b) Have learners write something meaningful with the group of words you are working with.
- Doing Digital: Integrate a game targeted at storytelling and reading skills and have learners play with one another. One of our new favorites for the K-6 level as well as older learners at the novice learners is Safari Tales by Kuato Studios (http://www.safaritalesgame.com/). Expansion ideas: Ask learners to write a story about one of their characters or rewrite a level using the tone, audience, and level of the text in the game. They can also be asked to expand the narrative. This week's Activity of the Week exemplifies this idea.
- Post-A-Day: Ask learners to expand their repertoire of what they can read and write by having them guess which platform posts, language, and hashtags come from. In teams, the instructor reads a passage and posts in on the board/projector. The first team to come up with the genre, platform, and justification gets a point. The team with the most points at the end of a certain number of questions wins. Expansion idea: After the game, prepare learners to write a piece of their own and then have other groups guess the posts of the alternate team.
- Mix-&-Match: Divide a story into reasonable sections and have learners progress through a series of scavenger hunt stations where they, for example, put the story in order, interpret meaning, highlight various components of the text, and highlight key structures or words. Expansion ideas: (a) Ask learners to create their own station about the story they worked with. (b) Have learners create new stations based on a new text related to the same topic.
- Word Games: Encourage as many as you can, often, and in as many contexts as possible. This can include paper-pencil games, card games, and digital apps. There are lots out there, so pick some that look fun and let learners choose. One of our favorites includes Bugs and Buttons (1&2) (http://www.littlebitstudio.com/bugsandbuttons.html). Expansion idea: Ask learners to find one game that would be useful for building their reading skills in the target language and share that with the class.
While the application of these ideas will vary across levels and contexts, the use of play can be a very powerful tool for building literacy skills and we encourage all to explore the possibility with their own learners.
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