According to Lee SU Kim, lecturer in ESL, “There is a common perception that all learning should be serious and solemn in nature, and that if one is having fun and there is hilarity and laughter, then it is not really learning.  This is a misconception.  It is possible to learn a language as well as enjoy oneself at the same time.  One of the best ways of doing this is through games.”

This week at Zenira Camp, my students range from 9-12 years old with A1 and A2 language levels.  Our weekly theme is Detectives and Whodunits.  Wanting to engage and motivate my students while developing cognitive and problem-solving skills I decided to challenge them to an “escape the classroom in time for lunch” English language game.  They had 10 language challenges which would give them a number to the “keypad” to leave the room for lunch.  Of course, there was no real keypad and the door wasn’t locked, but they had a picture of a keypad to insert the missing digits.  Because of the different ages and levels, I allowed them to work together as needed, to ask me questions to help and I wrote some hints on the whiteboard.  We had great fun with this and yes, we escaped in time to go to lunch.  A couple of campers were surprised they didn’t know quite as much as they thought they did.

I now challenge you to test your language skills and Escape My Blog.

Clue for Digit #1:  How many of these words can be used with the word snow to form a real compound word?

bean, ball, cup, storm, yard, flake, bow, man, fire, light, board and shine

 

Clue for Digit #2:  Make each of these singular words plural.  How many of the plural words use the suffix –es?

dog, wish, peach, boy, box, card, church, bowl, teacher, chair, frog and basket

Clue for Digit #3:  Each of these sentences are missing a piece of punctuation at the end.  How many of them are missing a question mark?

It is scary being stuck in a classroom

How long will I be stuck here

What an unfortunate event this is

I must tell Miss Calvin about this tomorrow

Will the caretaker notice that I am here

How worried will my mother be

I should never have come back into school on my own

 Clue for Digit #4:  Each of these sentences is missing a conjunction.  It is either and or but.  How many sentences are missing the conjunction but?

I will be home late ____ my dad will be worried.

I know I shouldn’t have come back ____ I wanted to do my homework.

The caretaker might be cross ____ I’m sure she will understand.

The classroom is dark ____ it is quite scary.

Mrs. Calvin is my teacher ____ she comes to school quite early.

I have finished my homework ____ I have read my reading book.

I know that it is late ____ I think some teachers might still be here.

Clue for Digit #5:  Some of these words are missing an apostrophe to show that letters are missing.  How many words are missing an apostrophe?

Should, will, cant, must, Im, could, when, shouldn’t, didn’t, Ive, wont and sure

Clue for Digit #6:  The following story is missing some commas.  Add in the commas and count the number that were missing.

Linda Frank and Norman went on a school trip.  They had packed crisps chocolate and sweets for the journey and they shared them with Pat Barney and Kyle on the coach.  When they were halfway there, Linda started to feel a little bit sick.  So did Frank Norman Pat and Barney.  There weren’t enough sick buckets to go around!  Mrs. Calvin Mr. Diaz and Miss Ross told the children that they weren’t allowed to eat any more crisps chocolates or sweets on the coach from now on.

Clue for Digit #7:  Read the clue and write the answer with one letter in each box.  Spell the answers correctly to reveal the hidden number in the pink squares.

–ful and –less are both one of these.

PINK

 

Long and sad are both one of these.

PINK

 

Slowly and quickly are both one of these.

PINK

 

Run, hop and jump are all one of these.

PINK

Clue for Digit #8:  Read the sentences below and decide what tense they are written in.  How many of them are written in the present tense?

I am stuck in the classroom.

I came back into the school on my own.

I didn’t tell anyone what I was doing.

Now I’m alone and feeling scared.

I am running out of things to do.

I read my book and finished my homework.

I’m wondering how long I will be here for.

Clue for Digit #9:  Some of these root words can be given the opposite meaning by adding –un to them.  How many?

happy, wrong, do, load, fair, lock, honest, well, true, jump, dress, and cry

Clue for Digit #10:  There are lots of capital letters missing from the story below.  Add them in and count how many were missing.

Last thursday, betty went on a trip to london.  She had always wanted to see buckingham Palace and perhaps even see the King!  Betty rode on a big, red bus and went shopping on oxford street.  she had a wonderful time.

There you have it, the language game my students played today.  Before I give you the answers so you can check to see if you are able to “Escape My Blog”, I hope this gives you a better understanding of how incorporating games into an ESL classroom for young learners not only makes learning more enjoyable but also enhances language acquisition, social interaction, and cognitive development in a well-rounded and effective manner.

Let’s see how you did!

It’s somehow the first Friday in August.  I once wrote a blog called “Time Passages”; how time is a paradox.  I titled the post with Al Stewart’s song in mind.  The lyrics go like this:

“Well I’m not the kind to live in the past

The years run too short and the days too fast

The things you lean on are the things that don’t last

Well it’s just now and then my line gets cast into these

Time passages”

As I mentioned in my earlier blog, which was also a “first Friday”, time moves differently at camp.  One minute it’s day one and the campers are excitedly arriving looking for familiar faces and scanning the crowd to take in the new ones.  Staff are anxiously waiting and bursting with great ideas for activities and lessons.  Suddenly, “BAM”, ← (nice use of onomatopoeia, it is an English Camp after all) we’re wrapping up week 5.  We’ve moved beyond the halfway point and the above lyrics could read, “ The weeks run too short and the days too fast”.

After a hearty breakfast, most camp mornings start with a trip to the beach or once in a while we may just hang out at the pool.  Today happens to be one of those days.  My idea for today’s blog was to spice it up a bit and link you to some music to help you visualize our day.  Even though today is a pool day, I want you to imagine a sandy beach on the Bulgarian Black Sea with the waves rolling ashore and kids playing in the sand or frolicking in the waves.  When you have that vision in your mind, you can click this link to the Beach Boys’, “Catch a Wave”. I hope you enjoy your morning at the beach as much as we do.

After the beach/pool, it’s time for an English lesson. Mind you, we have 25 hours of English classes and English immersion activities per week.  Each week has a theme and I’ll get to that in a minute.  I’m probably going to show my age here, but I was taken back to the mid-80s and the American Rock Band Timbuk 3.  You’re probably asking yourself what could this possibly have to do with Zenira Camp and English.   Well, when you have a group of kids coming to summer camp to learn or improve their English and the camp is located at the seaside of the Bulgarian Coast, their “Future’s So Bright I (They) Gotta Wear Shades”.

After a late morning English class, it’s off to lunch followed by the ever-popular “Buba Bank”.  This is when kids can get some cash to purchase some pre-approved snacks.  When Buba Bank closes for the day, it is time for an afternoon of English classes.

As I mentioned above, each week of camp has a theme.  Coinciding with the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France, this week’s theme is the Olympics.  Because tonight is “Project Night” we spend much of the afternoon working on our projects.  You might think that if we are working on projects we aren’t as focused on English, but you would be wrong.  This gives us a chance to use our imagination, be creative, and still work on our English.  Let me explain, for tonight’s project we will hold a Zenira Olympics.  Camper’s invented their own countries and designed a flag which they will present to the whole camp during “Opening Ceremonies”.  For the younger, less advanced campers this was a great opportunity to teach vocabulary such as population and currency.  They also invented games to be played during the Project Olympics.  Campers will present their countries and games to the rest of the camp, all done in English.  It’s a huge breakthrough for a young child who was basically a non-English speaker when they arrived at camp to get in front of a group of kids, introduce themselves, and give 4 or 5 sentences of information.  It’s also a great time for more advanced campers to increase their vocabulary and work on their pronunciation and delivery. Project night always seems to fly by with lots of laughter and fun.  Then it’s off to bed and the best we can hope for is that the kids are not only having fun while learning English, but they are also making memories that last a lifetime.

In conclusion, I am writing this blog for Roscoe who had to leave camp early.  Since it was his day, I asked for his input.  He asked me to add a quote about time from T.S. Elliot, “Time present and time past are both perhaps present in time future, and time future contained in time past.”

Happy Camping!

Playlist:

Time Passages – Al Stewart

Catch a Wave – The Beach Boys

The Future’s so Bright I Gotta Wear Shades – Timbuk 3

Money – Pink Floyd

Olympic Fanfare – John Williams and the Boston Pops Orchestra

Theme from Chariots of Fire – Vangelis

Photograph – Nickelback