Pictionary, Boggle, Bananagrams, Can You Name 5?, Scattergories-- Why Board Games in the Classroom Shouldn't be...wait for it...Taboo!

As an avid game player in and out of the classroom, I got all geared up to research and write about the benefits of using board games in the classroom for my blog. But when I started my search I found a few resources that have already made my point for me. The most cohesive discussion was Laura A. Sharp's article, "Stealth Learning: Unexpected Learning Opportunities Through Games". Here are some take away points:

• Educators can use stealth learning, or "clever, disguised ways to introduce learning objectives through non-traditional tools, such as games, to encourage students to have fun and learn," to engage and motivate students in the classroom.
• Historically games were used as teaching tools.
• Games can be used to support state standards and learning outcomes.
• Research shows that people from the Net Generation (Net Gen) expect more interactive learning opportunities, as opposed to linear instruction.
• Playing games gives students a safe environment in which to take risks and learn from mistakes.
• Playing games appeals to students' different learning styles.
• This article presents adequate research to support her conclusion that, "Games engage students in healthy activities that challenge the mind, teach social skills, and promote active learning while having fun."

Sharp also gives a list of games that can be used and some of the strategies/standards that they can support. However, this list is more aimed at elementary students. 

If you need convincing that using board games in the classroom is a good idea, or some hard core research to justify your use of board games in the classroom, her article and bibliography is legit. 

I just have two further thoughts/comments on the ideas that Sharp and some of the other resources I read (such as this handout from a TESOL conference presentation by Shelley Chang and Jenny Cogswell in 2008)  presented. First, "stealth learning" is not necessary; students should be aware that they're learning and that different types of learning can be fun. Second, games do not necessarily need to be adapted in order to be used in the classroom. 

Stealth Learning 

My first year teaching I unknowingly subscribed to this "Stealth Learning" idea. I was still getting to know my students (and I know that "knowing our learners" is important no matter where we're teaching, but it was particularly important for me in this small community to have genuine relationships with them) and playing games provided a more low-stakes and more engaging environment in which to get to know them. After a rousing game of Taboo or Scattergories I'd feel so tricky and sneaky, having gotten students to draw upon all different contexts and use circumlocution and descriptions successfully, which are all skills we'd struggle to develop during direct instruction, small group work, and any other more traditional activity. Now, with more experience in the classroom and more experience with these students, I am adamantly opposed to the idea of stealth learning-- we need to make everything as transparent as possible.

Sharp says, "it is only natural to use them [games] to teach students new information when students are unaware or uninterested in learning, thus stealth learning." Reading this statement makes me think that it should be made obvious to the students that while they're playing a fun game they are learning. Our students should be aware of the fact that, whatever they are doing in life, they are constantly taking in information, processing it, and readjusting their beliefs, understandings, and actions accordingly-- they are always learning. Students are definitely learning when they're helping to cook in the kitchen, when they're on the playground, when they're playing video games. They should be aware that they're learning when we read a new short story, and aware that they're learning when we play Bananagrams. The more we can make them aware of the fact that every interaction and every experience they ever have becomes part of their context, the easier I hope it will be to make those jumps to meta-cognition and better, more informed decision making for our life-long learners. 

Adapting Games

Some of the games-in-the-classroom articles and posts I found on blogs and Pinterest had great ideas for how to adapt Taboo to the classroom, or to adapt Pictionary so that it would be suitable for students to play. Granted, some of these posts were for elementary or for ESL, so the simplifications or changing the game's content to reflect the area of study did make sense. But some people were adapting the games for junior high and high school use, too. I'm all for using a PowerPoint version of Jeopardy as review, and if someone handed me a set of Taboo cards that were made to review our vocabulary and concepts for Harry Potter, or some other book, I'd gladly take them. But who has the time to create all of that? Especially when the games have so much value just as they are. 

Caveat: Okay, I do adapt the game rules in my classroom, just not the content. I make sure that the competition is not cutthroat (e.g., if students need help in Bananagrams, we can pitch in!); I try to maximize participation (e.g., we almost always do All Play in Pictionary for each card so that no one is sitting out); I allow more "passes" in games like Taboo or Can You Name Five? so that students don't get frustrated if they just don't know what something is. 

So which games do we play, and why?

Boggle: 

In Boggle, players look at a 4x4 grid of letters on dice and find words by connecting adjacent dice. Each player makes their own list of words within a three minute time period. Points are awarded based on word length and originality (i.e., you only get a point for a word no one else found).  

Boggle is probably my students' least favorite classroom game. They dislike it because they don't usually find long lists of words, which frustrates them and makes them feel unsuccessful. If we are having "game time," I never pick Boggle. But I do use a round of it occasionally as a warm-up or energizer because it is a good tool to get their brains concentrating. One of the rules in Boggle is that you are not allowed to use proper nouns, so it gets them to review/think about that grammatical category, as well as basic spelling. 

Taboo: 

In Taboo, two teams take turns trying to get their teammates to guess the word at the top of their card without using any of the "taboo" words listed below it. To play you all sit around in a circle and team members alternate (Team A member has to sit between two Team B members) so that players from the opposing team can keep an eye on the player's card and make sure they don't use any of the taboo words in their description.

Taboo may be my favorite game to play in the classroom because it serves so many purposes. First, everyone is participates in this game at once. Even if it is the other team's turn, you're still on edge listening and trying to figure out the word for yourself. 

Next, Taboo is a fantastic exercise for activating prior knowledge. We all know that students learn better when they can connect new information to the context they've already developed. That's why we create anticipatory sets and introductory activities aimed at activating specific prior knowledge to prep their brains for the new information. Taboo isn't activating specific prior knowledge-- it activates a veritable smorgasbord of prior knowledge. Why is this context chaos a good thing? For my students here, Taboo is a great exercise in broadening the horizons. We live out in an isolated, more or less homogenous place with very little deviation from the daily routine. We live the same day over and over again and think about the same things over and over again. Playing Taboo makes us step outside of our day-to-day routines and think about and draw on all the experiences we've had and things we've been exposed to. For the teacher it is great to see what students do and don't understand, do and don't know-- it is one more way to get to know your learners. Quick funny Taboo story: One student gave a description along the lines of, "It's like that thing that has the letters and you sit around and dead people try to spell stuff." I shouted out, "Ouija board!" and the student said, "Nevermind, pass." After the round was over I asked him what that card was, and he said, "squeegee." This was just a cute mix-up, but looking at a collection of anecdotes like these, I can see patterns in how my students construct meaning and where holes in their knowledge exist.

When we play Taboo, I try to draw our attention to good descriptions, analogies, similes, etc. that my students use to elicit the correct word from their peers. Taboo shows us how we use language to communicate ideas to one another, and, more specifically, how we use context clues to construct the meaning of a word. 

The people who rock Taboo are ones with shared experiences to draw upon. If two good friends are on a team, they use inside jokes and shared memories to get their team to guess the right word. If these two good friends are on opposite teams, they know that they can't rely on the inside joke to get them the right answer. Taboo is a good way to make your students aware of/consider audience. They have to think of a way to explain something in a way that their fellow players will understand. Playing Taboo and bringing students attention to this action can then transfer over to understanding audience better when they are writing. 

Taboo also challenges students to improve their powers of concentration and processing speed. Each round only lasts a minute, and during that friendly competition students have to try to accumulate as many points for their team as possible. Some students were uncomfortable the first few times we played Taboo, and some students are still nervous the first few rounds that we play. Usually, however, we maintain a positive environment and enjoy it. I remind the ones who get nervous that they need to try it, and if it doesn't go well it's okay-- it only lasts one minute.  It pushes some of the students a little out of their comfort zone and, in general, fosters students' social skills. 

Can You Name 5?

Can You Name 5? is a newer board game. To play you split into teams, roll dice, and advance along the board. The board spaces are different colors which correspond to a category on one of the Can You Name 5? cards. On your turn your team has 30 seconds to name 5 things in the category. For example, a category might be NFL Teams with an Animal Mascot, and the players have 30 seconds to name 5 of them. 

Can You Name 5? also exercises students' processing speed. In addition to the 30 second time limit, some options on the board require flip-flopping between teams or racing a team. 

Like Taboo, Can You Name 5? activates prior knowledge and gives the teacher some insight into the students' context. One of my favorite anecdotes about a round of Can You Name 5? happened when a group of 7th and 8th graders had the category Hair Bands of the 80s. One student said, "Scrunchie!" paused, then said, "and that's all I can think of." Both Taboo and Can You Name 5? show students that there is so much out there that they still haven't been exposed to and still don't know. I like making students aware of their ignorance in an attempt to motivate and inspire them. 

Bananagrams

Bananagrams, meant to be an individualized type of Scrabble, is often a team effort in my classroom. We will all start out trying to construct our own crosswords with the letters we draw, but usually end up helping our classmates. I like that it makes students practice revision. You can rarely win a game of Bananagrams without moving and rearranging to make room for the other letters. Bananagrams fosters persistence and patience, and we help each other so no one gets frustrated or feels unsuccessful. 

Pictionary

Pictionary is one of the favorites in my classroom because we use the white boards to play instead of paper. This means that we're all moving around a lot and getting loud and raucous. It is another good game for activating prior knowledge, as well as problem solving. Students have to consider audience and strategize, figuring out a way to get their classmates (and teacher) to guess the word or phrase on the card. 

Students and I also like it because it uses different communication skills and appeals to visual/spatial learners, and it gives students a creative outlet. We've recently played a new version of Pictionary that includes action cards, too, which has been a hit! 

Scattergories

Scattergories has been around for several decades. Everyone works from the same list of 12 categories, one player rolls a die with the letters of the alphabet on it. Then all players have three minutes to think of something in each category that starts with the letter that was rolled. Points are only awarded for unique answers that no one else in class thought of. 

Scattergories is another game that activates prior knowledge, increases powers of concentration, and promotes friendly competition. It makes students, in a short period of time, think about things both in and outside of their daily lives, and also shows them where there are gaps in their knowledge. 

Student Input

As I was working on this post, it occurred to me that I was talking a big talk about the learning process being transparent and the benefit of board games in the classroom being obvious, but do my students really know why we play games in the classroom? So, as a warm-up before game time on Friday, I handed out sticky notes and asked them to tell me all the reasons they could think of that we play games in class, and to pick a favorite game and tell me why it's their favorite. 

I did get quite a few responses like, we play games in class "because we need a break from school work" and "to just have fun and relax." But there were several responses, such as, "it makes your brain fire up...it wakes the brain up," that were more on target:

"One reason why we play board games is to jump start our brain. It is like an ice breaker. It makes us think and after we're done playing, our brain is ready to go."

"Pictionary shows and tells us how talented we are and makes us laugh at ourselves."

"We play games in class to be expressive...My favorite game is Can You Name 5?. I like it because at times it could be hard; I like the challenge. Also because it reminds me of how much I don't know."

"I think the reason why we play games in class is because the games we play in class are educational and get our brains ready to start doing work, and so that we can have fun while we are in school. ...I like Can You Name 5? because ...the game gets you ready to start working because you are using your brain and concentrating."

I highly recommend incorporating game time into your schedule and making students aware of all the benefits of playing together!