This is an unfinished presentation that I made three years ago to teach teachers how to integrate board games into the classroom.  I'm currently working on an update - I'll be doing a similar seminar later this year.

Incorporating English into Game Playing

·        The instructions

·        Asking and answering questions about game play.

·        Interaction between players.

·        Reading and speaking the text in the game.

·        Exacting penalties for using Korean

·        Using vocabulary and grammar from the lesson in conjunction with the game.

Golden Rules of Gaming when teaching English

1.     You are the Game Master

2.     If a game doesn’t go over well, immediately stop or switch.

3.     Keep games exciting, quick, and fun.

4.     Know your games.

Don’ts when teaching games in English

·        Don’t win.

·        Don’t allow fights

·        Don’t allow cooperation

·        Don’t allow pantomimes

·        Don’t allow Korean

·        Don’t be rigid

·        Don’t have too much downtime

Do’s when teaching games in English

·        Do keep it fair

·        Do simplify

·        Do change the rules if necessary

·        Do explain everything thouroughly in English

·        Do keep the game flowing

·        Do enforce penalties and rewards

·        Do improvise

·        Do setup and prepare

Examples and Sample Game Ideas

·        My Word!  - Games with letters (Popsicle stick game)

·        Democrazy – Games with voting (Survivor)

·        Balderdash – Vocabulary and definitions (Picture Picture)

·        Apples to Apples – Word associations

·        Citadels – Player ineraction games (Bohnanza)

·        Dragon’s Gold – Negotiation games (You’re Bluffing)

·        Werewolf/Mafia – Discussion games (True Colors)

·        Moods – Adverb, expression games

·        Settlers of Catan – Strategy, fun games (Carcassonne)

Other good Commercial Games

Squint	TransAmerica	Wyatt Earp	Life
The Touch	Goodju	Gouda Gouda!	Word Thief
Bang!	Careers	Modern Art	Boom-O
Guillotine	Draco & Co.	Fantasy Business	Slamwich
25 Words of Less	Barbarossa	Aladdin’s Dragons	Bucket King
Castle	Drakon	Entdecker	Formula De
Gold Digger	Hotels	Keythedral	Liar’s Dice
Malarky	Pig Pile	Mississippi Queen	Robo Rally
Roller Coaster Tycoon	Triopoly	Ursuppe	Zoo Sim

Free Board Games available on the Internet

www.flash.net/~markthom/html/abstract_games.html - A good list of “abstract”

games that can easily be redone with an English theme.

www.bonegames.com/  - Has a lot of free games that can be downloaded and

printed in Adobe Acrobat reader.

www.pagat.com/invented/index.html  - Many, many rules for games that only

require a deck of cards.

www.freeboardgames.com/ - A lot of downloadable and printable games for free,

along some other nice boardgames that can be bought for an extremely inexpensive price.

www.silcom.com/~tomjolly/freegame.htm - Some games by Tom Jolly, an

excellent game designer.  Some use games you may already have (like chess) while others are games you can print yourself, with nice instructions on how to do so.

http://pweb.jps.net/~sangreal/wdsg.htm - Some easy to play party/word games.

www.angelfire.com/games2/warpspawn/ - Over 70 free games!  A fantastic site.

http://phillips.personal.nccu.edu.tw/improvlang/index.html - Improvasional language

games, designed especially for teaching English as a second language.

www.freewebz.com/gamesbook/grbcollect.htm - Penny games.  No game is over

$9.00, and many are free!

www.gamecabinet.com/deeperDrawers/OriginalRules.html - Public domain games,

            many using household items as pieces.

www.invisible-city.com/games/index.htm - a sumptuous assortment of games, with

the promise of more to come. Stop by, browse, and take - no haggling required!

http://members.shaw.ca/kenmgames/ - a variety of great free games - 'happily putting

more into moronic' has never been so much fun...

Places to buy Commercial Board Games on the Internet

www.funagaingames.com - The most comprehensive place to buy games on the internet.  Ships to Korea in three days or less.

www.bouldergames.com - Sometimes cheaper than funagaingames, but just as reputable.

www.fairplaygames.com/ - A fantastic, home-owned operation that has some great

sales on games! Probably the cheapest on the net.

www.brsnasis.com/ - Another good place to buy games.

 Board Game Resources on the Internet

www.boardgamegeek.com - The best source for board game information, variants,

reviews on the internet.  There is no better or more comprehensive site.

www.thegamesjournal.com/ - An online magazine with board game information and

reviews.

http://boardgames.about.com/ - A nice site, with forums and game information.

http://boardgames.start4all.com/ - Links to hundreds of other board game sites.

http://www.usedboardgames.com/ - Trying to find boardgames?  Here’s a good place to start.

Pitfalls to avoid when playing board games.

1.A game does not have to be finished.

2. Rules do not always have to be followed!

3. Rules do not have to stay constant!

4. 

Helpful hints:

1. Keep the game close.
2. Keep the scoring simple, but complex.
3.  

Great games for use with English classes:

Democrazy

Gouda Gouda!

My Word!

Apples to Apples

Settlers of Catan

True Colors

Dragon’s Gold

Fantasy Business

Guillotine

Moods

The Touch

Goodju

Bohnanza

Word Thief

Picture Picture

Citadels

Bang!

Careers

Carcassone

Modern Art

Boom-O

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