If I had to guess, I'd guess that nearly 100% of you have played bingo in school when you were younger. It's a fun game that you can use to practice reading and a LOT of vocabulary in rapid fire succession. I dig it.
Although I'm not going to be making a bingo game myself...fear not! That's where Teacher Bingo comes in. It's a pretty cool site that you can use to create your own bingo boards using a wide variety of clip art. And to top it off, it's currently free during its beta testing!
While I'm not affiliated with TeacherBingo, the creator is talented, a nice guy and a dedicated teacher. I felt like giving him a shout out. I also think your students would enjoy a nice game of bingo now and then. This is also a game that you can use to play with a lot of students...
And I mean A LOT of students.
Here's the website link. >>>>>>>>>>> www.teacherbingo.com <<<<<<<<<<<<
I've played bingo quite a few times in my classes in the past but I always found making the boards myself a chore. So, Teacher Bingo is incredibly useful in that regard.
Tho, as you can imagine, I like to add a bit of spice to bingo so here are some variations I've used when playing the game:
The Student Becomes the Teacher. During the first round of bingo, I am always the caller. This means that I am the one calling out the words that will be used. But, after the first round, I like to give students the chance to be the caller. I do this by allowing the winner of the previous round to become the caller. Do this only if your students are capable of performing this role. If the kids are too young, it can be difficult for them so do this at your own discretion.
Riddle Answers: Rather than simply giving out the word, I sometimes give a description of the word instead. If the word is 'elephant' I might say “I am a big animal. I am heavy and gray. I have big ears and a long nose.” This helps students with their listening.
Fill in the Blank Answers: On the other hand, perhaps I'll simply use the word in a sentence..but instead of actually saying the word I leave that part blank. I instead say 'buh buh buh'. Example: If the word is 'make' I might say: “After I wake up in the morning, I always buh buh buh my bed.”
B&O Variation: Rather than simply getting a traditional bingo...this variation requires that the winner gets all of the words in both their B&O lines on their board.
The Big L: Similar to B&O but this requires that the shape needed to win the game be a capital L. The students should get two connected lines on the top or bottom and a side...thus creating the shape of an L. (The board can be turned to make that L so no worries there!)
And that's Teacher Bingo in a nutshell. They've got even more ways to play bingo and a wide variety of board types you can make aside from just the standard one. Pretty cool stuff.
Do you have any other ways to play Bingo? Post about it in the comments. I'd love to do a follow up post with your ideas.
~Richard
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