Digital Play

By kylemawer 　http://www.digitalplay.info/blog/2010/02/19/abc-arcade-fun/

Level:  Primary

Language Focus: Alphabet

Skills Focus: Pronunciation

Game: Alphattack

This game is used to practice and consolidate the pronunciation of the letters of the alphabet.  It can be played either in a connected classroom or a computer room.

Bombs drop from the sky and need to be stopped before they destroy the city. Destroy the bombs before they do by pressing the corresponding letter on the keyboard.

Pregaming Activity

Lower levels
To do this you need to have a data projector, a computer with internet access and Flash player installed. Seat the class in rows in front of the data projector. Go to the game and skip the instructions so that the game is started as quickly as possible.

1. As the bombs start to fall look at the screen and call out the letters. If you want, don’t touch the keyboard and point to the letters. This means that you lose the game but encourage the learners to call out the letters as this is happening.
2. When the game ends start again and encourage the learners to call out the letters but this time you move to the keyboard and type in the letters that the learners call out. At this stage it is not neccessary for you to look at the game on the data projector.
3. When you have completed a stage ask for a volunteer or nominate one of your learners to come and stand by the keyboard.
4. Start the next stage of the game. The learner at the keyboard now listens to the others calling out the letters and the learner types in the corresponding letters on the keyboard.
5. Move to the computer room so the class can play the game in pairs (see gaming activity below).

Higher levels
To do this you need to have a data projector, a computer with internet access and Flash player installed. Seat the class in rows in front of the data projector. Go to the game and put the instructions on the board. Choral drill (all the class reading at the same time) the instructions on the screen. Then start the game. Pretend you don’t know how to play the game at the start and ellicit from the class what you should be doing? As the class tells you what to do play the game. Then conduct the game from stage 3) above.

Gaming Activity

In the computer room sit two learners (A and B) to a computer. Learner A sits in front of the screen with their arms folded. Their role is to “look at the letters and tell your partner”. Learner B sits in front of the keyboard and CAN NOT see the screen. Start the game and monitor to ensure that Learner A is calling out the letters in English (correct pronunciation) and learner B is not taking a look at the screen. Once a pair completes a stage or loses a life the learners can swap roles/ seats.