I am working on integrating board games into my ESL curricula for next year. Board gaming is a personal hobby of mine, and games can bring lots of educational and developmental value to a classroom. One benefit is that certain board games lend themselves well to differentiation. “Family games” is the moniker used for board games parents will play with children. Many of these games are designed with multiple ways to play because children develop differently and quickly.
Zingo provides a perfect example of this differentiation. Zingo is a simple, word-based bingo game that works well with kindergarten and primary-age language learners. A token holder dispenses two tiles, each with an image and a name. Players need to be quick and claim a token if it matches a space on their bingo board. The designers of Zingo developed easy and difficult modes. The difficult version has boards with more shared images, so players need to be more alert. It’s a simple change that can be used with stronger groups of students. Zingo also has a “sight words” version without any images on the tiles. Players need to be able to quickly read what comes from the dispenser. In a mixed-ability class, traditional Zingo provides students with images matched to words, while stronger students focus on reading skills.
Another easily differentiated word game is Spot It. This differentiation is not built into the game itself. Instead, a differentiated language classroom will take advantage of the various versions of Spot It available. More advanced students can push their vocabulary using the MLB or Halloween (among many others) versions while other students reinforce their language with the traditional or even junior versions of Spot It.
From a wider view, board games in general are good candidates for differentiation because they promote healthy competition. A well-differentiated activity engages all students at their levels. Students will use all skills and knowledge to succeed in a competitive game, instantly engaging them at their level. The wide range of skills and cognitive processes activated by games provide all students an opportunity to succeed because no one student is strong or weak at everything.
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