Reward Systems for Older Kids
So you're teaching an older student (10-Teen), and you're pretty sure they don't care for the rewards you've been giving your younger students. Is it any surprise they roll their eyes at your Mr. Potato Head reward? Did you really think those 2D paper ice cream scoops were gonna entertain the older kids? Let's be real, just because your 11 year old student might be in a beginning level English class, does not mean her developed brain is any less preteen. So, set those childish rewards aside and consider playing a competitive game with those older kids instead.
Let's be real, just because your 11 year old student might be in a beginning level English class, does not mean her developed brain is any less preteen.
Let's take a look:
Teacher Vs. Student Games
It's not uncommon for our older students to be joining our classes, after a long hard day at school. Maybe they had a big test that day. Maybe they had a stressful day among their peers. Either way, we get them for a half hour, when they are likely tired from their long day, and would rather be relaxing. How do we keep these kids engaged in our class? The key is to avoid being a boring lecture on the screen, and become more interactive. Draw those kids into the screen, and make them feel like they are really hanging out with you in person, learning English while they're at it.
How do we do this? Games, Games, and did I mention? Games!
My student's favorites are:
1) Dice
A fun Teacher vs. Student game. You roll the dice (or in this case throw the giant die into the air, catch it, and reveal the number to the camera). This is a great opportunity to extend some discussion, especially using ordinal numbers: "First, it is your turn," and "My turn is second," are great examples of sentence structures you can introduce to them. Model the instructions when introducing the reward. Play one round each reward break, and keep a scoring chart that they can see at all times. Whomever nabs the most points wins!
2) Cards
Keep a pack of regular cards on hand. Print off mini images utilizing that lesson's vocabulary, and stick them to the back of a handful of cards. For example, if you have a lesson on animals, stick an elephant image on the back of one card, a camel on another, etc. Hold two cards up at a time and instruct the student to pick one. Try and elicit full sentences "I want the elephant." Reveal the number on the card they chose, and add that number to their score column. Then, show that that teacher gets the card they didn't choose, reveal that number, and add it to the teacher's score. They love this one!
3) Old Maid
This game is similiar in design to the one above. First, ensure that you order your deck, so that every four cards has only one set of matching cards and one set of non-matching cards. Stick relevant vocabulary images onto the backs. Hold the four cards up, and instruct the student to select two cards. Elicit full sentences "I want the rabbit and the horse." Reveal their two cards.Did they get a match? Give them 2 points. Did they get different cards? They get 0 points. Then, the teacher gets the leftover two cards!
Question, what if the student selects one of the cards that had a match and one that doesn't have a match, doesn't that mean no one will get a match? Indeed it does, everyone gets zero points that round. It's a cold world out here ;p
At the end of your lesson, calculate the score totals, and celebrate the winner!
4) Hang Man, Without a Hanging Man (Parachute man, no teeth man, no face man)
Draw a man with a parachute, with several parachute cords (5-6 is best). Draw a shark in the water below him, mouth open. Think of a relevant vocabulary word that they must guess, and create dashes for however many letters are in that word. Each reward round, present them with two letter options, and elicit a choice from them "I choose the A," or "I choose the B." If they choose the correct letter, add it to the mystery word. If they choose the wrong letter, erase one cord from the parachute. They'll get a kick out of realizing the man will drop into the shark's mouth if he loses all of his parachute cords.
Student seems too young for shark-eating-man games? No worries! You can apply the same game rules to a man with teeth. Erase one tooth for every wrong answer. Likewise, you can have a man with a face, and he loses one facial feature for every wrong guess (first an eye, then an ear, then a nose etc).
5) Stars, stars, stars!
This fifth one is for those fellow VIPKID teachers out there. In VIPKID we give stars in the classroom. Each of the aforementioned games are intended only to be secondary reward systems. Please do not forget to give your students their stars, along with these other rewards! VIPKID allows the students to buy merchandise with these stars, so don't be greedy! Give em all the stars, win their little hearts, and make sure they have a blast in your class!
(#ESLonline #ESLgames #ESLrewards #Teachonline #OnlineClassroom #ESLtips)
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