Have you tried Kahoot’s new jumble game? It’s fun!
If you are an avid reader of TESL Ontario blogs, you would know Nadeen wrote about it in October 2015 – so yes! Kahoot has been around for a long time. You can read her blog here: Use Kahoot to spice up your lesson.
Now for the newness, which soon will be ‘the has been’ since technology moves faster than a speeding bullet (sorry . . . Superman).
Pick from an existing activity
The new Jumble game is great for students at any level who need to practice word order or any other type of sentence structure. Ready made games are available, but you might want to create your own too.
You may want to try a ready-made Jumble game just to get an idea of what it entails. I’m adding the link to the one I tried: https://play.kahoot.it/#/k/4b59b045-462f-4a95-b41a-f319559a90d4 According to the creator, it is geared to first graders, so watch out!
As with the other games in Kahoot, you can save existing games in your favourite folder and you can also preview a game by clicking the Preview option. Once in the Preview mode, you will be able to join as a player and view the content at the same time in the comfort of one device (in my case, my laptop).
Ideas, Ideas, Ideas
Here are some ideas to create Jumble Kahoots
- Words in alphabetical order
- Collocations
- Simple sentences
- Compound sentences
- Complex sentences
- Verb tenses
Colour Coding Your Jumbles
I’m thinking that for the very beginner, each colour block could stand for a part of speech. This way students can practice simple sentence structures. To raise the difficulty level, the order should not match the regular order of the blocks in the game (red for triangle, mustard for oval, blue for hectogon, and green for square). Students can also create their own Jumbles, and share them in class. A suggestion would be to view them before students share their creations to make sure they are correctly colour coded.
Share your ideas
If you have already created a Kahoot, why not share it with us?
Cecilia Aponte-de-Hanna
Hi, my name is Cecilia. I love taking part in good brain awakening discussions. Blogging, I find, lends itself for that. I also believe in sharing my skills through scholarly practice, which is why I write regularly and have presented at several conferences, including TESL Ontario, TESL Toronto, CALL, and at Seneca College. My M.A. in applied linguistics along with my skills and experience have led me to my current position at Centennial College, where I teach English and ESL in the School of English and Liberal Studies. I'm truly passionate about what I do: teaching, writing, creative expression, and helping my students (both L1 and L2) gain agency and take control of their own learning. Thank you for your readership and I look forward to reading and answering your comments. You can find me on Twitter @capontedehanna
Thank you for this. I have used Spelling City’s “Sentence Unscramble” game with both my classes (literacy and multilevel) to reinforce English syntax with much success. It’s good to know about this additional resource, especially as I begin studying the lexical approach more and more.
Spelling City is another great resource.! What I like about Kahoot is that you can assess the whole class at once and review a grammar point on the spot.
Cheers
Cecilia thanks for making us aware of this new feature. It will add variety and fun to our classes next year.
You bet John! This feature pushes students to utilize higher thinking skills as they analyze and evaluate the order of words.
Cheers