As you approach the end of the school year, here is a fun and rewarding class session to engage your students in.
What's Needed:
- a copy of the bingo card described below for each student
- award ribbons with attached blank cards
- slips of paper with each person's name and a bowl to put them in
- pens, markers, and crayons
- arrangements for food and drink
Description:
To begin, have the class play a game of "People Bingo." Prepare a bingo card with at least 16 squares. Print a talent or skill in each square that the students might be able to share of demonstrate, for example:
- recite a poem
- do a fifteen-second handstand
- sing the "Brady Bunch" theme song
- French braid hair
- introduce himself/herself in a language besides English
- know the name of last season's Heisman Trophy winner
- tell a (clean) joke
Play until a person yells "bingo." To check if he or she is the winner, randomly call on some of the people who signed the card and ask them to demonstrate their skills. If all checks out, the person holding the card is the winner. If not, continue playing the game until someone else has bingo.
After the game, pass out award ribbons with attached blank cards to each person. Have them draw a slip of paper with the name of a person in the class. then have them create a positive award for the person whose name they drew and write in on the card with the ribbon. The award should be related to the person's personality, contribution to the class, or talents (e.g., "Most Energetic" or "Most Helpful").
Arrange for some simple food and drink to share. As the students' eat and converse, call on each person to explain the award he or she is giving and then have them give it to that person.
