Okay, maybe not James Bond, more like Alan Turing. Hi my name is Jema Perry and
welcome to Mooncake, where ESL teaching is made easy. If you're new here
then you need to know I make weekly ESL teaching tip videos to help you improve
your English teaching. So if you are teaching ESL online or abroad make sure
you subscribe below and hit that notification bell for weekly ESL
teaching tips. Also, real quick if you are new here say hi in the comments below
and let me know where in the world you're teaching. Coming up with both fun
and engaging phonics games can be really tricky, most especially if you're being
asked to teach online for the first time. So today I'm sharing a fun phonics game
that's gonna help get your students practicing those segmenting and blending
skills. If you're not sure what I mean by segmenting and blending then make sure
you check out my phonics series linked below where I go through all the phonics
basics. But without further ado let's get straight into today's game,
Codebreaker. For this activity are you gonna need are some flashcards of some
previously taught words. Now you are going to need to organize these
flashcards into sets, but I'll explain how to do that in just a minute.
Explain to the class that they are secret spies and that a message has come
in from HQ. But the message is in code and we need to crack that code in order
to get the message. Next, introduce those flashcards one by one
using chants and TPR as you do. All right let's take a look at the first one are
you ready, OOP! What is it it's a violin, violin, violin let's take a look at the
next one oh! It's an apple, oh oh it's an apple, oh it's look at the next one I
ready oh it's a net, it's a net, it's a net. If you're not sure how to use
TPR and chants in your classroom then make sure you check out my video on TPR
linked below. Next, tell your students that in order to
the code we need to know the initial sound of each of the different words.
Repeat that that first word one more time this time emphasizing the initial
sound of the word. Have students try and tell you what that sound is. Okay let's
listen together and see if we can figure out that first sound. Are you ready?
Violin. Let's listen again, are you ready? Violin. If your students
are struggling to recognize that initial sound then you can give them some hints
by comparing some sounds that you know are incorrect. For example... is it b, b,
violin. No, that doesn't sound right hmm is it violin no, no, no, no ,no that doesn't
sound right either hmm. Is itc, c, violin? thinking dddd games. Once your students
have figured out that initial sound then write that letter under that first
flashcard. Next move on to the next flashcard work out the initial sound of
that word and again write that letter under that flashcard. Keep going again
and again until you've been through each of the different flashcards. As you can
see I've prepared these flashcards into a set where the initial sound of each
word comes together to form a simple CVC blending word. Before class you can
prepare several sets of flashcards in this way so that students have lots of
opportunity to practice. When students have figured out the initial sound of
each of the different flashcards then they need to blend those sounds together
and read the word. Are you ready? Let's try and put it all together and crack the code
Are you ready? ah hmm let's go a bit faster hmm bit
faster a bit faster still are you ready ah fan-man good job! Kids love to play
this game and you can play it several times using different sets of flashcards
throughout the class. You can even extend it for those higher-level students by
adding in some sight words and having coded sentences. Or you could even split
the class into two teams and then give point for each word that they're able to
decode. Think about your class your students their level of English and the
best way to play the game for them. So they have it a fun code-breaking game to
help your students practice those all-important reading skills. If you like
this video then go ahead and hit that like button and comment with the word
helpful in the comments below. If you're looking for more fun ESL games so make
sure you check out some of my other videos right here. That's it for this
video thanks so much for watching. You can find me on Facebook Instagram and
Twitter or if you're interested in a teacher tea by Mooncake you can find
them linked below and of course remember to subscribe and hit that notification
bell for more weekly ESL teaching tips from Mooncake.