BLINDFOLDED VOCABULARY LEARNING?

 This blogpost is about a vocabulary lesson that I ran last month. My overarching theme for the forthnight was trust, and the one hour we spent on the vocabulary-activities was a part of a larger scheme including physical education in a cross-curricular effort. Using drama- activities can create myriads of situations that enhance or aid the learning of words. Learning new words and phrases through drama can create a lot of "valuable" interactions that in turn is sparking the repeated use of the target language in fun ways, as well as adding a real purpose as to  why we use the target language in the first place!
 The blindfolding of pupils can be used in many ways. If done right, playing games or activities involving blindfoling can be very entertaining in addition to facilitate for learning.

The focus I had, other than building trust,  was mostly the practising of oral  and listening skills , but also there were some vocabulary I wanted them to notice, practice and learn, especially words and phrases on how to give directions in order to guide blindfolded people.

 I divided this particular activity into three parts. Pre- or introductory , the actual execution av the game(s) and  follow up, recycling activities.

Pre - activity

We had a class conversation about trust, mixed with a repetition of grammar, talking especially about Subject and verbs as a lead in two talk about actions and how to command a subject to move. Then I eliceted some "target language" and wrote it on the board (*See list of target language at the bottom of this text), and arranged a very short session where the pupils practised giving commands and/or asking questions to each other in pairs, such as: " Where is the pencil?"(answer "under the desk, on the floor etc") or  giving orders to each other , for instance: "Stand behind your chair!" I made sure that they understood the importance of safety and care, because it is easy to get hurt when blindfolded.

Then I had a volunteer pupil come to the front of the class and blindfolded her. First I modelled how to give directions: "Walk very slowly forward, stop, turn to the left, turn to the right, etc" 

 I then Asked the pupils to try to guide her safely back to her seat, speaking one at the time.

The game

We then commenced with the main acitvity which is is about finding a hidden treasure ( I use a ball, or more popular - a candy of some sorts)

The class is divided into two groups, group A and B. Group A select a participant who is blindfolded while group B hides the  candy within a designated area while the rest of group A watches from behind a line. They are given only 30 seconds to hide the item before the blindfolded pupil is spinned multiple times around his own axis and placed in front of the area where the tresure is hidden. Team A then choses a guide that uses only his or her voice to guide the selected pupil to the item. I also added a time-limit for this exercise of two minutes, if they don`t find it then they loose it. If they find it they get to keep the treasure.

Then we shifted teams and repeated the game until all participants had been blindfolded. 

The assessment of learning happended continuously, and I heard a great deal of language use. 

To recycle the language I have already conducted a new blind-fold- activity where they use the same target language. This time it is about leading/guiding fellow pupils through an obstacle course.

I also plan on having the pupils in threes, where one student must write directions, and one "guide" speaks, and the third is blindfolded. This will force them to write some of the target-language as well. 

Teaching vocabulary through drama activities is something that I believe can be effective in helping students learning new vocabulary. There is, in my opinion" something very positive to be said about engaging your whole body while learning.

LIST OF SOME OF THE TARGET LANGUAGE  THAT WERE ELICITED/WRITTEN AND PRACTISEDC

slow, stop, right, left,under, over  turn,left,  turn right, Forward, Backward, go straight on,open, close In front of  Next to, Near, Opposite,  At the end of, walk slowly, lift your right arm, inside the box,

Credits: Pictures
"dylan, blindfolded" by wockerjabby is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 
"The Group" by Alex Kehr is licensed under CC BY 2.0