| Many teachers are looking for interesting | | | | game trying to find on their cards sight words |
| classroom activities. In particular, ideas that can be | | | | (such as words from the Dolch sight word list) |
| adapted to teaching various subjects and lesson | | | | read out by their teacher. |
| plans, but which encourage students to participate | | | | * In other classes, the teacher might give a clue, |
| and engage their interest, tend to be most sought | | | | and the students have to find the matching |
| out. Most wanted of all, are those classroom | | | | square. In a reading class, teaching phonemic |
| activities which can be fun for students, but which | | | | awareness, the clue might be a word, and |
| are flexible enough to have almost any educational | | | | students might be required to identify the first |
| content selected by the teacher. Educational | | | | letter of the word and find it on their bingo cards. |
| versions of bingo, fit all these criteria, and also | | | | In a math class, the clue might be a math |
| have the benefit of not requiring expensive or | | | | problem, which the students must solve, and then |
| specialist materials - a key factor given the | | | | find the answer on their bingo card. In a foreign |
| financial constraints that today's educators work | | | | language class, the teacher may read out a word |
| under. | | | | in English, and students might be required to find |
| Educational versions of bingo are played almost | | | | the French equivalent on their bingo card, Really, |
| exactly like the normal game of bingo (with the | | | | there are endless possible variations. |
| teacher acting as bingo caller), but using bingo | | | | Of course all these ideas require bingo cards |
| cards containing items chosen by the | | | | printed with items that the teacher has selected |
| teacher. The items on the cards are selected by | | | | for the particular class. Since it is obviously not a |
| the teacher depending on the particular subject | | | | good use of teachers' time to spend hours |
| being taught, and might be letters, numbers | | | | manually preparing bingo cards, an automated |
| words, phrases, foreign language words, | | | | approach to preparing bingo cards is needed. |
| geographical places, names of historical figures, or | | | | Fortunately there is an answer - a computer and |
| almost anything else. | | | | bingo card maker software makes light work of |
| Depending on the subject, the mechanics of the | | | | preparing custom bingo cards containing anything |
| game may also be varied. | | | | that the teacher might want. |
| * Younger kids could simply play a recognition | | | | |