Bingo for Learning Radicals (by Rick Ayres)
Rules for Playing Chinese Bingo
冰 狗 ！读 ,衣 , etc.] and not worry so much about those which students recognize more or less easily [e.g., 我 ,他 , 的 , 一 , etc.]).The instructor will choose an IC lesson (most conveniently from the Character Workbook) from which to draw the characters for the game. (These sheets may be customized to include characters from a number of lessons at a time. This is especially helpful if the instructor selects characters for the bingo sheet from among the characters students may find more difficult [e.g.,
The students will be given a bingo sheet on which are printed twenty-five characters: five rows of five horizontal lines of characters.
To play, the instructor will say first the number of the play ("Number 1, 2, 3, 4," etc.) and pronounce one of the characters. For example, the instructor might say for the first play, "Number one, ma3." The student will find on the bingo sheet the character s/he heard pronounced by the teacher; then s/he will put the number of the play (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) on the line beneath the character and will circle the character. Next, the instructor will say, "Number two, mu4." The student will locate the character mu4 on his sheet, circle it, and write the number "2" underneath it. The student will continue to do this until s/he makes bingo. (It might be easier for the instructor to make out his/her "master charts" for each game before the games themselves. S/he should make a master chart which continues beyond a first "bingo" in case all the students miss the first bingo sequence.)
It is important for the instructor to keep the "master chart" as s/he calls out the characters in turn (both the number of the call and its character; otherwise s/he will not be able to verify the sheet of the winner.)
In order to win, a student must have a correct row of five circles (with the correct play number beneath each circled character). The row may be horizontal, vertical or diagonal. As soon as s/he gets a row, the student yells Bing1 gou3. S/he then submits his/her sheet to the instructor who will verify, by looking at his "master chart", that the correct characters are circled with the correct play numbers written beneath. If these characters and play numbers do not correspond to the instructor’s master chart, the student is removed from this game and the instructor will continue until a student has a valid bingo sheet.
In using this game in high school Chinese classes, I have found it quite effective in teaching passive mastery of both radicals and, especially, traditional characters (fantizi), when instruction is primarily in simplified characters. Another valuable use of this game, in fact in my experience, the most valuable use, is that it forces students to recognize individual characters which they have learned only in character combinations. For example, when shown the character combination
朋 友 , most students are able to recognize the word pengyou. However, when shown the character 友 alone, they are much less likely to recognize anything beyond an awareness that they’ve seen the character somewhere. It thus helps students to recognize, later on, words like 友 谊 .As a variation, "bingo" sheets can be made up of pinyin syllables with the instructor calling out either English meanings of these syllables or the corresponding characters which the instructor will write on the board or hold up on flashcards.
Sample Bingo card
Circle the characters (or radicals) you hear pronounced. As you circle each one, write the number of the turn on the line under the character you select. When you have a line (verticle, horizontal, diagonal), cry out (in a loud voice), "Bing1 gou3!" (
冰 狗 ="ice dog").刀 人 口 子 工
___ ___ ___ ___ ___
心 弓 门 马 手
___ ___ ___ ___ ___
水 火 日 田 木
___ ___ ___ ___ ___
衣 言 月 女 夕
___ ___ ___ ___ ___
土 力 贝 走 目
___ ___ ___ ___ ___
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