The participants from Dr. Teresa Ferguson’s “G.A.M.E.S. for the
Common Core” presentation were engaged in interactive, hands-on games
that they could use in their classrooms to improve their students’
language and social acquisition. Directions were presented prior to
playing each game, and Dr. Ferguson explained how these activities were
versatile and easy to duplicate, so teachers could utilize them across
the curriculum and alter them to differentiate instruction in order to
meet each individual student’s needs. Various discussions streamed
across the tables about having ready-to-use educational resources to
motivate and to empower their ELs to become independent learners and
confident members of any mainstream classroom. That is he overarching
purpose of these games—to have fun while learning.
Dr. Ferguson
has been an ESOL lead teacher in Cobb County, Georgia for more than 11
years, and was awarded Teacher of the Year in 2004–05. She has presented
her games at various professional development trainings and conferences
through GATESOL. Previously, she taught art in Bartow County, Georgia
for 5 years. She has a website,
and is the author of G.A.M.E.S. |