Basketball In Hebrew

Recess is what is on the minds of so many students while sitting at their desks waiting and dreaming of the opportunity to get up and run around. What if some of the learning can be done more effectively by having the students  run around? Well, in an article in The New York Times, titled: 

How Exercise Could Help You Learn a New Language, the article presents:

 that working out during a language class amplifies people’s ability to memorize, retain and understand new vocabulary. The findings provide more evidence that to engage our minds, we should move our bodies.

The article then laments that movement isn't always practicle because schools don't have the budget to provide stationary bikes for all the students.

Well, my school has beautiful basketball courts and leaving the indoor classroom to the great outdoors on the rare warm day in February was  a real treat. We played a 5 on 5 for 30 min with designated callers to remind everyone of the new basketball vocabulary and the students stayed in the target language throughout. We played basketball in Hebrew!

Here is the sheet I prepared:

Hebrew Twister

I added a game to my Ulpan game box:משחק פלונטר Plonter-Hebrew Twister.
Learn the colors, body, directions and emotions. Just print the card add a spinner to it and students can independently play with each other giving Hebrew instructions. Advanced players can add emotions: יד ימין על אדום עם פנים כועסות (the player has to make the face while playing).

Game to learn Directions: הפרה העיוורת

Student's have a blast playing this challenging game! In pairs, players  find tickets and Hershey kisses dispersed all over the field. One player is blindfolded and the other player is the guide. The guide is NOT allowed to pick anything up, the guide can only give instruction to his or her blindfolded pair. The guide uses the direction terms we learned in class (the "cheat" sheet I prepared for them can also be used.)