5.3 Hangman
Task Name & Number:
5.3 Hangman1
Lexical Sets
Classroom Objects: bag, book, chair ,desk, eraser, computer, whiteboard,
crayons, pen, pencil, ruler, marker
Words
Write (spell) & read
Sentences
-
Whole Text
-
Materials



Whole class / group / pair
Whole Class
Who wins the game? How?
All children with their names written on the board are winners.
One set of CLASSROOM OBJECTS PICTURES per class (used in 5.1)
Blue tac
Chalk/blackboard or marker/whiteboard.
PROCEDURE
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Hold up the PENCIL MODELLING CARD 1. What’s this?
Ask: How do you spell pencil?
Write the children’s answer, if it comes quickly and without hesitation
If not, write this on the blackboard: _ _ _ _ _ _ Make sure your
handwriting mirrors what you want from your children. Write all
letters in lower case.
Say the word slowly, loudly and clearly, emphasizing the sound of the
next letter. Eg s u _ Say pencil.
If a child correctly guesses the next letter, write their name on the board
above the Hangman game. Like this: Aziz
If Aziz guesses correctly a second time, acknowledge his contribution like
this: Aziz x 2
If a child calls out the wrong letter, say Ting Tong and add the next
stroke to your hangman.
If you have this on the board (for the word eraser): e _ _ _ _ _ and
a child calls out “r”, you only add the next letter ‘r’ – not the r at the end of
the word. i.e. must be guessed at one by one, sequentially, without
exceptions, thus:
TEACHER TALK & MODEL
How do you spell pencil?
pencil
Ting Tong
Good job!

r
e r _ _ _ _
e r _ _ _
10. When the word pencil is completed blue tac the picture next to (or under
or above) the word and leave it there).
11. A new hangman then begins BUT the names on top of the board
continue. Eg after spelling several words, you may have written Aziz x 8
1
Adapted from the traditional children’s game by Abdul Ramis bin Abdullah, 2011
© ELTC 2012
5.3 Hangman
Questions & Rationale:
Why this task and not drill the spelling? With a spelling drill in which you hold the word up and have the
children chant the letters, there will be children who are opening their mouths, and possibly even mouthing the
correct sound, but it is not contributing to their ability to spell the word or even memorize the spelling. Children
who cannot spell the word, are not forced to learn, and disengage.
When you do this task as a problem solving task (Learning through Mistakes), when the children make a
mistake, they are forced to do these things:
1. Become aware that there is something they don’t know how to do (cognitive conflict), and which they
need to do in order to win the game.
2. Listen differently & think about the sound that follows (phonics) eg. Initially children will hear the ‘s’ in
grasshopper, not the g or the r.
Why do we write contributing children’s names on the board: This game enables children with learning
difficulties, who cannot learn from rote memorization or drilling, to participate, win points and gain public
recognition (their name on the board). Children who would normally disengage, come running forward to the
board, not to ‘spell,’ but to join the game (Nicolopoulou, de Sa, Ilgaz & Brockmeyer, 2010), and if, god forbid,
you forget to add their names, you will find yourself corrected. Immediately.
Why Ting Tong? The sound is like a game show, that lets children know they’ve made a mistake without
publicly humiliating them. The mistake doesn’t identify anyone personally. Try it! It works!
Why letter by letter, in sequence? This is a spelling skill. Spelling needs to be taught sequentially, making
use of phonics techniques which emphasize the relationship between sounds and their corresponding
grapheme/s (letters). When the children come to write the word themselves, they need to be able to spell out
the word, sequentially, while saying it, in a bid to ultimately link writing to oracy skills. Even more importantly,
research has shown that children find it hard to hear the beginnings of a word, but also that by developing their
ability to hear the word in segmented form (bit by bit) promotes literacy, including reading and spelling
(Gathercole, 2006,Metsala, Stavrinos & Walley, 2009).
Why blue tac the picture to the word? Ultimately we make an association between the written word and its
meaning (as represented by the picture.
Should you use A or a to spell the words? Use the system you are currently using with the class. All words
must be spelt in lower case, and if you are working with Year 1, teaching them the sounds of letters, then do
the same with Hangman.
Learning Type: Learning by Mistakes (This concept has not been covered at this point.)
Questions? Problems?
Difference in existing knowledge? If some children already know the words and others don’t the latter may
feel penalised by having to look the word up – although they should be so busy solving the problem that they
don’t notice this.
Gathercole, S.E. (2006). Nonword repetition and word learning: The nature of the relationship. Applied
Psycholinguistics, 27(4), 513-543.
Metsala, J. L., Stavrinos, D., Walley, A.C. (2009). Children’s spoken word recognition and contributions to
phonological awareness and nonword repetition. A 1-year follow-up. Applied Psycholinguistics, 30,
101-121.
Nicolopoulou, A, De Sa, A, Ilgaz, H. & Brockmeyer, C. (2010). Using the transformative power of play to
educate hearts and minds: From Vygotsky to Vivian Paley and beyond. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 17,
42-58.
© ELTC 2012
5.3 Hangman