Julia's+resource+for+Teaching

This isn't anything new or exciting; it's just regular Scrabble. When I was in grade 12, during last few days of the school year my Literature (not English) teacher set up a Scrabble tournament within the class. He had a few boards and anyone with a version at home could bring theirs as well. The winner from each game took on the winner from another game, etc, until it was down to two people. The winner of the tournament got bonus marks on their final grade.
 * Scrabble**

This is an idea I would definately bring into a classroom, especially at the end of the year when units are usually done and nothing else is happening (especially in grade 12!). Everyone enjoyed it because it was a fun game with the comepetitive element and there was an incentive to win, but also because if you lost, or if you just didn't want to participate, you could still use the class time to work on other things that you may have felt pressured to finish before the end of the year (also it was grade 12, June, the last period of the day with less than a week left in school. Many had the option of ceasing to come to class or leaving early if they lost; we were a good class of academic students and many were trustworthy to eave early, but I recommend proceeding with caution on that idea).

The student who won the tournament in my class that year was a student that had been barely passing - if at all - his assignments. But he showed up every day, took the game seriously, and blew everyone out of the water. His prize was the bonus marks that put him solidly over the 50% mark. Had he not won he would have failed the class, thus being a credit for his diploma. I think an idea like this is great because it gives the "bad" students a chance to show what their skills are and to really get involved. This student had trouble analyzing Sherlock Holmes stories from a Marxist perspective, but he was a fantastic speller with a creative vocabulary, and he was always the first to use up all his letters.