You're starting a unit or chapter related to a particular cultural cuisine, and you want to teach students about a famous dish. One Bee you can create may include students being able to identify the ingredients in that dish. Example? Empanadas! Ingredients: Beef, Eggs, Flour, Peas, Corn, Potatoes, Carrots, Chicken, Pork, Water, Butter, Garlic, Salt, Pepper, (and maybe other Spices - you can specify whatever words you need to). You can do this for as many types of dishes as you want, since each bee can be created on the fly. As the guessed words are displayed on the board, they become active Google link searches, which allows students to learn more about each ingredient. As a follow-up, students may be asked to think about other types of foods that can be created using the same ingredients for the Empanadas!
As you saw in the earlier example, a Bee is easy to create. But what if your students already know some of the basics? For the same lesson earlier about cuisines or food across cultures, instead of the ingredients, a Bee may include all the famous dishes in a given cuisine or culture. Example? Pabellón Criollo, Mole, Ceviche, Asado, Ropa Vieja, Pepian, La Bandera, Bandeja Paisa, Chivito (Spanish Academy, 2022), to name a few. As the words appear, students become curious if they see a word they have not seen before, and may then click to learn more, thus generating more learning. If the student do not know the answer, they can search for it online; therefore, the activity will generate more learning.
A Bee can be an excellent way to help your learners build a hub of information on a given topic. In this case, the Bee encourages learners to explore and share information they already have. When the class works together to create meaning, engagement levels rise. The play-feature and competition add a level of energy and motivation, and promote team work, especially if the students play in groups (Please see next point).
Peer-to-peer engagement levels lower than expected? Playing games can be an effective way to encourage students to get to know and work together. Therefore, playing the Bee in groups can help students connect with one another. As students get to make meaningful relationships in class, their engagement levels in the class are affected accordingly.
Know a few songs in French that contain important vocabulary words related to a unit you're teaching? Music is a great way to teach languages, and the Bee can help. As students listen to the song, they try to figure out the words in the song, so they are both appreciating the song and learning at the same time.
If you would like to give your students another way to showcase what they learned, the Bee may create a more laid-back, yet meaningful experience to help students review their performance in a given lesson.
These are some of the ways in which the Bee can be used to elevate engagement levels for your students. Creating an account and a Bee takes less than a minute. You pick the words, and let your busy bees play to find all the words. We'd love to hear from you about ways in which you're using the Bee. Please drop us a note.
With an account, you can create your own bees. Creating an account is quick and free.