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Blank Board Games

10/20/2020 by admin Leave a Comment

Swimming with Sharks Kinney Brothers Publishing

Growing up in a family with six siblings, there was no end of board games to play. I remember playing Candy Land and learning colors. Checkers and chess taught me strategy. Monopoly presented a world of real estate, property taxes, and banking. The Game of Life taught me about life insurance and the cost of living. There was Scrabble, backgammon, and tons of card games. Negotiating the rules, playing fair, and of course, arguing, were all important elements of the learning process. There were also important life lessons in all these games: playing a game is an exercise in cooperation, taking risks can be thrilling and advantageous, and when supportive, competition can push you to be better.

Fast-forward twenty years, and I found myself making board games for my ESL classes. When I was building the textbook, Phonics & Spelling, Book 2, interactive games and puzzles were important and I included many, as well as a game on the back cover! On one page, I constructed a simple CVC game board that I decorated with shark clip art and titled Swimming with Sharks! Like every page in the book, I tested the game in class many times. Of all that I created, none of the board games excited my kids like the threat of being eaten by a shark.

Click on the image to see larger.

Phonics and Spelling Book 2  Kinney Brothers Publishing

Swimming with Sharks! is very simple. Players take turns rolling dice, moving their counters around the board, and saying the word they land on out loud. The goal is to be the first to reach the “Safe” ship. If they land on “net,” they can cross over to the next space. Landing on “red,” means returning to the previous “red,” or “Start.” If players land on the “shark’s nose” toward the end of the board, they have to go all the way back to “Start.”

So popular was this board game, my brother, Michael, urged me to create a blank board so that different vocabulary could be inserted in place of the CVC words.

Michael explained in his blog post how he used the blank version of the board for dialogue drills, such as What’s your name? How old are you? Where do you live? Do you like…? Do you have…? What’s this? and What’s that?

Swimming with Sharks free download

“To practice simple dialogues, I use a separate Swimming with Sharks! game board that has blank spaces instead of words. When students land on a blank space, they must ask another player a question. If the student cannot think of a question to ask, they must go back the same number rolled on the dice. Likewise, if the student who is asked cannot answer the question, they must move their counter back that many places on the board. The same rules apply for landing on “net,” the color “red,” and “shark’s nose” as the original game in Phonics & Spelling, Book 2.”

The blank version of Swimming with Sharks! can be used with any set of vocabulary, Q&A, or dialogues you want your students to practice. I always have several laminated boards in my desk ready at a moment’s notice. You can download the blank game board here. It’s on us! Enjoy!

Board games to get your kids talking!

Blank Game Boards Bundle Donald's English Classroom

If you like to play board games in class, take a look at this Blank Game Board Bundle from Donald’s English Classroom.  These blank boards offer teachers the flexibility of creating their own games. For preschool through adult language learners, board games give students repetitive practice in a format that makes learning fun!

As always, best of luck in your classes!

Donald Kinney
Kinney Brothers Publishing

Filed Under: Kinney Brothers Publishing Tagged With: blank game boards, Donald's English Classroom, english language learning, esl, ESL Activities, ESL Games, esl textbooks, ESL Worksheets, flashcard activities, flashcard games, kinney brothers publishing, phonics and spelling, swimming with sharks

Fun Facts About English #75 – The Origins of Chicago

10/16/2020 by admin Leave a Comment

Kinney Brothers Publishing Chicago

Chicago’s recorded history begins with the arrival of French explorers, missionaries, and fur traders in the late 17th century and their interaction with the local Pottawatomie Native Americans.

The name Chicago is derived from a French interpretation of the indigenous word shikaakwa — a wild relative of the onion known as ramps. The earliest reference to the city site was Checagou in a memoir by Robert de LaSalle around 1679.

Spelling variants of Chicago

The first known non-indigenous permanent settler in Chicago was explorer Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. Du Sable was of African, French, and possibly Haitian descent. He arrived in the 1780s and is commonly known as the “Founder of Chicago.” Living at the mouth of the Chicago River, he established an extensive and prosperous trading settlement. Described as handsome and well educated, Point du Sable married Kitiwaha, a Pottawatomi Indian woman. In 1796, Kitiwaha Point du Sable delivered their daughter, Eulalia, Chicago’s first recorded birth.

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Jean Baptiste Point du Sable Kinney Brothers Publishing

The city was incorporated in 1837. Recognizing its commanding position in the emerging transportation network controlling access from the Great Lakes into the Mississippi River basin, real estate speculation boomed. The city grew exponentially, becoming the nation’s rail center and the dominant Midwestern center for manufacturing, commerce, finance, higher education, religion, sports, jazz, and high culture.

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Chicago Kinney Brothers Publishing

The city was a magnet for European immigrants beginning with Germans, Irish, and Scandinavians. From the 1890s, waves of Jews, Czechs, Poles, and Italians were all absorbed into the city’s powerful ward-based political machines. African Americans migrated from the South as part of the Great Migration beginning in the World War I era. Mexicans began arriving in 1910, and Puerto Ricans after 1945.

Chicago Skyline

The city formed the political base for national leaders of the Democratic Party: Stephen A. Douglas in the 1850s, Adlai Stevenson in the 1950s, and Barack Obama in the 21st century.

You may also be interested in learning why the Americans and British pronounce /r/ differently, the headaches when creating headlines, or the origins of baseball!

See the previous or next Fun Facts About English.

Donald's English Classroom

Continental Bingo is a great review for country names and flags of Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. These bingo sets are also available in a cost-saving bundle! Check out all the games and activities in Donald’s English Classroom!

Filed Under: Fun Facts About English Tagged With: Chicago, Donald's English Classroom, esl, ESL Activities, ESL Flashcards, ESL teaching, esl textbooks, ESL Worksheets, fun facts about english, kinney brothers publishing, Stktschagko

Fun Facts About English #73 – Contronyms

10/02/2020 by admin Leave a Comment

Kinney Brothers Publishing contronyms

The term contronym was coined by Jack Herring in 1962. Such words are also referred to as auto-antonyms or Janus words (after the Roman god Janus, who is depicted with two faces.)

Why do they occur?

Some contronyms are distinct words with different etymologies that come into the language in the same form or spelling, eg., rock, as in “a solid mineral material” (Old North French), or “rock a child” (Old Norse).

Other Janus words happen where a single word acquires different and sometimes opposite definitions. The word sanction, for example, diverged over time to mean both “permit” and “penalize.”

Auto-antonyms can also result from nouns being verbed, like dust. If you say, “I’m dusting the room,” it’s highly unlikely that you’re sprinkling dust on the tabletops in the same manner as powdering a cake with sugar.

Contronyms may occur due to varying dialects in the same language. In British English, to table a bill means “to put up for debate, whereas in American English, it means “to remove from a debate.”

Though the examples are numerous, here is a short list of 25 common contronyms:


bolt – to secure or to flee
bound – heading to a destination or restrained from movement
buckle – to connect or to break or collapse
clip – to fasten together or cut away
consult – to offer advice or to obtain it
custom – a common practice or a special treatment
discursive – moving in an orderly fashion among topics or proceeding aimlessly in a discussion
fast – quick, stuck, or made stable
fix – to repair or to castrate
garnish – to furnish, as with food preparation, or take away, as with wages
handicap – an advantage provided to ensure equality or a disadvantage that prevents equal achievement
left – remained or departed
mean – average, stingy, or excellent
model – an exemplar or a copy
overlook – to supervise or to neglect
screen – to present or to conceal
skinned – covered with skin or with the skin removed
strike – to hit or to miss in an attempt to hit
temper – to soften or to strengthen
transparent – invisible or obvious
trim – to decorate or to remove excess from
trip – a journey or a stumble
variety – a particular type or many types
wear – to endure or to deteriorate
weather – to withstand or to wear away

If you enjoyed reading about contronyms, you might also be interested in common eponyms and the notorious personalities behind them, the reason acronyms have exploded since the 19th century, or find out if your name is a capitonym!

See the previous or next Fun Facts About English.

Donald's English Classroom

Kids just LOVE fishing activities and the fish are so versatile! Play a fishing activity, use the fish as flashcards during class, or post them on a classroom board as decoration! Check out all the fishing activities in Donald’s English Classroom!

Filed Under: Fun Facts About English Tagged With: contronym, Donald's English Classroom, esl, ESL Activities, ESL Flashcards, ESL teaching, ESL Worksheets, fun facts about english, kinney brothers publishing

Fun Facts About English #72 – Compound Words

09/25/2020 by admin Leave a Comment

Kinney Brothers Publishing Every Day

Compound words and expressions such as anytime vs any time, awhile vs a while, or anyone vs any one can be confusing. Though they differ in meaning, they sound the same! Unfortunately, there’s no simple rule that will cover all such compound words, nor is there an either-is-correct safety net. Meaning is key to appropriate use.

Let’s look at everyday vs every day. The rules are pretty simple and the difference in their definitions is distinct.

Every Day and Everyday Chart

After a single Google search, I came up with these errors – and there were tens and tens of them! Many of these websites represent professional teams, services, and popular media. A simple grammar mistake (or two in the case of the Olympics wall art) undermines their branding efforts and credibility. Remember to double-check if you’re in doubt!

Every Day Errors

As for the other compound words mentioned above, here are some examples to check your understanding.

awhile vs a while – Awhile is an adverb that means “for a period of time.” A while is a noun phrase that means “a period of time.” As the meanings seem so close, think whether or not you can insert the word “for.” If not, then you should use the two-word noun phrase. To be fair, even my spell-check is getting this wrong!

  • I waited (for) awhile for the bus to arrive.
  • We walked (for) awhile in the rain.
  • It’s been a while since I’ve seen him.
  • After a while, I began to feel more relaxed.

anytime vs any time – Anytime is an adverb that means “whenever” or “at any time.” Remember, you can’t use anytime with a preposition like “at.” You need the two-word any time when you’re talking about an amount of time.

  • You can call anytime!
  • I can drive anyplace and anytime!
  • I can drive to any place at any time!
  • Do you have any time on your schedule for lunch?
  • There isn’t any time to spare!

anyone vs any one – Anyone refers to any person at all, but not to any particular individual. By contrast, any one refers to any single, specific person or thing.

  • Is anyone up for pizza?
  • Anyone can enter the drawing!
  • I can’t decide on any one design!
  • Did any one of the witnesses report the crime?

You might also be interested in reading about the conundrum with contronyms, why the word we is so unique in the English language, or the reason Pikes Peak is spelled without an apostrophe by law!

See the previous or next Fun Facts About English.

Donald's English Classroom

Trends: Business and Culture Reports, Book 1 and Book 2, bring you sixty topical Business Reports that will entertain, inform, and prompt your adult intermediate and advanced students toward lively discussions. Utilizing charts, graphs, puzzles, surveys, and discussion activities, these Business Reports invite students to explore and compare cultural, business, and language matters. These lessons are also available as downloadable lesson packs from Donald’s English Classroom!

Filed Under: Fun Facts About English Tagged With: Donald's English Classroom, esl, ESL Activities, ESL Flashcards, ESL Games, ESL teaching, esl textbooks, ESL Worksheets, every day, everyday, fun facts about english, kinney brothers publishing

Fun Facts About English #74 – The Awesome History of Dude

09/21/2020 by admin Leave a Comment

Kinney Brothers Publishing dude

On a sunny summer day in 1965, I was in the front yard with my twin brother playing on our identical red tricycles. I said to Bobby, “Lookit how fast I’m peddlin’, man!” Bobby suddenly dashed into the house like he had to poop! A few moments later, my mother sternly called out to me through the open living-room window, “Donnie! Stop saying “man!”

Yankee Doodle

The tune of Yankee Doodle is far older than the lyrics, is well known across western Europe, and has been used in Holland for centuries for children’s songs. The earliest lyrics we know come from a 15th-century Middle Dutch harvest song. Though some of the words may seem familiar, the English and Dutch mix is largely nonsensical. The cadence, however, is unmistakable:

“Yanker, didel, doodle down, Diddle, dudel, lanther, Yanke viver, voover vown, Botermilk und tanther.”

The word doodle is derived from either the Low German dudel, meaning “playing music badly,” or dödel, meaning “fool” or “simpleton.” Yankee is recorded in the late 17th century as a nickname; perhaps from the Dutch Janke, a diminutive of Jan (John). Finally, dandy is thought to be a shortened form of 17th-century Jack-a-dandy for a “conceited fellow” and a pet form of the given name Andrew, as in Dandy Andy.

In 18th-century Britain, the term “yankee doodle dandy” implied a fashionable man who goes beyond the pale of reasonable dress and speaks in an outlandishly affected and effeminate manner.

Yankee Doodle Dandy Kinney Brothers Publishing

The song Yankee Doodle was written around 1755 by British Army surgeon Dr. Richard Shuckburgh. It was sung by British troops to mock the disheveled and disorganized colonial “Yankees” with whom they served in the seven-year French and Indian War (1756). In defiance, the American soldiers co-opted the song, added verses to mock the British troops, and by the time of the Revolutionary War (1775), turned the insult into a song of national pride.

FYI: The multi-award-winning musical film, Yankee Doodle Dandy, starring James Cagney (1942), was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

Bonus FYI: The state of Connecticut designated Yankee Doodle as the official state song in 1978.

Doodle to Dude

Recent research of the word dude is owed to Barry Popik and Gerald Cohen who have been combing through 19th-century periodicals amassing the world’s largest collection of dude citations. Cohen’s journal, Comments on Etymology, lays out a solidly supported account of the early days of dude.

In the vernacular of the American cowboy and popular press of the late 19th century, the diminutive dude from doodle emerged as a derisive word, like dandy, for an extremely well-dressed Eastern city slicker who knew little of the rugged lifestyle of the new American West. The verbed version of the word is still familiar in the cowboy phrase “all duded up” for getting dressed in fancy clothes.* Dudedom, dudeness, dudery, and dudism are all recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) as terms used in the late 1800s to ridicule our foppish friends. In the early 20th century, dude ranches sprang up in many western states catering to wealthy urbanites wanting to vacation in the “cowboy lifestyle.”

In the 1960s, dude began appearing in surfer culture and the Black community with the meaning “fellow” or “guy,” much like bro in the 1970s. Dude continued its creep into the jargon of young Americans in general throughout the twentieth century.

One of the first known references to its contemporary use is the 1969 film, Easy Rider. In the clip below, Peter Fonda explains to Jack Nicholson the meaning of dude, giving us a marvelous linguistic marker in American pop culture:

https://www.kinneybrothers.com/video_files/EASY_RIDERx.mp4

From “dandy” to “regular guy” to “cool,” dude was further popularized in American films of the 80s and 90s, like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Wayne’s World, and Clerks. The ultimate dude, based on the personality of Viet Nam war activist Jeff Dowd, was played by Jeff Bridges in the 1998 cult film, The Big Lebowski. Bridges’ character, The Dude, inspired Dudeism, a new religion that promotes a rebel-shrug philosophy and the mantra, “Just take it easy, man.”

Dudeism’s objective is to promote a modern form of Chinese Taoism, blended with concepts from the Ancient Greek philosopher, Epicurus, and presented in a style as personified by the character of Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski.

In 2008, the beer company, Bud Light, aired an advertising campaign in which the dialogue consists entirely of different inflections of “Dude!” without ever mentioning the product name.

As we move further into the 21st century, the female equivalents dudette and dudess failed to acquire any linguistic legs and have fallen out of use. Among many young Americans, dude is now considered a unisex term in much the way guys is used to address a group of men or women. Studies reveal that, though dude is used today in every possible gender combination, it is not used by men to address women in their intimate relationships.

I’ll finish with this Millienial-age gem I found in my research:

“I call my mother “dude.” She doesn’t like it.”

If you enjoyed this post you may also be interested in reading about words recognized used all over the world, what the word jaywalker actually means, or the incredible history of American spelling bees!

See the previous or next Fun Facts About English.

Donald's English Classroom

Our textbooks are always in stock! Check out the complete lineup for your pre-school through adult English language classes!

*Not to be confused with the word duds, as in “I got my best duds on.” c. 1300, dudde “cloak, mantle,” later, in plural, “clothes,” especially “ragged clothing.”

Filed Under: Fun Facts About English Tagged With: Donald's English Classroom, dude, esl, ESL Activities, ESL Flashcards, ESL Games, ESL teaching, esl textbooks, fun facts about english, kinney brothers publishing, Yankee Doodle Dandy

Halloween 2020

09/19/2020 by admin Leave a Comment

Halloween 2020 Kinney Brothers Publishing

It’s hard to believe it’s time to start preparing for Halloween. I hope you don’t let the holiday pass without celebrating, even if it means doing things a little differently.

I was thinking about Halloweens past. There is one that stands out most in my memory.

The fall of 1967 was an especially difficult time for my family. After months of awful fighting, my parents separated. With four kids in tow, my mother moved us from town into a very old farmhouse deep in the Iowa countryside. Halloween soon rolled around, but there was no “neighborhood” for trick-or-treating. The nearest house was miles away and our old car was a clunker. Making the best of circumstances, we cut out paper jack-o-lanterns, taped them to the windows, and put on old costumes. Then my mother sent us out to collect candy — at our own house! The four of us (and the dog) went out the back door into the frosty night air, came round to the front porch, climbed the dark stairs, and knocked loudly on the farmhouse door. Nobody answered. We knocked again yelling “Trick or Treat!” and waited for the door to open. Suddenly, there was a loud BOO! from behind us and we all scrambled off the porch helter-skelter! My mother stood behind an old tree in the yard laughing heartily. Amidst our scolding her for scaring us so completely, Mother handed us candy from a large Tupperware bowl, and then…we did it again! And again! We took turns giving out treats and trying to scare each other. After all the candy from the plastic bowl was transferred to our pillowcase bags, we sat at the kitchen table and ate it. Our family Halloween, all alone in the dark countryside, was the best Halloween ever.

Sometimes unusual conditions bring about the best memories.

Two years ago, I outlined 13+ Halloween games you can play in class (or at home!) for your Halloween parties. They’re especially recommended for teachers needing activities they can set up quickly and repeat for multiple classes.

Last year, I wrote about introducing Halloween to the Japanese kindergarten where I taught. I also brought out some of my favorite paper puzzles you can hand out to your younger students. You can still download these games for free here, or by clicking on the image below.

Halloween Games Kinney Brothers Publishing

For 2020, I’ve put together some classic games you can play in your online classes: Halloween Bingo and Halloween Tic-Tac-Toe on Google Slides. These games are super easy to set up and fun to play! Give them a try!

Halloween Games on Google Slides Donald's English Classroom

You can download these games separately or download them in the full Halloween Game Bundle from Donald’s English Classroom. The bundle includes:

Halloween Bingo – A classic game with 30 boards in two sizes. With just 25 images, this is a Bingo game you can play with your youngest ESL students.  The bundle also includes the paperless version on Google Slides!

Halloween Tic-Tac-Toe Another classic that kids love playing!  With 12 boards in two sizes, this set includes draw cards for an easy Bingo game! Plus, you can upload the paperless version to Google Slides for your online classes!

Halloween House is a folding craft activity and 3D learning tool that you’ll want to keep around all year!  With ghosts and goblins in every room, just print, cut, and fold!

Halloween Concentration is free, so please download and enjoy!   

Halloween I Have Who Has is a fun activity for small groups or the whole class. This set includes two games and is only available in the Halloween Game Bundle! 

Here’s wishing you a happy and safe Halloween!

Donald Kinney
Kinney Brothers Publishing

Filed Under: Kinney Brothers Publishing Tagged With: Bingo games, Donald's English Classroom, english language learning, esl, ESL Activities, ESL Games, esl textbooks, ESL Worksheets, flashcard activities, flashcard games, google slides, halloween, kinney brothers publishing, Tic-Tac-Toe

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