BINGO - totally confused
 

I've read good things about BIngo in class and my students also asked to play it, but I actually have no idea how to play! i've read online how regular bingo works and also how "ESL Bingo" should go down, but most explanations assume you know the main concept of the game already.

Despite being British I've never actually seen or played BINGO, can someone help me with a simple breakdown of how exactly it works in layman's terms?(simple) Let us say the topic is Greetings.

It would be a big help, I've been surfing around and I'm still horribly confused :(

Re: BINGO - totally confused
 

There are different ways to play Bingo. Here are some ideas:
1. You call a word, the students look for the identical word on their bingo cards.
2. You call a word, the students look for the definition on their bingo cards. This can be done vice versa. This is excellent for practicing vocabulary.
3. You call a word, the students look for the picture on their bingo cards. If you say "banana," the students look for the picture of the banana.
Decide on a game based on whether you have adults or children in your classes, and their skill level.
I always make a call sheet. I make it in Microsoft Word using table commands. Whatever I intend to call goes on the call sheet.
I am careful to make bingo cards that are all different.
Every person, including me, gets a paper cup with dried lima beans. I call a word, and I put a bean on it. Every student who has the word puts a bean on it. The students try to get 5 words in a line: horizontally, vertically or diagonally. When a person does, he/she shouts "Bingo!" I tell all the students to keep the beans on their bingo cards. I check the card of the one who claimed bingo. If he/she is correct, I announce the winner. If not, I point out the mistakes and the game continues. To play a new game, the students take all the beans off their cards, I clear the call sheet, and we start again.
I hope this helps.

Re: BINGO - totally confused
 

so it is entirely luck based, no skill is required in winning (assuming you don't believe in being lucky) :D

Re: BINGO - totally confused
 

You can make it based entirely on luck, or you can make it based on skill. If you call out words and the students just find the words you say, it's based on luck. But if you use words and definitions, then the game is based on skill. I really like the variation with words and definitions. This words especially well for intermediate and advanced students.

Re: BINGO - totally confused
 

If you read a story or dialogue in which the words that are on the students' papers appear, the game is not based entirely on luck. Firstly, the students pick words from a bank of words that are on the board. These are the contents of their bingo sheets. This choosing of words is an action of deciding in what words the meaning of the story will be held. The rest of the game develops listening comprehension (and those who comprehend will be able to get their bingo).

Re: BINGO - totally confused
 

There are different ways to create bingo cards. The teacher can make them all (which is what I do, and prefer). Another option is to give the students a word bank. Every student has a blank bingo card (with just the grid) and fills in the squares using words from the word bank. I am concerned that if I let students do that, some would have identical bingo cards. To me it's very important that every bingo card is different.