Vintage Games

In my last post, I asked for advice about how to incorporate this vintage game into the ESL/EFL classroom:

How can I be used in the classroom?!?!

One of my classmates had a really great idea for how to use this game as a teaching tool (if you're out there reading, thank you for this great idea!!).  My classmate suggested that I write numbers on a sticker and place the stickers on each of the pieces of the puzzle.  These numbers will correspond to different linguistic concepts (for example, one could be personal pronouns, two could be object pronouns, three could be reflexive pronouns, etc.) that will be written on a sheet of paper.  To start the game, I mix up the puzzle pieces and have one student pick a puzzle piece.  The student has to give an example of the linguistic concept and, if he/she does so correctly, they get to put the puzzle piece onto the puzzle.  If they answer incorrectly or can't think of an example, they can choose a new puzzle piece and try again.  However, they only get one chance to pick a new puzzle piece.  The game continues in this fashion until all the pieces are on the board, at which time the students can have fun trying to solve the puzzle itself.

I really like the idea of using games, such as the one mentioned above, in the ESL/EFL classroom and I definitely plan to incorporate them into my curriculum.  As a student, I loved games and as a teacher/tutor I have seen firsthand how much students love to play them.  Although some games are not educational, most games (like the one pictured above) can be adapted and used to reinforce concepts already learned in the classroom.  Games are great not only because they are fun, but because they encourage competition among students.  This competition can serve as a motivating agent for students, which can ultimately help them to be more successful in their language learning endeavors.

Now, it's time for another recent thrift store find.  I took a break from working on my final projects to stop by the local thrift store the other day and I could not believe what I found.  It's something I've wanted for ages and, fittingly, it is also a vintage game:

A Vintage Hasko Mystic Board!

As I stated in an earlier post, I love Halloween, cheesy horror movies, and pretty much anything that is a little macabre.  I have wanted a vintage ouija board for ages and I could not believe it when I found this similar vintage board!  This one is actually a bit rarer and is circa the 1940s.  It's one of the cheaper versions of the Hasko Mystic Board (it's printed on plywood and not a nicer wood), but it's still worth a bit to people who collect this type of board game.  I have no intentions of selling it though- I love it to pieces!  If only I had been able to find the Magic Hand (the pointer), then it would be perfect :(  I might take a "break" later today to go ask the thrift store employees of they've seen it/to look out for it for me!

Vintage Clothes

I love vintage clothes.  Unfortunately, a girl cannot dress in vintage alone (or at least, a girl on my budget can't).  Sadly, the recent interest in wearing vintage clothing and the growth of reselling websites like etsy and eBay have made it difficult to both find and afford vintage clothing.  However, there are still deals to be had when it comes to finding vintage clothing at thrift stores.  Some thrift stores occasionally offer 50% off clothing days in order to empty their overflowing clothes racks.  These sales are a great opportunity to snatch up vintage clothing at more than affordable prices.  My favorite vintage coat, pictured below, was purchased for a steal during a recent 50% off clothing sale.

1960s or 1970s Bullock's Wilshire Coat (click here to see some beautiful pictures of the Bullocks Wilshire Building) 

One of my professors recently conducted a sample lesson in which he taught adjectives and adjective order using images of vintage clothing.  This lesson was amazing, not just because it was about vintage clothes, but because of how fun it was to actually describe vintage clothes.  It was really surprising to see how clothes that one person would describe as "pretty," another person would describe as "ugly."  There were even times when some of us tried to sway our classmates into thinking that clothes they considered to be "cool" were actually "uncool" using the adjectives being taught in the lesson.

In light of my aim to use thrift store finds in my future lessons, this lesson could be adapted to use thrift store realia by simply using actual vintage clothing instead of pictures of vintage clothing.  By making this switch, the students could actually see and feel the clothes from the different decades for themselves.  This would enable the introduction of a whole new class of adjectives that could not have been taught in the previous lesson: touch adjectives.  Students could describe wool sweaters from the 50s as "itchy" or polyester from the 70s as "stiff."  Thus, the addition of actual vintage clothing could improve an already amazing lesson.

On a completely unrelated note, I took a break from working on my final projects today (almost done!) to take a walk over to my local thrift store.  Here is what I purchased:

Vintage Game and Shelf

There are actually two shelves and they are so cute! For only $5 for both shelves I just couldn't turn them down ;)  Above the shelf is a game called "kwazy quilt" that I purchased to use in my future ESL tutoring classes.  To play the game, you take apart the pieces of the "quilt" and try to fit the pieces back together again.  Can anyone out there think of a way to use this game in an ESL context?  Any ideas are much appreciated!

Vintage Hats

Today's title is a bit misleading- I don't actually own a vintage hat.  But, I own a vintage hatbox so at least my future vintage hat will have a lovely vintage home ;)

The Vintage Hatbox

Unfortunately for me, vintage hats (hats from the 20s-60s) aren't easy to come by at my local thrift stores.  They are easier to find at antique stores, estate sales, and sometimes even yard sales, but prices tend to be much higher at these locales than at the local thrifts.  Sadly, I can't (and frankly, don't want to) spend the amount that they are asking for a vintage hat, so my hat box will remain empty until I come across my perfect vintage hat at a thrift store.

Hats used to be a necessity, but over time they have become more of an accessory.  Hats, like clothing and accessories, reveal a lot about the people wearing them.  In a way, I almost feel like a hat says more about a person than their clothes.  Cowboy hats, trucker hats, baseball hats, fedoras- each hat brings with it a specific image of the type of person that normally wears that style of hat.  Plain cowboy hats conjure up the image of a rugged man in denim and cowboy boots, while fedoras elicit the image of a suave, Sinatra-esque man.

With regard to the ESL/EFL classroom, several images of each type of hat could be shown to students and the students themselves could discover what type of person generally wears that style of hat.  This would be an interesting way for the students to practice giving descriptions and describing clothing (i.e., he is wearing...) while also learning to draw conclusions based on those descriptions.  In this type of lesson, however, it is important for the teacher to stress that the students' conclusions are general and do not necessarily apply to every person who wears that particular style of hat.

Hats are also a great way to talk about the students' home cultures as well as US culture.  Many countries are associated with specific hat styles (see here for examples).  Again, the teacher (and possibly the students themselves) should stress that although a hat is associated with a particular country or culture, it is not necessarily worn or adopted by every member of that country or culture.

Unique Inventions

In my last post, I posted a picture of a strange contraption and asked if anyone could identify what it is used for (see picture below).  Jennifer came pretty close- it does shoot powder into the air pretty quickly. 

What does this thing do?!?!

This contraption is...

A-ha!

a vintage hemline marker!  As you can see in the picture above, the silver part of the device attaches to the inside of a door.  The young seamstress, in her terribly long skirt, stands in front of the skirt marker and squeezes the bulb to mark the length that she would like for her skirt.  She then turns and continues the process until her skirt has been marked all the way around.

Strange or unique contraptions, such as this vintage hemline marker, would be a fun way to introduce the topic of inventions into the classroom.  Students could be shown this invention and, much like you, be asked to come up with its possible uses.  This would be a real fun class activity, since students could come up with some crazy uses for this contraption.  The class could then discuss inventions from the US (click here to see a page devoted to US inventors and their inventions) and then move on to the topic of inventions from their home countries.  Finally, students could invent their own crazy contraptions to be shared with their classmates.  This could include both a written assignment (to improve the students' writing) and a drawing assignment (to appeal to more visual students and to encourage the students' creativity).

Vintage Cards

In my last post, I talked about how vintage holiday decorations would be a great way to introduce the topic of US and foreign holidays into the ESL/EFL classroom.  Another way to introduce this topic (or possibly to expand upon it) would be the usage of vintage holiday cards, such as those pictured below.

Vintage Valentine's Day Cards

Vintage cards are pretty easy to find at thrift stores and they would be really fun to use in the ESL/EFL classroom.  After completing a lesson on US holidays, students could complete a project in which they create their own greeting card using what they have learned about the holidays.  Many cards, including the vintage card in the center of the photograph above, use literary devices such as rhyme or alliteration in their text.  The ESL/EFL teacher could introduce students to these literary devices and encourage the students to use them in their card-making assignment.  In this way, the card-making assignment could incorporate both culture (US holidays) and a literary component (rhyme/alliteration).  Most importantly, the cards would be a great way to encourage and foster the creativity of our ESL/EFL students.

In my next post, I'm going to talk about unique inventions.  So, is there anyone out there who knows what this contraption is used for?

What is this used for?

Vintage Holiday Decorations

I love holidays.  Who wouldn't love a day where you get to celebrate and hang out with your friends and family?  I'm a bit conflicted, however, when it comes to my favorite holiday.  I love Halloween because it's a day where I get to dress up and wear a fun outfit (always a plus in my book!), carve pumpkins, trick-or-treat with friends, and- my favorite part of all- watch scary movies.  I LOVE scary movies, especially vintage horror films from the 50s and 60s.  William Castle movies are so much fun to watch, and pretty much any movie with Vincent Price in it is bound to be awesome.  One of my favorite Castle movies, which coincidentally stars Vincent Price, is called The Tingler.  In this movie, Vincent Price plays a doctor who discovers that the tingling sensation people get when they are afraid is actually a living organism that lives on our spines.  He calls this organism the tingler and, when the tingler gets loose, horror (and hilarity- the tingler is a weird bug looking thing pulled around the set on a wire) ensues.  Sadly, I can never find vintage Halloween decorations or costumes at thrift stores.  I'm not really sure why this is, but it may be due to the fact that people didn't decorate as much for Halloween or the fact that kids were hard on their Halloween costumes.  If you see some vintage Halloween decorations or costumes, let me know! ;)

Vincent Price and the terrifying tingler.  Source

My other favorite holiday, Christmas, seems to be over-represented in thrift stores.  Vintage Christmas decorations are pretty easy to find, but they are usually put out in the thrifts around Christmastime (this depends on the store, but in general they seem to squirrel their Christmas decorations away until December).  However, you can still often find Christmas decorations in thrift stores year round.  I found the gem below along with a ton of vintage Shiny Brite ornaments at a local thrift last December.  I'm not really sure of its age, but I would guess that it is from the late 50s or early 60s. 

Vintage Santa and Mrs. Claus

Vintage holiday decorations, such as the figurine above, would be a really fun way to introduce the idea of US holidays to ESL/EFL students.  The teacher could introduce how holidays such as Halloween or Christmas are celebrated in the US, then discuss any similarities/differences to these holidays in the students' home countries.  For example, the students could compare the image of Santa in the figurine above to images of Santa from other countries.  If Christmas or Halloween are not celebrated in the students' home countries, the students could be asked to share information about holidays that are celebrated in their country.  If possible, students could even bring in decorations/pictures of decorations from these holidays.  This would be a really great way for the class to see and experience aspects of these holidays in addition to hearing about them from their classmates.  I also really like the idea of having students participate in US holidays, but I'm unsure how well this would work for historically religious holidays such as Christmas.  I feel like more religiously neutral holidays, like Halloween or Valentine's Day, would be more suitable to celebrate in a classroom.

Vintage Cookbooks

One of my all-time favorite things to find at thrift stores are vintage cookbooks.  Although I love the recipes themselves (I've found some really delicious cookie recipes in vintage cookbooks), what I really love about vintage cookbooks are the photographs.  Let's look at a few photographs from my most recent cookbook find, Joys of Jell-O, so you can see why vintage food photographs are so amazing.

Delicious Jell-O Desserts

The picture above, from the Tips and Tricks section of the cookbook, features some of the prettiest Jell-O I've ever seen in my life.  As a hostess, I would be proud to serve these desserts.  As a guest, I would be stoked to eat one.  I mean, come on!  The one on the top left with the chopped strawberries looks too pretty to even eat! 

Disgusting Jell-O Salads

Let's look at our next picture, from the Salads section of the cookbook.  Apparently, vintage chefs put substances into Jell-O that should never have been gelatinized.  Would you like some shrimp with your Jell-O?  How about some vegetables? 

A vintage cookbook, or even just a few pictures from the cookbook, would be a great way to introduce the topic of food into the ESL/EFL classroom.  More specifically, it could introduce the idea of what is appetizing.  Students could discuss what makes something appetizing, such as the ingredients used in the recipe and its presentation, versus what makes something unappetizing, which could again involve the ingredients used and presentation.  Since food is very cultural, and the idea of what is appetizing can very by culture, this topic would be a great way to encourage an exchange of cultural information in the classroom.  The culmination of this class could be a potluck in which students make appetizing foods from their homelands for their classmates.  This would be a great way for students to share their cuisine and culture, while also learning about the cuisines and cultures of their peers.  Brave students could even choose to bring unappetizing foods from their homelands, but they would do so at the risk of having a lot of leftovers to take home with them after class.