materials: target sentence or question-and-answer pattern
time: 2-10 minutes
group size: seat pairs
For SENTENCES & NEGATIVES
Ready-
-All students stand in seat pairs. One student is designated as student A, the other, student B.
-WRITE TWO SENTENCES on the blackboard. The two sentences should be similiar, for example, A-‘I like tennis.’ and B-‘I play tennis.’ or A-‘I like pink.’ and B-‘I like blue.’
Play- for listening accuracy
-A-students first repeat the A sentence after the teacher, then B-students repeat the B sentence.
-Paired students face each other, each holding one hand out as if shaking hands, BUT the 2 students’ hands are held 10-15 cm. apart.
-Teacher says, ‘READY!’ and reads one of the sentences aloud.
-If the A sentence is read aloud, the A-student tries to slap the other student’s hand (winning). The B-student, though, tries to pull his or her hand away before it is slapped (winning).
Play- for translation
-Teacher writes ONE sentence on the blackboard, in English or in Japanese.
-All students repeat.
-One of the pair (the A or B student) is told to slap if the translation is correct. The other student is told to slap if the translation is not correct. (on the blackboard- A-O B-X ).
-Teacher says, ‘READY!’ and reads the sentence aloud.
if points are awarded, correctly guessing students get one point for each correct guess.
Hints/Options-
- For classes that don’t interact well in a free-moving activity like this, have the students Janken Conversation Round style-- seat pairs playing janken, and one side rotating back one seat after their conversation is finished.
