Animal ESP
Minefields

Level Aims Grammar Time Materials
junior high school second year To have fun using comparatives to describe animals Comparatives 30-45 mins Work sheets

Basically, the worksheet speaks for itself; this activity is a consolidation or review of comparative adjectives. Pass out the work sheets to the students, and have them work in pairs. Students use 'jan-ken' to decide who will be A and who B. Before they begin, explain that this is an experiment in ESP ("Choonooryoku" in Japanese), and that they are to think of a picture of the animal, not the word.

After each guess by A, B must indicate either the correctness of A's guess, or how the animal they are thinking of differs from the animal A guessed. When they have played six times, A and B swap roles and play again. When they have finished, each student totals the number of guesses they took and divides them by six to find their average. Find the four players with the lowest average (the best ESP) and pair them off before having one of each pair think of a teacher in the school, while the other guesses who that teacher is using the same procedure as before.

Teaching Tip

The main job of an ALT in the school is to encourage the use of spoken English; both inside and outside the classroom. Refuse to yield to the urge to speak to your students (or teachers) in Japanese, even if you know that they'd much prefer it if you did. Insisting that they communicate with you in English forces them to practice, and furthers their command of the language. This is important!! Remember, you are not employed to speak or teach Japanese; you are employed to speak and teach English. Save your Japanese practice for your own time.

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