Gambling
Rob Jones

This is a very useful game that works in many situations. I use it for my self-introduction, but I've also used it to teach comparitives and differences between Japanese and American high schools. It's basically a real flashy way to present a multiple choice / true-false quiz.

The kids get into their lunch groups and get 200 dollars. This is group money and they must all decide together how much to bet because the group with the most money at the end of the game is the winner. The rest of the money is up at the front with the ALT and JTE. They pick one person who will come up and give or receive money after each question. If they want, they can take turns doing this.

Read the first question and let them discuss in their groups how much they wanna bet and what the answer should be. Allow them to bet from one dollar to half their current money so they don't blow their wad in their first question. (However, I let them bet all their money on the last question.) This usually takes about four or five minutes per question. After all the groups are done, take a "survey" to see which groups answered what. Next, the ALT tells them the answer. In this case of the example I include, I write the answers on the board. This gives the game a very game-show feel and the kids really dig it. (Especially number 7, which is very suspensful when written slowly.) Right or not, they write their new total in the box that says "Total."

Finally, the student in charge of the money brings up their cash (if they were wrong) or comes to receive their money (if they were right). Either way, that student should also bring up their print so that the ALT/ JTE can double-check it (some groups will try to get away with betting more than half.) After every three questions or so, write everyone's current total on the board. Once again, the group with the most money at the end is the winner.

Worksheet: (to see it on its own and ready to print click here.)

	Bet	Total
1. Which is bigger, Tokyo or Washington
2. Which is bigger, Mt. Fuji or K2?
3. Which is taller, Landmark Tower or the Eiffel Tower?
4. Which is smaller, Shikoku or Hawaii?
5. Which is older, Heike Monogatari or Tsurezuregusa?
6. Which is older, Tanabata or Christmas?
7. Who is younger, Basho or Newton?
8. Which is newer, the car or the motorcycle?
9. Which is faster, a human or an elephant?
10. Which is faster, a pig or a chicken?

Answers:

1) Tokyo 2186km2 Washington 156km2
2) Fuji 3776m K2 8613 m.
3) Landmark Tower 296m. Eiffel Tower 300 m.
4) Shikoku 18045 km2 Hawaii 16443 km2
5) Heiki Monogatari 1283 Tsurezuregusa 1331
6) Tanabata 710 Christmas 3BC
7) Basho 1644 Newton 1642
8) Car 1889 Motorcycle 1885
9) Human 44.6km/h elephant 40km
10) pig 17.6kph chicken 14.4kpg

For a variation on this activity designed to give the students more autonomy and get them using more English, check out csdrive's comments in our discussion forums.

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