Giant Action Verb Flash Cards is an ideal game for pair practice, verb
gesturing and team competitions. Since they are big, the teacher can hold
one card up in the front of a large class, and every student will be able
to see it.
There are many ways to play with the cards, but for simplicity's sake, let's
focus on four major techniques:
Method #1
The teacher divides the class into two teams. The teacher
shows one card at a time. The first team to guess it gets a point.
Method #2
The teacher divides the class into two teams. The teacher
selects one student as an assistant and shows that student the card; the
student gestures the verb action. The teacher then asks the class, "What
is he/she doing?" And the students guess. The first team to guess the
verb correctly wins the card and a point. The team with the most points is
the winning team.
Method #3
The teacher asks the class the questions on the back of the
card; the class answers.
For example, the questions on the back of the SING verb card are:
- What is he doing? (He is singing.)
- Can you sing? (Yes, I can. No, I can't. Yes, a little.)
- Can your father sing? (Yes, he can. No, he can't. Yes, a little.)
- Can your mother sing? (Yes, she can. No, she can't. Yes, a little.)
- Do you like singing? (Yes, I do. No, I don't. Yes, a little.)
- What does he do today? (He sings.)
- What did he do yesterday? (He sang.)
- What will he do tomorrow? (He will sing.)
- Please spell SING. (S-I-N-G)
- Do you want to sing tomorrow? (Yes, I do. No, I don't.)
- Use SING in a sentence.
Method #4
Divide the class into pairs for higher level students. Give each student one
card. One student asks his/her partner all the questions on the card, and then the
other student does the same with his/her card. (One interesting thing is
that the student holding the card has all the answers printed on the back,
so this student often corrects the other student.) Then have all pairs pass
the two cards forward and receive two new cards and repeat the procedure.
Helpful Hint
Lower level students should just ask the first three or four
questions. After mastering those grammatical constructions, they can
advance toward the more difficult questions. Higher level students can try
the variations. (For example, the variations for SING are HUM or HARMONIZE.)
The verbs introduced in this packet are: sing, sew, read, write, jump,
paint, cook, listen to, stand, run, dance, sit, shake (hands), skate, type,
eat, play (tennis), play (the flute), swim, draw, drink, walk, ride a
bicycle and kiss. (This last verb always guarantees lots of laughs.)
Giant Action Verb Flash Cards trigger real English interaction between the
students in an enjoyable and educational way. The teacher eventually becomes
"unnecessary" as the pupils chatter with each other in the structured target
language. They can do it!
Helene Jarmol Uchida
Helene Jarmol Uchida is a veteran teacher with teaching, curriculum
development and teacher training experience in the U.S., Greece and Japan.
She is the director of the Fukuoka-based
Little America English Schools
and lectures at Fukuoka Kyoiku Daigaku. She holds the LATEM seminars every year
in cities throughout Japan and is also the author of 'The Challenge Book',
an interactive English book and CD especially created for Japanese elementary school students.
<<Back Number | Top |
Recent Issue>>
|
