TWISTER is an old American standard which guarantees to foster
uncontrollable laughter and enjoyment by all who play it. The game can and
should be modified for Japanese students in the EFL class. The main
modification is that one player goes at a time since Japanese students are
uncomfortable being in close proximity of others, especially on the TWISTER
Mat.
The game consists of a direction board with a pointer. There are four areas
on the board: left foot, right foot, left hand and right hand. Each area
has four colored circles: green, red, yellow and blue. The TWISTER Mat is
rather large and consists of six rows of green, red, yellow and blue
circles.
The following format is the way I suggest playing TWISTER in Japan:
Divide the group into two teams.
If the class is big, then one student can be the "Scorekeeper," one student
can be the "Directions Announcer," and one student can be the "Direction
Board Turner." If it is a small class, then the teacher can be all of the
above.
The TWISTER Mat is placed on the floor. The two teams line up on either
side and the first person from one team stands at the bottom of the mat
without shoes. The Direction Board Turner hits the pointer which will land
on a right or left hand or foot area. The Direction Announcer will tell the
player to (for example), "Put your left foot on green," if the pointer lands
in the left foot area on the color green.
The player puts his/her foot on the green circle in the first row. The
game continues as the Direction Board Turner hits the pointer again and
tells the player to (for example), "Put your right hand on yellow." The
player puts his/her right hand on yellow in the second row while keeping
his/her foot in the green circle in the first row. The game continues until
the player has reached the last (sixth) row of the mat without falling. If
the student falls, he/she loses his/her turn. And the next team gets to go.
But if the player reaches the sixth row, which can usually be done in a
very contorted position, the teacher should ask three English questions,
such as: "What is your address?" "What is your favorite sport?" "When is
your mother's birthday? " If the player can answer these questions, under
pressure, in the contorted position, then his/her team gets a point.
The team with the most points wins.
The merit of playing TWISTER in English class is manifold. The students
have to think in English under pressure. They can easily understand the
directions because the vocabulary is very specific: right, left, hand, foot,
green, red, yellow, and blue.
Please note girls who are wearing skirts should not play because of the
contorted positions. I would suggest, instead, letting these students be
the Scorekeeper, Director Board Turner and Direction Board Announcer.
Please give it a try. Everyone walks out of class smiling after playing
TWISTER.
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.
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