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Fortune Teller / Cootie Catcher

author:  Nigel
level:  Elementary - Junior High
target_English:  short conversations
big_small:  Small Groups

a) First you will need to get all the students to make a "fortune teller/cootie catcher". It is a folded piece of paper that you use on your fingers and thumbs and looks like a paper pyramid. check out www.mathematische-basteleien.de/fortune_teller.htm to see how to make one.

b) Now for what to write.

c) Depending on the ability of the students design a small 3 part conversation ie What's your name?, How old are you?, Where do you live?, What do you like to do?, How often do you do it? How is it? Where did you go during vacation? How did you get there? How long did you stay? or others.

d) on the fortune teller you get the students to write the answers.

e) On the outside of the fortune teller the children write answers to the first question. (so there should be 4 different answers to choose from)

f) On the inside of the fortune teller, divide each segment into a top and bottom half.

g) On the top half, write the answers to questions 2 and on the bottom half write the answers to question 3, (so there should be 8 answers to each question to choose from)

h) Now under the segments the children can write:-

1) Fortunes (such as you will be rich, you will travel around the world etc),
2) Or as we did at school write praise and insults (your beautiful, you smell like a toilet)
3) Or you can write rewards or penalties (you can have 1 sticker / treat / points, you must give back 2 stickers / treats / points)
4) Or you can have the children build towers and the inside of the fortune tells them which coloured tower they have to add a brick to (red, blue, green, yellow) the completion of a tower decides whether everyone gets a sticker / treat, only the boys get stickers / treats, only the girls, or nobody.

h) Now place all the fortune tellers (FT) on a table. select half the children to pick up a fortune teller (it doesn't have to be their own) and then go to the other half of the students and ask them the questions.

i) The other children look at the possible answers shown on the FT and answer the questions. The person asking the question then uses his fingers to open and close the FT by spelling out the answer, if the answer was a word, or counting the numbers if the answer was a number.

j) When the last question has been answered and the FT opened and closed in accordance to the answer the person answering the questions decides which segment they want revealed to see their fortune / misfortune / prize / penalty / praise / insult.

k) Once a student has asked 3 people the questions they put the FT down and then have to answer the questions themselves. The student who has answered the questions 3 times then goes and picks up a FT to ask the questions.

l) The game ends after a period of time/ when someone gets x number of stickers / treats or when one tower is finally completed showing who if anyone gets stickers.

m) Keep hold of the FTs so that you can use them again and so students don't have to spend time making and writing the FTs.


Nigel




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