I got this great game from Lesley Ito’s great new kindle book: Fifty Ways to Teach Young Learners: Tips for ESL/EFL Teachers
(The book is only $1 and is a total bargain, I’d totally recommend it. Even I got two great new ideas from it!)
Anyway….
1. Teach today’s stationery words (paint, pencil, ruler etc.) and put the flashcards on the left side of the board. Write numbers 1 to 6 next to each one.
2. Review prepositions (under, on, in etc, spider version here or Indy dragon version here) and put these cards down the middle of the board. Again write numbers 1 to 6 next to each one.
3. Finally review some classroom furniture (desk, chair etc. there are a few part way down this page.) put them on the right side of the board, again numbered from 1 to 6.
4. Ask the kids a quick review question e.g. even a quick “What’s this?” by pointing to one of the cards.
5. The fastest kid to answer comes to the front and they throw 3 dice.
6. They make a sentence according to the dice thrown e.g. if they threw a 3, a 4 and another 4, and say the number 3 card on the left was “brush”, the number 4 preposition was “on” and the 4th classroom furniture was “door” they have to say the sentence “The brush is on the door.”
7. But then they only get the point if they actually put the item in this place – fun with a brush on a door! 🙂
8. Repeat from step 4.
Pretty cool, eh? It’s a great way to not only get some fantastic grammar learnt in a fun way, but you also review several different themes.
Lesley’s new book is chock full of other ideas (including a few you might have seen before on Genki English! 😉 ) and for a $1 I think you are going to like it.
And the only other question is …. if I was going to do a “classroom furniture” theme for you, what 8 items would you like to see included? Do let me know in the comments – remember anyone can write a long list, the skill is in keeping it short to just 8 items! 🙂
Be genki,
Richard
P.S. Whilst you’re on kindle you might also want to check out my “Success Secrets of Learning English” book, also only $1 on Kindle Japan or Kindle International and we got up to number 16 on the Japan Self Help charts over the holidays!
Earn More From Your Passion For Teaching English!
Thanks for sharing that, its a cool idea, might try it
OK I’ll start of with these:
chair, desk, teacher’s desk, clock, wall, blackboard, bookshelf, (fishtank?)
Whiteboard
Chair
Table
Door
Window
Cupboard
Bookcase
Fan
how do you call the space the kids put their bags and stuff in in the back of a Japanese classroom (shelf? closet?)
chair, desk, clock, wall, (black)board, computer, map
Great game and perfect timing! I’ve done the classroom objects and was planning to do prepositions next lesson.
about the classroom objects:
blackboard/ whiteboard
chalk
blackboard eraser
pupil’s desk/teacher’s desk
chair
map
clock
poster
bookcase
coathanger
Keep up the great work!
nena
Super simple and I just know the kids are going to like this game – any game that helps kids go from vocab to sentence production is worth its weight in gold!
BTW Richard, any chance of a new song for additional verbs?
blackboard
desk
chair
coat rack
bookshelf
cupboard
sofa
projector screen
Any chance on getting a country western song with a caller?
What’s a caller??
Well, a caller is the person calling out the moves… simple moves could be: step to the right, step to the left. You find this in line dancing and square dancing.
Hi Deena, I’m up for doing another verbs song. What sort of things are you looking for? (Keeping in mind that, as always, the skill is in keeping the list short to just 8 items + one phrase! 🙂 )
Richard, I think this is a great game. And it reminds me of something I’ve been wanting to ask for before:
Is it somehow possible to get the “part way down this page.” items in regular GE card format? It is so hard to use them the way they are.
It looks like we’re pretty close for a list of 8 so I’ll get them up when we get the list done!
If you are thinking about a new verb song, would you please consider creating a new song about modal verbs?
I like this sentence structure. It’s so hard grasping the idea of using “the” for things specific: the door, the glue, etc. I”ll be using this idea today, thanks!
thanks a lot! sounds a great game to combine various words and get the children to practise entire sentences.
chair
table
bookshelf
floor mat
board
blackboard
monitor
desk
Thanks for all your help Richard. Genki really made a big difference in my teaching.
I wish I was as resourceful as you are. Where do you get all these ideas from?
Love this game! Thanks a bunch for sharing it!!!!
Hello Richard! I like this idea. A good warm up for my “Gentle Class’ fourth Grade students (all boys), who are active and smart.
Thanks for sharing.
Hi Richard! I love all the songs you compose. If you’re still thinking about creating this song…. I don’t think you’ve included these universal classroom items. Chair, desk, mat, clock, board, screen, map, shelf. That would be another awesome addition to the set.