Additional Language/Culture Ideas

Leisure Time of Americans (1 day)

Culture:   To understand that Americans engage in variety of different leisure time activities

English:   To teach/review present progressive tense, to teach/review action verbs

Activity:   Play charades

Materials: Worksheets, text

Procedure:

1.  Find out what students already know about verbs.

2.  If students are struggling, put sentence structure on the board and allow them to consult the verbs in their books and/or worksheets as the lesson continues.  Do some drills on these pages, listening for correct -ing endings.  Put some students into pairs and have them ask each other and respond.  At some point, write verbs on the board (in a different order), maybe have students copy them in their note-books, and continue with questions and answers. Finally, when everyone seems to know the verbs, erase the words from the board and play charades.

3. If this is pretty easy for students, point to people and ask, “What’s she/he doing?”

4. Teach (write them on the board, have students copy them into their notebooks) as many new verbs as you think they can handle.  Continue the conversations.  Put students into pairs and have them ask each other questions about pictures and respond to each other. Play charades when you feel students know the verbs.

5. Charades:  Have students count off by two’s to form two teams.  Each team should write on slips of paper enough verbs (of the ones learned) for each opposing team member.  They should fold the slips of paper and put them into a pile. Team members then take turns drawing a slip of paper; asking the question, “What am I doing?”; then acting it out for their team to guess. The acting student may consult the dictionary if necessary, but the guessing team may not.  A team earns a point if they respond correctly, “He’s/she’s -ing.”  If students are advanced, the teacher might open up to any verbs.

6. Ask students to share what they (and Chinese people in general) like to do in their leisure time. (With help interpreting the word “leisure” from your National Teacher!)

7. Students will be (or already have been) watching culture videos that have shots of people engaging in leisure time activities.  Again, with the help of the National Teacher, these could be discussed in class.

Miscellaneous Activities and Lessons

What follow are ideas, not fleshed out, that you may find helpful. Some, you may want to develop further; others may fill a spare moment at the end of a lesson.

-> Who, Where, and What?

Describe an object or a person (either in the classroom or in a picture) and ask “What (who) is it?”

You: It’s got two doors, it’s green, and I keep books in it

Student: The cupboard

You: This person is wearing a blue t-shirt, eye glasses, and is sitting in the middle of the room

Student: Wendy

As a variation, have students do both the describing and the guessing.

-> Singing

You can probably find a song to go with most themes, i.e.: This is the way we set the table, set the table, set the table This is the way we set the table, so early in the morning. This is the way we use our forks; eat our fruit; drink our juice, etc.

-> American Homes:

Look first at exterior pictures of American homes and apartments. Next, sketch on the board a quick outline floor plan (2 bedrooms, bathroom, living room, dining room, workshop/utility room) of a house, labeling the rooms.  Perhaps a student will draw a floor plan of a typical Chinese home/apartment for comparison.

Introduce the game “Hide and Seek” to the class.  The person who is “it” is hiding in one of the rooms.  Students cannot use the name of the room in their questions (Are you hiding in the bedroom?), but rather can ask questions such as “Are you watching TV?  Are you under the crib?  Are you cooking supper?”

-> Simon Says and Variations:

“Simon Says” is motivational, fun, and a good break from routine.  Before beginning this game, teach/review body parts (touch your…) and actions (jump, turn left, smile).  If you don’t remember how to play this, ask your colleagues.

“Simon Says” only tests understanding of the English language; for a variation and to get children talking, have them take turns playing the part of Simon.  Directions could also involve objects in the room (touch the wall, sit in a chair, hold a red object, etc.)