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woman and single mother, and Gorugo Saachiin (a your partner s family members once more, then
secret agent in a Japanese comic) as a father with an have the students begin. While they are working
exciting career. These examples give a range of pos- through the activity, move around the classroom to
sibilities for new family members living, dead, real, help those who are having problems and remind
fictional, Japanese, foreign. Since pets are often the students that the person being asked should
treated like family members, you might wish to only give answers, not explain everything at one
draw in a pet as well, perhaps Pokemon. The stu- time: i.e., the students must ask numerous questions
dents should be reminded that they can have any to guess the family members. Once the students no
five additional family members they wish, be it longer need assistance, you might wish to ask about
three grandparents and two sisters, or five mothers, any unfamiliar names in their family trees to learn
or whatever. about what kinds of people your students are inter-
The students should then be told to make their ested in.
own families, individually, and not to show their Allow the students 10-15 minutes for questions,
families to their partners. Usually it takes six to then stop the activity. After asking them to show
eight minutes for students to complete this step, their families to each other, you might wish to run a
although deciding who to add to the family can be brief survey of common family members. From per-
remarkably taxing for some students. Pay attention sonal experience, Doraemon (a cartoon robot cat) is
to slow starters and prompt them with examples, quite popular as a pet, Ichiro (a baseball player) and
perhaps Beethoven, Oda Nobunaga, Sanma (a TV Einstein as male relatives.
tarento), or Norika (an actress/model). By having students create their own families with
Once the students families are complete, write people they know well and like, the task becomes
the key questions from the center of the handout more relevant and interesting than if they were ask-
on the blackboard and explain what information ing about, for example, the Japanese Imperial family
each question elicits. Explain that the students will or their instructor s own family. The students must
take turns asking about, then guessing each other s use some vocabulary for occupations (typically ac-
family members and drawing their partners family tor, actress, singer, or baseball/soccer player) and fam-
trees in Box #2 on the handout. The activity should ily relations. They must also think about how to
be modeled with one of the keener students in the describe people in limited detail (you can be very
class. In my case, I erase one of my family members, helpful here by suggesting descriptions of greater
draw in a blank and walk a student through the depth than She s beautiful while observing vari-
questions written on the board. For example: ous groups).
The Language Teacher 24:8
28
My Share
Figure 1. Guess who I m related to! " Occupation: What does your brother do?
He s an engineer working for Toyota.
Have you ever had a fight with a brother or sister? " Appearance: What does your sister look like?
Have you ever wished someone in your family were She s thin, blonde, and has long legs.
rich or famous? Well, today is your chance to " Interests: What does your wife like (to do)?
change everything, because you re going to build She likes to watch Tora-san s movies.
your dream family! " Can you tell me anything else?
In box #1, write your name on the blank in the " Last Question: Is your mother Matsuda Seiko?
center. Then draw a family tree with the names of
five new famous family members: living or not, real or
#2
fictional. You decide what your new family looks
like; for example, maybe you have 5 sisters or
maybe two brothers, a grandmother, a father, and a
husband. If you want, you can include a pet.
#1
You: ____________
Quick Guide
Key Words: Describing People, Family Trees
Learner English Level: Low Intermediate and up
Questions you should ask about your partner s
Learner Maturity Level: Junior High to Adult
family members:
Preparation Time: Only that for copying the handout and
" How many family members/brothers/sisters/etc. creating one s own dream family
Activity Time: Approximately 30 minutes
do you have?
A Communicative Way to Teach Prepositions of Place
the handout. Then orally review
the prepositions of place with the
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