Fix the Sentence

This activity works better if the students have already learned the Indirect Question grammar.

Materials

• Powerpoint (provided) and projector/screen
• Whiteboard, pen, and eraser for each group or similar thing for writing

How to Play

• First, explain to the class that they'll be fixing/correcting sentences.
• Show the example slide. Ask them "What's bad" or "What's wrong" with the sentence. Once they've pointed out the two mistakes in the sentence, press forward/enter/click to show the corrected sentence. At this point, do a quick review of what type of word comes after "Q-word + to." A "Q-word + to" always connects to a verb. On the other hand, if there's no "to" after the Q-word, then a verb should not come next.
• Split the class into groups of 3, 4, or 5 depending on class size. Give each group a whiteboard, pen, and eraser.
• Tell them that they have to write the correct English sentence and the Japanese sentence that matches it. However, not all questions have mistakes.
• Show the first question and give them 3 minutes to correct it and write the Japanese.
• After time is up, give 5 points for each team that has a perfect English sentence. Give fewer points depending on how wrong/correct their sentence is. If their Japanese matches the English sentence, give an additional 2 points. Be careful since there might be more than one way to fix the sentence. This is why it's important their Japanese matches the English. For example, Question 3 can be fixed to "We have not learned how to say 宇宙 yet," but it could also be "We have learned how to say 宇宙" or "We have already learned how to say 宇宙." Check the Japanese before giving points to make sure they understand what they're writing.
• If the class isn't too big, have the students read the English and Japanese before giving them points. Point out what mistakes each group made before moving on to the next group. If the class is large (more than 4 or 5 groups), walk around while they're writing. Once time is up, you can quickly give points to each team, then announce at the front what some common mistakes were and how they should have fixed the sentence.
• Continue until class is finished.

Other Notes

• This is a high rigor activity, so think about what level your students are. My classes were able to do it fine, but be willing to help any groups that seem to be struggling.
• I didn't put answers on any of the slides because it takes time when most classes don't need to see the answer. If you want the answers to the questions, ask and I can type up what I think the answers should be.
• Like I said, some questions can be answered in multiple ways. However, that doesn't mean you should let the students change everything about the sentence. If they're changing too much, feel free to deduct points.
• This activity uses grammar that the New Horizon 3 (pre 2021) covered up to this point. So go through the sentences to make sure your students have learned all the grammar points they need. It also uses some character names from the New Horizon textbook, so change those accordingly too.
• Questions 7, 11, and 16 have no mistakes.
• The first few questions are meant to be easier than the later questions. Feel free to rearrange the slides as you see fit.
• Question 5 is about the ALT and should be changed accordingly.

Files:

Medium files (requires an account to download) -

More information

Fix the Sentence.pptx (3.78 MB)