Activity

Pokemon Go (directions)

This is an information gap activity for giving directions. Made for New Horizon 1 - Let's Talk 3

This is an information gap to get students practicing directions using a town map. To make it a little more fun, I've made it pokemon themed. I really played into this in my lesson, so my students were quite excited to become pokemon masters!

In my lesson, I used a map of my school and its surrounding area. In interest of not doxing myself, I've swapped it for a generic town map on the worksheet. However, I would highly recommend personalizing the map to your town. You can make a copy of the google doc and edit it from there. I simply used a screenshot from google maps (in Japanese so students would be able to recognize the landmarks) and adjusted the colour under properties, so that it would be more visible when printing in black and white. Using a real map also makes it a bit more challenging, so it's more engaging for JHS students.

My lesson plan:

Warming up: simon says (go straight, stop, turn left, turn right). Optional level up: have students close their eyes while playing

Practice: I used wanifan's pokemon game to practice directions as a class on a simple map. (Go straight for --- blocks, turn right, you can see it on your left, etc)
Next I handed out 4 pokemon cards to 4 volunteer/random classes. I had these students stand up so they were easy to see. I asked the class "Where is ----?" and got them to guide me using the desks as blocks. After the first pokemon, I let students volunteer to be guided.

Pokemon go (information gap):

1) Hand out worksheets. Tell students their worksheet is a secret and they mustn't show their friends. Explain their goal is to find all 6 pokemon by asking their classmates for directions.

2) Demonstrate exchange with JTE (I showed a big version of my town map on the TV while we did this).

3) Students make pairs and take turns guiding each other to their respective pokemon. This step is imporatant so students have a chance to practice before the class mingle, especially if you're using a real map. I gave students 5 minutes to practice in their pairs.

4) Class mingle time! Students who have finished talking with their partner can stand up and find a new partner. I gave my students 10 minutes to find all 6 pokemon and become a pokemon master.

Finally I used the TV to show a big version of my town map and rewarded any students who volunteered to guide me to a pokemon. (scented stickers, highly reccommend ;) )

link to the google doc:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ffXDgH366-cznvYisig4Dvs1R3Ay6ESnXbH62OmBUb8/edit?usp=sharing

Files:
Medium files (requires an account to download) -
  • pokemon go (example) - Google ドキュメント.pdf (10.7 MB)
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    Submitted by Alisha January 26, 2024 Estimated time: 20-30min for information gap (50min for lesson plan including warm-up and practice)
    1. atzirixm83 October 17, 2024

      Hi! Maybe it's just me, but the google doc link doesn't exist!

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