This is my favorite activity I do for self-expression because I get so many varied answers and see the students' creativity come out.
I attached the powerpoint I use to review and drill the use of -to in this form. I only have them repeat the "Why?" for the first part as they listen just to drill the purpose of "to" in this form. I know the proper usage is "in order to" or the "reason" but the simple why repetition makes it easy for them understand quickly and remember. They also love exclaiming it. The JTE can expand it more in their own time.
Make sure to explain to them that a verb must come next.
Then, it comes with a short input guessing at the end. I write some basic verbs on the board to make it easier for them (it shouldn't make them think too much).
Activity:
After that, I split them into groups and one whiteboard per group. To be honest, I don't have a name for this game LOL. The rule is everyone must write an answer aligned with the sentence starter, and after 1 minute, show it to the teacher. Groups who have the same answer (e.g Eat Takoyaki, Eat Takoyaki) win a point! If it's different (e.g Go to USJ), no point (but still praise them for the sentence despite it not aligning with the game rule!).
Halfway though, I switch the rules. Only different answers get points; Same answers don't get any.
I enjoy it each time, and have received hilarious answers as well as interesting ones. On the "I bought eggs..." I had two groups in different classes write, "to throw."
I catered these powerpoints specifically to the city I'm in, so please change it to your own prefecture and ALT name.
Enjoy!
Review PPT: https://www.canva.com/design/DAFnhxxYcZg/VMUh-qo0OHKRto85c_J_Rw/view?utm_content=DAFnhxxYcZg&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=editor
This is so fun! Thank you!
The review powerpoint was great, the "Why?" was funny for everyone but also a great way to explain this grammar point. The game was also great, simple yet fun. I noticed after the rule change, it made it pretty easy to get points but it's ok after all because it makes them write more varied responses.
This was super fun, thank you for the idea! I added a few extra/more difficult examples for my high schoolers, and made the time per sentence shorter once they got the hang of the game (then repeated some of the same answer questions as different answer questions so they had to get real creative). Some highlights were "I go to the dentist to get my teeth gilded," "I go to America to breathe American oxygen," "I bought eggs to hatch," and my personal favorite "[Name] came to Japan to have adventures like Zelda." Kids had a blast, great idea!