Archived from Englipedia.
Originally submitted by Charlotte Steggall on Apr 28, 2010.
DETAILED EXPLANATION:
- Pre-lesson planning: Copy the text by hand or by computer/copy machine so that it is A3 or larger. Make two copies of it.
- Split the class into pairs. Get them to janken to decide who will be the reader and who will be the writer.
- Whilst they are deciding that, tape the text outside the classroom - one near the front door and one near the back door. (If you do it before now, the kids will see it).
- Explain that there are texts outside, and that the reader will run to the text, try to memorise as much as possible, then run back and tell their partner, who will write it down. They can go as many times as they like until they have copied it down perfectly, grammar and punctuation included.
- Shout "GO!" and watch the chaos.
VARIATIONS:
- Once they have finished, you might want to use the next part of the text and have the pair swap roles.
TEACHING SUGGESTIONS:
- The textbooks seem to foist large chunks of reading on the students, which is completely different from what they are used to reading, which is a couple of sentences at most. This can be really daunting for students, so this game is a good way to introduce the text without putting them off English.
- The text should be just over a paragraph in length.
- I used this game with my second grade JHS students, and we used the "Red Demon and Blue Demon" story from Total English 2. It was perfect because the next week the students were to memorise the whole story so this was a great way to introduce that.
TIPS/CAUTIONS:
- Very noisy game! Warn them to be careful of tripping over tables and so on, and ask them not to push each other or fight to get out the door faster...because I have actually seen this done.