N.E.W.S.
Minefields

First go through the four basic directions with the students, explaining what each one is in Japanese & English (North = Kita, South = Minami, East = Higashi, West = Nishi). Have four students tape one card to each side of the room; preferably those corresponding to the relevant directions. The school gym is the best place to play this game. The rules are simple. You call out a direction, and the students all run to that wall. The last one to touch the wall is out, and comes to join you in calling out the next wall. After a few turns, remove the cards from the walls. Try calling out a corner, like 'South-East', or 'North-West' etc., occasionally to keep things interesting. Be careful of injuries!

Teaching Tip Have the S/s make groups of four, and give a list of 30 - 40 words from the text to each group. Tell each group a different target word, and give them a couple of minutes to write as many sentences as possible, using only words from the list, including the target word. Next have one student at a time from each group write a sentence on the board. Give one point for each correct sentence (bonus points for sentences of more than five words), and make sure that the groups send a different student each time.

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