Tell Me A Story
Minefields
| Level | Aims | Grammar | Time | Materials |
| junior high school third year | grammar review | Relative pronoun 'that' | 40 to 50 mins | Sentence strips (x2), copies of the worksheet |
This is one of three activities in this guide that follow the format of Discovery. Begin the lesson, during the warm-up period if possible, with the ALT walking around the room sticking strips of the story below to the walls and window frames of the corridor and balcony; if the JTE is adventurous. At this point say nothing concerning your actions. When you are ready to start, divide the class into teams of four and tell them they have 1 minute to choose a 'Scribe', who must remain seated AT ALL TIMES.
The other students are 'Reporters'. They must find the pieces of the story, memorise them, then teach them to their 'Scribe' who writes them down. It's a good idea to tell the students just how many strips make up the story. When all the sentences have been reported, the students must work together to figure out their order. The worksheet has pictures next to four of the writing spaces, and the students' task is to decide which sentence corresponds to which picture. They then must draw a picture that corresponds to the remaining sentence, before one of the 'Reporters' comes to you and reads the finished story. If they make a mistake stop them and send them back to the group to correct it. Spelling counts too, so look over the reading student's shoulder to check this as well as punctuation.
Story :
Once upon a time an old woman told her husband to go to the mountains and catch a rabbit for dinner.
#...................................................................................................................................
It was hot, and the old man became very thirsty. He found a beautiful river and drank from it.
#...................................................................................................................................
The old man became very tired, so he lay down next to the river and went to sleep.
#...................................................................................................................................
When he returned home, his wife was shocked. "You are young again!", she said, "Tell me everything you did today".
#...................................................................................................................................
The old woman ran into the mountains looking for the beautiful river. When she found it she drank and drank and drank the water.
#..................................................................................................................................
The old man went to look for her. He looked and Looked until finally he found her. "Oba-chan you drank too much. You are not a young woman, you are a baby!!!"
Naturally, you can adapt any story to this format to target any grammar point, and don't forget that this game works well with second year too.
View this page without frames (good for editing or printing)