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pkang0202
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
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 Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 8:33 pm Post subject: Ideas for activities that won't turn into chaos? |
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I've tried out a few games and role playing activities and those would be perfect for a small class, but I have classes with 40 elementary students. I need activities and games that the kids can play that won't turn into a screaming match between the students because they can't hear each other.
It seems like every 2 minutes I'm telling the class "Keep your voices down."
Any tips or activities people can recommend? It seems a lot of the activites on Bogglesworld and MES-English are meant for smaller classes.
Quite a catch-22. I need to get them to practice conversing in English, yet I need to keep it to an acceptable noise level. Asking forty 5th graders to remember to keep their voices down is a tall order. |
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Chicoloco
Joined: 18 Oct 2006
Location: In the ring.
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| Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 8:41 pm Post subject: |
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Check out Deubel's website
ddd.batcave.net
Lots of great games and activities.
If you have access to a projector it might be worth your while basing activities around a powepoint show - this keeps their attention (for a short while anyway!!)
Good luck! |
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pkang0202
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 10:08 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks, I bookmarked Deubel's site. Excellent resource BTW.
I was wondering if anyone had any activities that they've used personally that were effective. |
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xCustomx
Joined: 06 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 10:23 pm Post subject: |
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| pkang0202 wrote: |
Thanks, I bookmarked Deubel's site. Excellent resource BTW.
I was wondering if anyone had any activities that they've used personally that were effective. |
I think he has used most of those activities. There is almost too much to use on his site and I spend a lot of time going through what he provided and thinking of ways to adapt them to my middle school students. I get the feeling at times though that the elementary school stuff he teaches is too difficult for the middle school kids I teach |
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mrsquirrel
Joined: 13 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 10:44 pm Post subject: |
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I've got a load of stuff stored on a public folder on www.myotherdrive.com.
5gb's of books, flash cards and powerpoint presentations.
Username there is Quirrel.
You will need to sign up but it's free and I haven';t had any problems. Uses javascript though (some people don't like it)
Not sure if you can view it without being invited but if you can't send me a PM and your username for myotherdrive and I'll invite you to view it. Sure you can look at it once you are a member though. |
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ddeubel
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
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| Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 10:53 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| I think he has used most of those activities. There is almost too much to use on his site and I spend a lot of time going through what he provided and thinking of ways to adapt them to my middle school students. I get the feeling at times though that the elementary school stuff he teaches is too difficult for the middle school kids I teach |
Lots to say about whole class conversational activities. I have some downtime (and coffee time) so I'll take the opportunity to post here. Though, I should start posting on my site's message board, was intended that way, as a place I could talk about how to use the many of the materials I've posted.
I really have set up the site the way it is because I want teachers to "not be directed too much". You are using it the way I intended, just browse and see if and how you can use/adapt for your own teaching situation. I'm presently teaching teachers but a lot there is for every imaginable level. But if you like something, level it down (dumb it down) by working on it a bit.
I like whole class games for lower level students who need to just practice one or two phrases in a class. For example the linking game. Practice, introduce the target language ex. Would you like to .....? Give students cards with pictures/words. This is their group. They go around the class and try to find others who want to do the same thing. They constantly ask, "would you like to....." If someone says yes, they link / hold hands and continue to find others. When all done, they go the part of the class where they see their word/picture which has been put on the wall. Then everyone in the group answers the teachers questions as a review....can do this for any kind of language, birthdays, time to meet, vocab etc....
Top 5 is a biggee that many people like. Use the handout sheet where everyone guesses. Then the group captain calculates scores for the whole group. Must be in the correct position to get full points. If not but on the board, award only 2 points. At the end, one group wins and then you will also have one grand winning student.
Battleship is great for practice. Lots of sheets, as well as the Bingo cards. Play in pairs after a full class game/demonstration. Takes some time for them to get the hang of it, but once they know you are off to the races.
I take a lot of time teaching the groups how to play flashcard games. Easiest is the guessing game. Ask one of the two -- do you ..... did you , will you..... If they have the card they give and you continue asking. Play max 3 players. but all sorts of variations. But take the time to slowly demonstrate and try to enforce English almost only............. Print the flashcards from any of the big presentations in my presentation folder. You can print 6 to a sheet. Also, you don't need more than one double set of each category. Students can play with different cards...no harm there. But flashcard games give students the most talking time, so crucial for learning / understanding a language and not just "knowing" a language.
The key is to give the students some control of the classroom and the decision making. They need it and in Korean society at their age, get so little "control" . Get them making the materials, that is a great way that teachers forget, for them to learn the language.....it is so much about process and not only "what" is being taught.
I am presently putting up lots of Korean story books. In English. Look for them shortly. Already did The Korean Cinderella and Heungbu , Nolbu...
But at the end of the day, lots of creative stuff has to be introduced as a "privledge" I think. If the students don't actively try and participate, then it is back to less creative and quieter stuff.....
DD |
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pkang0202
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 11:03 pm Post subject: |
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| Wow, thanks for the response. After reading that I feel a little more confident on what I want to do. |
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riley
Joined: 08 Feb 2003
Location: where creditors can find me
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| Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 11:20 pm Post subject: |
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One of the first lessons I learned when teaching was to demonstrate the voice I wanted from the students. If I want them quieter, I don't always yell for them to be quiet. I've done the whole hand up thing and get them trained to understand what it means and what they have to do.
What has also worked is to draw on the board a sliding scale of noise level. At the top is yelling and at the bottom is silence. Draw an arrow where and demonstrate where you want them to be. This helped a lot for me. If I ever get around to it, I'll probably laminate a big card like that. |
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