Korean Job Discussion Forums

kat2 · Joined: 25 Oct 2005 Location: Busan, South Korea

Do you remember those puzzles that would be like "Kate is next to Chris. Chris is next to Tony..... Where is Jim?"

Does anyone have a link to a bunch of those? I'm specifically llooking for ones that relate to "across from, next to, etc."

I would write a couple of my own, but I'm so bad at these. I don't want to be shown up by some smarty Korean kids telling me my puzzle doesn't make sense.

Thanks!

lulu144 · Joined: 31 Aug 2006 Location: Gwangju!

Hi,

funny... I'm teaching prepositions rigth now too.... I have a logic pzzle... I haven't used it yet... I think it's too advanced for some of my middle school students so maybe i'll use it for my extra class.... it even took me a while to figure it out....

BUT.... unfortunately it's in a book......it has to do with students sitting in seats....

if no one esle replies or you are desperate... pm me and i'll type it up oh here!

Hotpants · Joined: 27 Jan 2006

This site is full of logic puzzles:

http://www.brainbashers.com/

You'll have to go through it to find one specifically for your needs, but the only one I can think of is the 'utilities' puzzle where lines must not cross when joining up the supposed buildings.

You can also use photos of groups of people to try and identify who's who using such prepositions.

poet13 · Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2006 9:31 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the link.....I will be starting preps of location next week in regular class, and this weekend in camp...

Qinella · Joined: 25 Feb 2005 Location: the crib

This isn't exactly what you asked for, but it may come in handy for you or someone else:

http://www.eslflow.com/prepositionlessonplans.html

That web site has tons of activity ideas for various aspects of ESL teaching.

Qinella · Joined: 25 Feb 2005 Location: the crib

I decided to make up a few for my third graders. This what you were talking about, kat2?
___________________________

Jack is next to Peter, and Peter is next to Sam. Sam is not next to Jack. Where is Peter?

Four boys (Tom, Billy, Robby and Greg) are standing next to each other. Tom is next to Robby, but not next to Billy or Greg. Billy is between Greg and Robby. Where is Greg?

Four girls (Tiffany, Jane, Samantha and Lisa) are waiting in line at the movie theater. Jane is in the back of the line. Lisa is behind Samantha, but not in front of Jane. Where is Tiffany?

Yu_Bum_suk · Joined: 25 Dec 2004

Old American SAT and GRE prep books have heaps of that stuff, though I think they've cut that segment out of the tests now.

Delirium's Brother · Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 1:04 am Post subject:

Here's a little game that you can play, when learning prepositions (it might be a bit advanced, but I don't think so). It's based on a method that field linguists use for illiciting data about prepositions from speakers of undocumented languages. The name of the method escapes me at the moment, but here is how one goes about it.

Collect some simple small objects. You need two identical examples of each of the objects that you choose (this is important). About a half dozen different object pairs will do, but you can use more if you'd like to make things more complex. A pen, an eraser, a cup, a small ball, a small piece of card, and a piece of string, work well and aren't too hard to find. You will also need some kind of moveable blind/divider, like a large piece of cardboard or art card.
Sit two students across from each other at a desk with the blind/divider between them so that the students can see each other's faces but not what is on the desk in front of the other student.
Now take half of the objects and put them on one side, and put the other half of the objects on the other side. One of each object per side that is.
You, the teacher, arrange the objects in an interesting formation on one side of the blind. For example, put the pen in the cup with the ball, and the small piece of card under the cup, the eraser beside the cup, etc. etc.
Now, it is the job of Student A to describe to student B what the formation looks like, and the job of Student B to listen carefully and recreate the formation of objects on his/her side of the divider. You might let Student B ask questions, if you wish (it's up to you).
When both students are finished their task and satisfied, you pull out the blind/divider revealing both sides to both of the students. Now you can compare the results. You could give out a prize for the best Student A and Student B. Great fun. Each student takes a turn at being in the Student A and Student B role. You could set up multipe desks at the same time if you want to get all the students involved at the same time rather than have some watching only (it's up to you).
I'm not sure why, but this will generate lots of interest with the students, and the number of permutations for the object formations is virtually infinite.
Modify the game as you desire to fit your pedagogical needs.

I hope that was useful.

peace,

jajdude · Joined: 18 Jan 2003

If you can find one of those big puzzle books with various puzzles in them, they might have what you're looking for and others that can be used for other lessons. I think some bookstores carry them. For ten bucks you can get a lot of mileage out of these puzzle books, and they do help teach English in a fun way.