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SUBMITTED BY: Kevin Chang     BORROWED FROM / INSPIRED BY: MadLibs     EDITED BY: まだ

MadLibs - Mr. Matsumoto

GRAMMAR: Present Tense Verb (plural)     EXAMPLE: Koji helps his sister.      DATE ADDED: 01-05-10 

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 05-15 min.
 
2 Votes: 2.5 Stars
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Brief Outline: Students fill-in-the-blanks of a MadLib and read their funny stories.

 

Materials Needed:

 

Detailed Explanation:

  1. After explaining what a verb, place and problem (doshi, tokoro, and mondai) is, give each student a handout and have them fill it out.
  2. Then, collect the papers and choose some of the funnier ones to read to the class.  Having the JTE translate the story as you read them might make it a tad bit more humourous for the students who a not so good at English.

 

Variations:

  • Instead of reading the stories to the class, have the students read their stories outloud.
  • Instead of having the students fill out their handout, for smaller class sizes, go in a cirlce and have each student say one word. This will only work for classes smaller than ten students because there are only ten blanks on the MadLib.

 

Teaching Suggestions:

  • For larger classes, have the students work in groups to complete the MadLib.

 

Tips/Cautions:

  • Verb endings may need to be changed depending on what students pick. However, this is not a bad thing, rather a good way for them to learn new irregular verbs.
  • Not to be sexist, but usually having boys in the class makes this activity more fun and interesting.

 

Comments:

  • (Oct 21, 2011) Ben said: This is worded somewhat stragely, and the students are unable to manipulate the verbs in a way which makes them fit. The last question in particular is not so much wacky, more strange.
    Alternatively, get the students to write something down on a piece of paper and then pass it around. Start with a name, a place, an activity, and the students will have written something not knowing what the previous words are because they are folded over. From this, when they open up the paper they have to write a sentence using either their own pattern or one you've written yourself. I recommend this for ２年生 though, its too hard for the first grade.
  • (Oct 19, 2011) Anonymous said: I did this myself to see if it would work. It didn't. 6, 4, 7, 10 are hard to find words to fit into the sentence.
  • (Dec 9, 2010) Mark said: Hi,
    I've never had any joy with this kind of activity with JP students. The trouble is a TOTAL lack of imagination (even if you tell them you want INTERESTING words and give a list of examples, every student in the class ends up giving words like 'eat' and 'apple' and the end result is a totally boring exercise.
    Sorry to 'rain on the parade' (I got really excited about this about 9 years ago - when I first came here - but it's a very rare, high level student who is able to cross the 'imagination barrier' to make this work.
    I've often wondered if you would get such a boring response with kids from other countries (it seems that JP students cant even understand the CONCEPT that learning English can be wacky and fun ...:S)