SUBMITTED BY: Joyce P. Le     BORROWED FROM / INSPIRED BY: Old games and a relay race game     EDITED BY: まだ

Monsters on Mt. Fuji

GRAMMAR: Present Tense Verb (simple)     EXAMPLE: What sports do you like?  I like basketball.     DATE ADDED: 11-20-09 

ÒÓ    èéê    15-30 min.   9 Votes: 5 Stars If you're going to give this activity a low-rating, please post a useful comment to help make it better. SearchJHSActivity

Materials Needed:

• MonstersOnMtFuji worksheets - there are two: Mt.Fuji handout (one per group) & memo (one per student).

Detailed Explanation:

1. After reviewing the grammar and splitting the class into groups, give each group a handout and memo handout to each student.
2. Have them get in groups of four and explain the scenario. The scenario is that there are five monsters on Mt. Fuji who are planning to blow it up. Students' goal is to find out which monsters are at what level and 'capture' them before they blow up the mountain. Let students know that this game is like playing video game.
3. In their group, students need to decide the order of play and who will ask what question. There are four questions they need to ask to find the answer at each level so each student should at least have a chance to ask one question per level. When students (only one student from each group at a time) go to the teacher and ask the question, the students need to take notes of the answer. This way teachers can ensure that students actually understand and aren't just 'memorizing' the answer until they return to their group. Students will share their answer when they return to their group. Then the next student will go to the teacher and ask the next question. Then the third student will ask the third question.
4. After all three questions are asked, students will try to figure out which monster is at that level. Then the last student will go to the teacher with the Mt.Fuji handout and ask, "Are you ~?" If the answer is correct, the teacher will sign the handout and the group procceeds to the next level. If the answer is wrong, the students have to ask the "what" questions again and find the correct answer.
5. The first group to finish level 5 wins the game. 

Variations:

• Janken: Instead of just giving out the answers after students have asked the questions, teachers and students need to play janken. If students win, the teacher answers the question. If the students lose, they have to return to the group and another student will go to the teacher, ask the question and play janken.
• Timer: Use a timer for each level and whichever groups that don't get the answer before the timer goes off, they lose that level. However, everyone moves on to the next level together when the timer starts. The first group to finish level 5 and completes all 5 levels wins the game.

Teaching Suggestions:

• For higher level students, teachers can consider giving out hints rather than the answers. See the teacher's copy of the attachment for the hints.

Comments:

• (June 8, 2011) Ms. Angie said: This game sounded like it would be a lot of fun so I modified it to use 3rd grade level grammar and to include a writing portion. Once the students found out which monster it was, they had to capture it by writing one sentence each using the grammar point. I also changed it from MT Fuji to a local volcano. It was difficult for the students to understand how to play the game, though, and the JTE and I had to explain it twice.
  They still didn't really understand how to play the game until they got the drift by doing it. Perhaps this was because the grammar I used was high level rather than easy grammar. All in all, the game was a great idea, but don't try it for more difficult grammar unless you know your students are comfortable with the grammar already.