SUBMITTED BY: Joyce P. Le     BORROWED FROM / INSPIRED BY: Englipedia's True/False Betting     EDITED BY: まだ

Pachinko 

GRAMMAR: Subordinate Conjunction (when)     EXAMPLE: When I play Pachinko, I drink coffee.     DATE ADDED: 06-29-09 

Ó    èé    35-50 min.   6 Votes: 4 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:

• Pachinko worksheet: Sentences need to be altered for different teachers and/or different classes
• Money is optional.

Detailed Explanation:

1. Give each student a handout. Write two sentences about the JTE and ALT (using "when") on the blackboard. Ask students if they understand and review the grammar if necessary.
2. Teach students the meaning for "true" and "false" by giving them examples. For example, hold a yellow chalk and say, "This is yellow, true." Point to the JTE and say, "She (he) is a teacher, true." Point to a student and say, "This is a boy (girl/ student), true." Then hold a red chalk and say, "This is blue, false." Point to the JTE and say, "This is a student, false." etc.
3. Read the first sentence that is on the blackboard with students. Ask students if they think it is true or false. Write the majority answer next to the sentence. Then explain to students that they have $1000 and they need to bet on the sentence. If they guess correctly, they get the money they bet. If they guess incorrectly, they lose the money they bet. Then read the second sentence, ask students if they think it is true or false and bet on the sentence. (With the two sentences, make sure that one is correct and one is incorrect to show students how to calculate.)
4. Have students work in groups. On the blackboard, make a score grid/ bank to keep track of how much money each group has and a slot for their bet.
5. ALT will call out "#1" and each group will read the first sentence and bet on it. Give students about 2-3 minutes to discuss among themselves and bet. For the first round to ensure that every student understands, it is best to walk them through the game. Teachers should ask each group if they think the sentence is true or false and how much they bet on. Teachers will then write the group's bet in the slot on the blackboard.
6. Then have students either read the sentence or turn the sentence into a question and ask the teacher. If the sentence is about the ALT, the ALT answers &if the sentence is about the JTE, then the JTE answers.
7. ALT and JTE will calculate the amount of money each group has and write it on the blackboard.
8. ALT will then say, "#2" and each group will read the second question and bet on it. For the second round, have one student from each group goes to the blackboard and write their bet. When every group is done writing their bet on the blackboard, everyone will read or ask the question. Teachers answer and calculate the amount for each group. Then proceed to the next sentence.
9. The group with the most money at the end of class wins.

Variations:

• The writing exercise is for students who want extra credit or practice writing.

Teaching Suggestions:

• 1. Don't tell students that the winner will be the group with the most money. Students will not bet as much money and the game will not be as interesting.
• Tell students that they can bet from $1 to $999 but they can't bet all their money. They need to leave at least $1 in their bank.
• Allow students to borrow money from the teachers if they lose all their money but they have to pay back the money if they win the next bet.
• To avoid students sharing their answers with other classes, it might be a good idea to make a set of different sentences for each class. OR tell students not to share the answers with other classes.

Comments:

• (Oct 18, 2011) CallMeH said: Hey, I used this activity today for the first time. The students really enjoyed it.
  I made some changes to the procedure. Instead of it being group work, I printed out individual worksheets for everyone. We gave them 10 seconds to write down their bets, and then we asked the question. We randomly selected a student, who then stood up and had to use the "I think that" pattern from the previous lesson: "I think it's true" or "I think it's false". Great activity! My students just love to gamble.
• (Oct 28, 2010) Carlee Miller said: This worked really well. I changed some of the statements to make them more relevant to the JTE and me. The students really couldn't believe that some of the statements were False.