SUBMITTED BY: Ashlea Miyauchi     BORROWED FROM / INSPIRED BY: HERE     EDITED BY: まだ

School Differences

GRAMMAR: Bare Infinitive Verb     EXAMPLE: You must take the test.     DATE ADDED: 11-25-09 

Ó    ê    15-30 min.   11 Votes: 4.5 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:

• SchoolDifferences worksheet
• Pictures (optional and not included) - school cafeteria, lockers, a foreign language classroom, sports events, etc.

Detailed Explanation:

1. Explain how a Venn Diagram works (see attachment) - one side is Japan and the other USA (or your home country), the overlap is both, and the outside box is neither.
2. Working together, identify the first one or two sentences as Japan/America/Both/Neither.
3. Give students 5-7 minutes to read and guess the sentences.
4. Check answers together, explaining with pictures and other information about your home country's school system.

Teaching Suggestions:

• This activity was designed for students who had learned "have to" and "don't have to." For a class which has already covered "must" and "mustn't," replace some of the grammar on the worksheet.

Tips/Cautions:

• The concept that "You don't have to take tests" is NEITHER Japan nor USA is tricky. (double negative). So, ask them "In Japan, you don't have to take tests?" - "No!" - "In America, you don't have to take tests?" - "No!" - "Then, the answer is neither."

Comments:

• (Oct 6, 2011) Kimuchi said: This was one of the most successful activities that I've ever done. I made it a competition and let them work in pairs. Everyone really got into it. It made a nice blend of reading comprehension and cultural differences. Thank you so much!