SUBMITTED BY: Charlotte Steggall     BORROWED FROM / INSPIRED BY: Teaching back home in the UK

Blackboard Relay

DATE ADDED: Apr 26, 2010     EDITED BY: まだ

ÒÓÔ     êëð   10 min.   2 votes: 5-star   If you're going to give this activity a low-rating, please post a useful comment to help make it better. SearchJHSActivity

Detailed Explanation:

1. Split the class into three teams (my classes are sat in six nice columns so I set each team to be two columns). Draw two lines on the board to split the board into three as well.
2. Give each team a piece of chalk. Students run to the board to write something on a certain theme, then run back to pass the chalk to their next team mate. Themes can be anything you want depending on the level of the class. JHS 2nd graders could do names of animals, or food, for example. I used this game after my intro lesson with my 3rd graders, and their theme was things they remembered about me. They could write anything they wanted, both sentences ("she has a brother") or words ("The UK").
3. I usually award one point for Japanese words and two for English, but you can be stricter than that if you would like. For times when the same word or phrase has been used by more than one team, the only team who wrote that word first gets the point. This stops cheating. You can also award/take away points based on good grammar and spelling.

Tips/Cautions:

• This activity can be difficult with unmotivated classes because some students will refuse to get up. However, most classes will really have a good time playing this game.

Comments:

• (Dec 16, 2010) Ben Roche said:

  I use this game in my class a lot, but I usually have 6 teams, and have students write single words or phrases as more of a brainstorming exercise. Another variation is to assign each team a letter of the alphabet, and they can only write words starting with that letter.
  I always let students check their books at their desks so they don't get stuck, but they can't take their books up to the board. This creates a great environment for students to practice scan reading as they looks for words that start with the letter I've assigned them. It also facilitates peer to peer teaching when they sometimes shout spellings or corrections to each other.
  It's also fun to award bonus points for various things. Like "Oh, this is beautiful writing! Plus 2 points!" Or "This writing is very small/big! Plus 2 points!" Likewise, it's fun to subtract points in the same manner.