 Winners Not Safe!
Brief Outline: Students play Janken with you/JTE and the winners, losers, and/or tie’er’s must stand up and face the barrage of questions. Teaching Suggestions: - For years now, I have seen students play Janken in English class and the loser is forced to do the English task. I hate this! Why is it always the loser that is forced to participate in English? When did the English paradigm become so negative in Japan? Anyways, I created this warm-up game to level the playing field. Winners are no longer safe.
- Most teachers like to use the warm-up time to review the grammar the students recently studied. The problem is the most recently learned grammar always seems to be extremely difficult for the students. I suggest starting out with really easy quick-fire question-answer, like “What is いち in English? What is わさび in English? Do you like natto ice cream? Do you like Gackt?” You should find that the students enthusiasm for English will improve as their confidence for understanding the English questions is comprehended.
Detailed Explanation: - Teach the students the three English words, “win, tie and lose.” A lot of students should already know ‘win’ and ‘lose’ but when you teach them ‘tie’ relate it to the word ‘necktie’, which is ネクタイ in Japanese.
- Tell them, “lose and tie is safe, but win and you stand up.” Then, have the students play Janken either with you or the JTE. The winners must stand up.
- Then, you and the JTE take turns asking questions. The first student to raise their hand and correctly answer the question can sit down.
- Ask 3-5 questions then tell everyone to sit down and play Janken again to select a new batch of students to stand up.
- Choose different 'safe' categories each round to keep the students on their toes, “This time, lose and win are safe, but tie must stand up.”
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