Putting Everything in Order

1st     2nd   3rd    4th   5th

• Key words: ordinal numbers, speaking                                        
• Learner English skill level: Beginner                          
• Learner age level:                                                                                                          
• Preparation time: 10 minutes                                                                                          
• Activity time: 50 minutes for all activities                                                                          
• Materials: one regular size deck of cards (see below), one oversize deck of the same cards 

Here is a code-breaking game for teaching ordinal numbers and more (colors, animals, etc.). If you are familiar with the classic board game, Mastermind, this should be a no-brainer.

First things first. Introduce the concept of ordinal numbers. If you're in a classroom setting where there are more than 30 students you can do this on the board with colored chalk or round colored magnets. Begin by drawing a large red dot or by placing a red magnet on the board. Draw or place a red dot on the board saying, "This is a red dot." Have the students repeat "red dot." Then say, "the red dot is first" or "red is first" and have the class repeat after you. Continue by drawing a yellow dot or placing a yellow magnet and repeat the same process of repetition until you have about six different colored dots on the board.

Next take five or six sheets of paper in which you have drawn different colored dots and tape or use a magnet to place them at the top of the blackboard with the drawing side facing the blackboard so the students can't see them. Then have the class form into groups of 4-6 students. Pointing to the paper on the board, ask one group, "Which dot is first?" or "What's first?" Have one student answer, saying for example: "The blue dot is first" or "Blue is first." Then draw (or ask a student assistant to draw) a blue dot underneath the first sheet of paper on the board. Continue this process of question and answer in turn with the each group until there are dots drawn under all the sheets of paper on the board. If the students have guessed the order of any of the dots correctly, turn over that sheet of paper to reveal that they have discovered the correct order. Repeat the same process of question and answer until the class, working in groups, has figured out the order of  the dots.

Next ask the students to break up into pairs.

Stand in front of the class holding a blank sheet of paper and ask the students to take out a sheet of paper or distribute a sheet of paper to each student (if possible try to get the students to ask for the paper, saying something like: "May I have a sheet of paper please."). Fold the paper in half and while pointing to the sheets of paper on the board explain that they are the same or will be used for the same purpose ("this is the same as this"). Then distribute m&m candies, jelly beans, or something similar to one student in each pair and tell him/her to place them in any order he/she desires behind the folded paper so his/her partner can't see. Have the students do the same thing they did as a group, only this time in pairs. When one student has correctly guessed the order of the m&m's, etc. it's his/her partners turn to ask the questions (What's first?, etc.).

I've used handmade glass beads here, hence the irregular shapes.

If you don't have m&m's drawing little animals, etc. will work just as well.

You can even draw legs on them and have them running a race. Who's first?

That's the order of the day.

Making Faces

I found this on my bookshelf today. It's a little tome I scribed (with some help) when I was teaching the people of Japan to speak English. That mission accomplished, I packed most of my teaching materials in boxes and tucked them away in the dark recesses of my closet. This one, made using a pen, paper, and photocopier, is useful for learning how to describe facial features. I used it when teaching ESL(English as a second language) to public junior high school kids in Kanagawa, Japan. While it's not perfect, it's not entirely without merit and ideal for a semi low-tech classroom environment.






Here is Making Faces:

If you have a printer, you can make your own Making Faces using these images below. You might want to change some of the labels (like buckteeth, etc.). I used terms I found in textbooks I was working with at the time. Most important of all, remember to put on a happy face!

 


















Related unit(s): Eye Spy

Eye Spy

This game, introducing descriptions of facial features, is kind of an ESL variation of the game Battleship. Players follow pretty much the same rules as in the classic naval game except instead of placing ships of varying lengths, they draw a spy or some symbol (circle, x, etc.) representing a spy on their respective grids.

Here are the front and back sides of the handouts I used in my classes. It's not so pretty but spying is a pretty ugly business.

The game helps students describe facial features using the target phrase: Does ____ have _______?
First introduce the facial features appearing on the top row of the sheet (the "has" row).

Then combine the names of the suspects from the "Does" column with facial features in the "has" row.
You can use visual images to present and practice (through repetition, etc.) questions and answers like the following that students will later use in the game.

                                                   


Does Akiko have a mustache?


No, she doesn't have a mustache.







Does Akiko have a mustache?

Yes, she has a mustache/Yes she does.

Once you've glued both sides together, or better yet, printed both sides on a single sheet of paper and distributed enough for everyone in the class, instruct the students to fold the paper as shown below so their playing partner can't see where their opponents spies have been placed (drawn).




Players first draw five spies on any of the grids (players may draw as many spies on the same row or column as they like). Using the visual cues on the grid's vertical and horizontal axes, players take turns asking each other questions. The column on the left side of the grid, the "Does column," has a list of international spy suspects. The top row, the "have row," features the disguises the spies could be wearing. Players combine one suspect from the have column with one disguise from the have row to form a question that will help them discover the whereabouts of his/her opponents spies.


A player may ask his/her opponent a question like: "Does Akiko have thick eyebrows?"

In this case the opposing player has drawn one of their spies on the grid square just below the picture of thick eyebrows and on Akiko's row so the spy has been discovered. The player will mark an "X" in that grid and the game will continue until one player has discovered the locations of all five of his/her opponent's spies.



If a player forgets how to describe any of the facial features depicted at the top row of the grid they can simply lift the flap to reveal a cheat sheet with the same exact pictures accompanied by the new vocabulary terms to spark their memory.




You could end the class by reviewing the same phrase, using "you" and "I" by asking students questions like:
"Do you have short hair?" etc.  If time permits you might also try a 20 questions type game where you think of a student, or write the name of a student in the class and students try to guess who it is by asking questions like: "Does she have long hair?" etc.

One drawback I discovered with this game is that after discovering the third spy, it tends to get monotonous. You could cut the number of spies but it's still not as exciting as the high seas adventure it's based on where the varying lengths of the ships add to the suspense. Then again who said learning should be fun.

Related activities: Making Faces