Ignoring L1 in game play to extract English!

The background to this blizzard of interaction is that two of the students are new to the class, and originally a bit reluctant to speak up/take turns/be decisive (is scared of 'being wrong').

Aim of this game was to pre-teach the difference between singular & plural nouns - notice a) the right name of the animal...b) has it got an s on the end or not? Why/why not? I did not 'teach' this but rather, asked them to notice when it is used...form their own idea & check it out together - then remind each other as each image gave them two 'wrong' animal names, the others a 50/50 singular or plural option. 

Liverpool fan - "off side, ref!"

That the students used quite a lot of L1 while engaging in the game play = totally fine with me. It was
focussed, respectful and enabled them to 'manage' their participation in the game as teammates (encouraging each other to choose the correct answer/use the mouse) & competitors (throwing in bad advice!). What does annoy me enormously when I observe other classes is when L1 interferes with the progression of the activity - back channel to discuss other thiings, which indicates a lack of engagement/interest in the exercise...and/or the whole game is in L1 with next to no English input/output.

I also felt the children in this class were switching languages without thinking about it - really keen instead to get on with the game & win. That they didn't win = small beer; both teams scored loads of points and got most of the answers right - and they did all the hard work...teacher's job to notice 'glaring mistakes' (ignore mis-steps with the mouse or make light of jumping in too quickly & chosing the red-herring). 

This activity on Baamboozle not a filler at the end of class (the 'reward' or lack of a full lesson plan). Rather, previewing the next topic we are going to be dealing with in Everybody up Starter - essentially flipping the classroom & already drilling the vocab set (domestic/farm animals) & grammar point.

Win win.

 

Let the kids play! Quizlet Live "individual" for remote learning

Collaborating competitively!

With half our students of this class Zooming in from home, we tried out Quizlet Live to review vocabulary competitively. This worked out very nicely, in "Individual" mode.

Teacher set up the game from PC on the Quizlet site, then shared the QR code on screen; quick tap & added their names with no explanation needed (think they've been improving digital skills with being at home - isn't that an indictment against schooling in Japan?)...all members of the the game need to be playing synchronously.

Press play & realised the set was far too easy! Our learners quickly demonstrated their grasp of technology as well as the target language.

Only problem with the F2F students = using my devices we could only play as "one" person, so some collaboration required, having disinfected hands & device first (and after).

We are lucky that our students have access to smart devices I know, and that they have good connectivity. Downside is more screen time, but to be honest the variety for book-based classes is more important.

Verdict? Strongly recommend Quizlet Live Individual