Yes-No Game

 

Context:  1.Private classes of English;  ¦A group of 6 children aged 5 - 6,  ¦

2. A group of 6 children aged 4-6

Children attend the lessons once a week for 1h

 

1. Lesson / task description - before

TA aim :

1. To teach the ss to narrow the search field by asking strong questions
2. To see elements/objects as parts of the other elements/objects

 

In terms of subject matter:

1. To ask questions “Is it…?”
2. To learn collage workshop vocabulary (stationary and communication phrases: “Pass me the scissors/glue stick, paper, please” – “Here you are” – “Thank you “ – “You are welcome”

 

Materials I am going to use:

1. Prepared sets of mixed vegetables and fruits.
2. Paper, scissors, colour paper, glue stick, shapes for the collage workshop

 

Tasks I am going to use:

1. To play a Yes-No game with fruits and vegetables in a cotext.
2. To take out of the magic box a shape. To name it. To trace the chosen shapes, so that one side of a shape sticks to another. To cut out the object. To paste the object on a colourful paper. To finish the work by adding details inside the object and naming it or by adding the details outside it and naming it.

 

2. Lesson / task description

 

Procedures:

After building a usual tower, we formed pairs, looking at each other’s clothes. Having formed the pairs we set off to save our Bear from the tower of the Evil Witch. (Competitive activities in teams – name the colour, the clothes item, the food items). Then we saved the Bear and wanted to feed him.

Here I introduced a dialogue in English between the Birdie and the Bear. Birdie put the vegetable and fruit cards in front of the Bear and wanted to give him what he wanted, but this time things became more complicated: Bear wanted the Birdie to guess what he was thinking of. SO Birdie had to ask him questions ( not more than 4) and the Bear answered “Yes” or ‘No”.

After demonstrating this dialogue in English I translated it to the puzzled ss and invited them to watch carefully what the Birdie was going to do next.

The Birdie asked: Is it a fruit?

Bear – No! (The Birdie removed all fruits and left vegetables)

The Birdie – Is it green?

Bear – NO! (The Birdie removed all green fruits, the bigger part of all fruits. A banana, a plum, an apple,  an orange were left).

The Birdie – Is it round?

Bear – No!

Birdie – It’s a banana!

Bear – Yes!

 

Here the ss quickly understood the method, because I removed the cards so the effect of each question was evident.

 

Then the Bear  started to play with ss. I helped them to ask the question, but generally they were doing well. They didn’t use different questions. They normally used the following parameters: colour, shape, veg/fruits, existence of green leaves or absence of them on the picture

 

 

3. Overall reflection on the lesson / task

Aim aspect: I think, that demonstration of the Yes-No Game was very helpful, because I saw, that when the ss got the point, they were very enthusiastic to try guessing, thus asking questions. But I have to switch to a different theme now to see, did they get the skill of narrowing the field or not. Most probably I will make the same game with animals (domestic/wild, place of living, food, covering) and put it into the context, that a Witch transformed the Birdie into the animal and ss have to free him and guess where he is by asking three questions.

I tried the same Yes-No game with all my groups, but with the young children it was enough with colour. Most of the parameters were used in older groups (by age and by learning English).

 

What concerns the activity with finishing the object, I can say, that for most of the children it seemed difficult, only one 7 year old girl produced an interesting outcome – she transformed the object into a character of a cartoon. But I will continue this sort of the activity, because there is much practice with communication and practical vocabulary.