Picture+Game+(Let's+Go+5)


 * Picture Game** is one of the simplest practice activities in Let's Go. It's essentially the opposite of Vocabulary Race. Instead of racing to say each word as quickly as possible, students race to get their team members to say the target word as quickly as possible.

Create a list of 8-10 words that you want to review. (A list of 10 words will result in approximately a 5 minute activity.) Divide the class into teams of 4-5 members. S1 from each team comes to the front of the room and looks at the first word on the list (or the first picture, if you are using picture cards). Make sure that the students understand the meaning of the word before beginning the game. Then students return to their teams and try to elicit the word.
 * How to play Picture Game:**

1. Students cannot say the word. 2. Students can only use English. (So, for example, if the target word is //apple,// students can say //apple// as a clue, nor can they say //kudamono desu//.)
 * There are only two rules:**

When a student on their team says the word, he or she races to the front and whispers the word in the teacher's ear (saying it in a loud voice destroys any team advantage in being first). If correct, the teacher shows the next word, and S2 races back to elicit the second word. This continues until one team has finished the list.

Students can use any other means--drawing a picture (like Pictionary), using action (like Charades), or by describing the word. The first words students tend to learn are objects, like //ball, jump rope, crayon.// Because their spoken language is also limited, they quickly discover that the fastest way to elicit the word is to draw a picture. However, when the words on the list are verb phrases (//wash my face, brush my teeth, eat breakfast,// etc.), students naturally begin to pantomime the actions because it's a faster way to elicit verbs than drawing. As students become older, their language repertoire also increases. As vocabulary also becomes more complex, they discover that explaining some words is faster than drawing or pantomime. Thus, if you continue to play Picture Game from Let's Begin through Let's Go 6, students will naturally develop some powerful explanation strategies that will allow them to talk their way around language rather than giving up when they don't know a word.

Here is a lesson from Let's Go 5. Students are learning the sense adjectives and verbs as they learn about their five senses. Picture Game would be an activity you might use in the first five minutes of a later class to review these patterns and vocabulary. (By the way, the adjectives and verbs are the new vocabulary in this lesson. The nouns being used to practice the new language is all recycled from previous lessons.)

To play Picture Game after this lesson, you might create a list that looks like this:

lemon cookies skunk flower piano harp candy mirror

To play, cover all of the words except the one that you are showing team members. Students look at the word and go back to get their team members to say it. They can draw it, act it out, or describe it. Generally, students will use a combination of strategies.

To elicit //lemon,// for example, S1 might say //It's a fruit. It's small. It's yellow. It tastes sour.// (This is all langauge that has already been learned). To elicit //skunk,// S3 might say //It's an animal. It's black and white. It smells awful.//




 * Note**: Picture Game is from Let's Go Teacher's Books.