Gambling with Comparatives
Jacquelyn Pang
| GRADE LEVEL: | JHS 2 (after they learned comparatives) and up |
| SKILLS: | Listening and speaking |
| TIME: | 20-30minutes depending on how many questions are used in the activity |
| MATERIALS: | Question cards, blackboard, toy money (optional) |
| OBJECTIVES: | To practice answering questions using comparatives |
| | Practice teamwork and interact in English |
PROCEDURE:
1. Prepare cards with different comparative questions on it. (Don’t forget the answer, too.) You can google some world facts online or some facts about the teachers (Who lives the farther from school, who is heavier, who is the tallest, etc).
2. Review comparatives (Unit 7 for JHS 2nd yrs).
3. Divide the class into groups (6 is usually a nice number). If you have toy money, give each group some money. If not, just write how much money each group gets to start out with (for example, $500).
4. Explain to the class that they are going to gamble with the money they have. You will read a question from the card and each team gets a chance to answer the question. But, before they answer, they must ante up. If they answered the question wrong, there goes the money. If they got it right, they get their winnings. They only have 10-20 seconds to discuss with their teammates after you asked the question. Every student in the group must take turns answering the questions. The students must answer in a complete sentence. For example: Mt. Fuji is the tallest mountain in Japan.
Here are some questions I used:
A. Which is the biggest: China, United States, or Canada? (China:9,596,960km2, U.S.:9,631,418km2, Canada:9,984,670km2)
B. Which is taller, the Eiffel Tower (324m) or Tokyo Tower (333m)?
C. Which is heavier, the Eiffel Tower (10,100tons) or Tokyo Tower (4000tons)?
D. Which planet is closer to the Sun, Mars (火星(kasei)) or Jupiter (木星(mokusei))? (from the Sun: Mercury水星(suisei), Venus金星(kinsei), Earth地球(chikyuu), Mars火星(kasei), Jupiter木星(mokusei), Saturn土星(dosei), Uranus天王星(tenousei), Neptune海(kai)王(ou)星(sei), Pluto冥王星(meiousei))
E. Which is the longest river, the Amazon (6436km), the Yellow River (6378km), or the Nile (6693km)?
F. Who is younger, Hideaki Takizawa (3/29/82) or (your JTE, yourself, or anyone you prefer)?
G. Who is the lightest, Ms. Nobue, Mr. Kazuya or Ms. Jackie?
H. Which is shorter in kilometers, Sendai to Aomori (382km) or Sendai to Tokyo (360km)?
I. Which is bigger, Hawaii (16637km2) or Shikoku (18,800km2)?
J. Which is smaller, the United Kingdom (244,820km2) or New Zealand (268,680km2)?
NOTES:
This activity is a lot of fun and the students get to learn some interesting world facts. Some groups might lose all their money before the game finishes. If a group bet all their money on the first round and loses all their money, then the game is over for them. To avoid that, give them a minimum and maximum betting (min: $50, max: $200). If a team is really bad at gambling, try giving them a loan and see how much they end up owing you. In the end, you can give the winning team some prize like a sticker or a coin from your country as a souvenir.
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