Harry Potter Game

Mark Schneider

Preparation:

Make “magic wands” by rolling sheets of newspaper lengthwise and taping them into form. Be sure to roll them tight and always make a few extras - sometimes the kids bend them beyond use. Also make sure that you have access to a large, open area to play.

PROCEDURE:

1. Begin the class by introducing, “How are you?” with your JTE. (ALT: How are you, Suzuki-sensei? JTE: I’m fine, thank you. How are you?) Next, teach the various emotions you plan to use during the course of the game. I find it’s best to draw “smiley” faces on the board to represent each feeling, and then to write the English (and katakana, if necessary) beneath. Don’t use Japanese words…pictures should promote memory better than word association. Some words I’ve used in the past are: Fine, Happy, Sad, Angry, Sleepy, Tired, Hungry, Hot, Cold, and Dead. Don’t give the kids more words than they can handle. Five is usually enough for younger classes, seven for older.

2. As you introduce the emotions, demonstrate an appropriate gesture for each. Thumbs-up work well for Fine, crossed arms for cold, etc. Have the students mimic these gestures as they repeat the English. If time permits, ask each student, “How are you,” and get an individual response.

3. Next, take one of the wands and explain that today’s game is the “Harry Potter Game”. Whoever has a wand is the evil wizard Voldemort. Everyone else gets to be students of Hogwarts. Voldemort is attacking the school using powerful ‘emotion magic’ (kibun maho) against the students. Demonstrate this magic by pointing the wand at your students and shouting the target words. They should respond by mimicking the emotion (ALT – “FINE!” Students – Give a thumbs-up, Fonz-style).

4. The game can now begin. The Harry Potter Game is really just a glorified version of Freeze Tag (Ko-ori Oni), and it may be useful to explain it to your students as such. The students with the wands are Voldemort or “It”. I recommend having one Voldemort per 5 - 7 children. When Voldemort touches one of the students with his wand and shouts an emotion, the tagged student must sit down and affect the rehearsed pantomime. To break the spell, one of the un-cursed students must ask, “How are you?” If the student answers correctly, they may stand up and rejoin the game.

5. Play for about seven or ten minutes at a time, then call all the students back, recall the vocabulary, choose new Voldermorts, and begin again.

NOTES:

Not only does this game have great learning retention as the kids are using the target English repeatedly, but the students really love it, too. One kindergarten wanted to play it four times in the same month…so we did.

VARIATION:

Teach the ~ing form of verbs. Instead of, “How are you?” have the students ask, “What are you doing?” Tagged students should pantomime an action. “I’m jumping,” “I’m sleeping,” “I’m eating,” etc.