PAST TENSE BATTLESHIPS

OBJECTIVES:

1. To practice the regular and irregular past participles
2. To practice creating sentences using the past tense
3. To get used to reading and using past tense.

PROCEDURE:

1. Review past tense and regular/irregular past participles and give each student a battleships sheet.
2. Students should make pairs and fill in the gaps together, using regular and irregular verbs. Example. I walked/came/went/ran to school OR I used/bought/found/stole a computer. If this is too difficult, give them a list of verbs they should use in the present tense or fill in the gaps yourself before handing out the sheet. Each student must have the same as their partner, however.
3. Next students should draw their 3 ships IN SECRET onto the top grid. The ships should be 4, 3 and 2 squares long, and placed horizontally or vertically.
4. Demonstrate with your JTE and show the students how to play the game on the blackboard. Player 1 reads out a vertical sentence and adds a horizontal sentence to pinpoint a square on the grid. If player 2 has part of a ship in that square, (s)he must say “Hit!” If there is no ship there, (s)he must say “Miss!” When every part of a ship has been hit, the player must say “Hit, Sunk!” Players should keep a record of what they have asked their partner on the lower grid (whether hit or miss), and mark when their own ships are hit on the top grid. The first player to sink all his/her opponent’s ships is the winner.

NOTE:

Some students will not be able to read the sentences so they should perhaps make some notes in katakana above the words. Also, some of the little tykes will cheat by moving their boats around. Keep a particularly nasty forfeit on hand for these ones.