That/Which/Who

Meredith Glaser

PROCEDURE:

1. Before the class, prepare large cards with writing that is big enough for the students to read from several feet away. Fill in the blanks for this sentence:

Try to stick within a few categories like animals, people, cartoons, etc. Here are some examples:

2. When you first start class, write the target sentence on the board including the blanks. Go over its meaning as well as the different categories you chose and then ask them to match up the category with that/which/who.

3. Ok, this is how the activity works and you can try your best to describe it, but I found it more helpful to just DO it and hope they get it. First, divide the class into 4 groups (this can vary according to size, but keep it small). Push all the desks to the back of the room if you need the space. Keep out 4 chairs and place them in a line with space between them, parallel to the board but facing the back of the room. The first student of each group sits in the chair (away from you who has the cards); the next student is right in front of their teammate. Show them the first card--they must say correctly to their teammate "This is an animal which has a long tail." They get one point for saying it right. The first sitting student to raise their hand and to answer correctly "monkey" wins another point (so a total of 2 point possible per round).

RULES:

1. The rest of the students in line within each team HAVE to be silent.
2. NO GESTURES or sounds; hands behind your back at all times.
3. NO JAPANESE; or you skip a round (or something equally brutal)
4. If all the sitting students don’t get the answer in a few seconds or so, then on your command the standing student can give ONE more hint in English; "They like bananas." No extra points, sorry.

This has worked better with smaller classes, because you can get through a lot of cards.

Beware, towards the end they will be getting really into it and really noisy. Enjoy!