Octopus

 

Maria Warren

 

GRADE LEVEL:	Elementary School, all grades
SKILLS:	Listening, speaking-voice projection
TIME:	30 minutes
MATERIALS:	Flash cards
OBJECTIVES:	To use voice projection
	To listen and respond to a question
	To become confident with the key words and key phrase

 

PROCEDURE:

 

1. Introduce new vocabulary for whatever you are teaching, for example the names of fruit. Use flashcards as a teaching aid.

 

2. After the students are very familiar with the various names of fruit, teach them the phrase, Do you like ~ (e.g. watermelon)? Yes, I do./ No, I don`t.

 

3. Display the flashcards on the whiteboard so that all the students can see the flashcards. In pairs, students ask each other, Do you like ~ (a name of fruit)? Yes, I do. No, I don`t. The flashcards are useful for students to refer to.

 

4. As a reinforcement of the key words and phrase the children have been practicing, they will now play a game that is very popular in New Zealand, called Octopus.

 

The rules for Octopus:

 

• There are three taggers who stand in the middle of the court. The rest of the children line up on one end of the court.

 

 

 

• Tagger A shouts out, “Do you like ~?” (fruit name of their choice). The children either reply “Yes, I do” or “No, I don’t” at the same time.

 

• The children who say “No, I don’t” stay on the line. The children who say “Yes, I do”, run from the line, trying their best to get past the taggers without being tagged. Taggers A, B and C can run anywhere within the court. If the children make it to the line at the other end of the court without being tagged they are safe.

 

• If they get tagged before reaching safety they become a still octopus, so they are not allowed to move their feet, only their hands can move like an octopus, hence the name! Tell them their feet are stuck in mud and that is why they can only move their hands. Once the children hear this, they dramatically pretend they are stuck, classic!

 

• The children who get to safety continue to wait on the safe line

 

• Next Tagger B says to the remaining children on the original line, “Do you like ~?” (fruit name of their choice). Again, the children respond “Yes, I do” or “No, I don’t."

 

• If they respond “Yes, I do”, they run to the safe side. The children who ran the first time continue to wait on the safe line.

 

• A few children will probably remain on the original side, so now it is Tagger C’s turn. Tagger C asks the same question, “Do you like ~?” (fruit). The children respond “Yes, I do” or “No, I don’t”. The children who say “Yes, I do”, run.

 

• The taggers also have the option of saying “Octopus”, which means all of the remaining children who have not run yet, run, to the safety side. This helps the game move along (Make sure the taggers only say this occasionally, otherwise the key phrase and words will be forgotten). Also remember when the taggers say Octopus, it is only the children who are trying to get to the safe side who can run.

 

• The children will now all be on the safe line and so everyone now starts from the safe line and has to get back to the original line. I usually continue the game until I can see that the children are confident saying the phrase. This game can last a whole period because the children really enjoy it. Make sure you change the taggers and still octopus occasionally too.

 

 

NOTES:

 

This game is easily adaptable for every level of elementary school. I have taught it from 1st graders through to 6th graders and it was very popular with them all. The key words and key phrase can be varied so this is a versatile game. It is also good repetition and the children usually use a loud voice, even the quiet students.

 

Things to watch out for: children standing at one end of the court for too long. The key to this game being a success is keeping the children actively involved and keeping it fast-paced to keep their attention. The home room teachers also enjoy joining in with this game!

 

Successful topics I have used for this game have included food, colors, and animals.

 

Enjoy!