Introduction
In this edition of the newsletter, I'd
like to share a couple of activities that I made for my students
to coincide with the 2002 FIFA World Cup which took place this
summer in Korea and Japan.
First of all, I wish to apologize if you're reading this after
the event and think that your students will no longer be interested.
I actually did both activities prior to the World Cup, but I'd
like to believe that they should still be valid and interesting,
if somewhat less topical even after the final ball is kicked.
The group collaboration activity uses the thirty-two World Cup
countries because they just happen to be in the limelight, and
the flag drawing activity should still be okay, if somewhat easier,
now that students have had their country flag schema activated
by repeated exposure on TV.
The reason I chose to incorporate the World Cup into my teaching
was partly because it was real and timely, and my students were
very interested in it, but also because it was a good opportunity
to teach useful English in an interesting and enjoyable way. Not
only could we study English, we could also learn a little about
the world and appreciate the richness of its cultures.
Activity 1:
Flags of the 2002 FIFA World Cup Countries
(See pages 13 and 14)
This is a class listening exercise. If
possible, students should have colored pens or pencils handy.
This activity is more interesting and useful for students if they
can be active listeners with opportunities to talk with the teacher,
and more fun if they are allowed to choose which flags they would
like to draw.
First of all, I pre-teach the vocabulary by illustration and translation.
Then, I usually describe one easy flag, and ask volunteers to
describe a flag that they happen to know, guiding them with questions
such as "Are the stripes horizontal or vertical?", What
is the color of the stripe on the left?" etc. Sometimes it
is possible to bring in local information to help them with their
understanding. For example, many students pass by a German shoe
store with a big German flag outside it on the way to school.
I explain how to get to the store from the station (more useful
English), and this helps those who use that route to visualize
the flag and join in explaining it to their classmates. Some flags
are also rich in cultural information. Why was the England flag
not the Union Jack that my students were expecting? What does
the Yin and Yang sign of the South Korean flag mean, and what
do the four trigrams stand for?
My students also occasionally offer information of their own,
albeit usually in Japanese. One told the class that the French
flag is not one third each of blue, white and red, but it has
been designed to look like that when it is blowing in the wind!
I have not been able to verify this, but presumably, the wind
would have to have a fixed velocity (one for the applied math
lesson).
Nb. If you are unsure of the colors of the World Cup countries'
flags and are unable to find a source elsewhere, please visit
my website to download a print:
http://www.eflclub.com/9resourcebox/levels/level5a/335flags.pdf.
Activity 1 Extra
I have a pairwork flag drawing activity
which is very similar to the class listening activity in this
newsletter.
As a matter of fact, it turned out to be too difficult for my
senior three students, and we had to abandon it, so I'd only recommend
this if you were also teaching University students.
Download from:
http://www.eflclub.com/9resourcebox/levels/level6a/338worldcupflagspair.pdf.
Activity 2: The 2002 FIFA World Cup
Countries
(See pages 15-17)
This is a collaborative gap-fill class
activity. Students are given unique information about one country
and are asked to find out about fifteen more by asking their classmates.
I pre-teach the pronunciation of the religions and then quickly
go around class to help students who are unsure about how to pronounce
the capital city or official language on their unique information
card. Then I ask students not to show their cards to anyone so
that they can focus on developing oral communication skills (sometimes
I ask them to put their cards in their pen cases). I think the
activity works well because students can choose the countries
that they are interested in, and this ensures that all countries
are given equal status and respect.
If I see students tiring, or collaborative scrums forming, I smile
and move on to the next activity. In one class, some of my students
told me that fifteen was too many and that they would have preferred
to ask about ten people. I will bear this in mind the next time
we come to do something similar.
Activity 2 Extra
I have also developed a class gap-fill
activity in which students role-play a person from one of the
2002 World Cup countries. Using information on their ID cards,
they introduce themselves to their classmates and talk about which
country they are from, where they live and what their hobbies
are (hobbies were assigned randomly to avoid stereotyping, and
because I wanted to emphasize the similarities between people,
rather than their differences).
Students are also encouraged to end their conversations with a
simple comment about their partner's hobby.
This activity was a lot of fun in my classes. Please try it, if
you have the time!
http://www.eflclub.com/9resourcebox/levels/level5a/329Myhomeandhobbies.pdf.