Jeopardy
| Activity | |
|---|---|
| Like the gameshow. Make questions to match answers. | |
| Target level | JHS |
 | |
This activity was presented at the 2008 ALT Mid Year Conference by Joshua McGee & Keiko Ito. You can view their original lesson plan by clicking here.
Introduction
- Jeopardy is a game that is not native to either Japan or Australia. It is an American TV show that works similar to a normal quiz show however, the presenter reads an answer and the contestants must respond by saying the question. Here is a simple example of a Jeopardy style question:
- Presenter: Mt. Everest.
- Contestant: What is the highest mountain in the world?
- We have adapted this game for the purpose of reviewing grammar points from the Sunshine textbook. One advantage of a Jeopardy style game is that answers with specific information will require students to make more advanced questions. Often, an English question can be answered with a simple yes or no, but by adding information about time, people and places into the answer, students will have to think harder about what they need to ask.
Preparation
Teaching Procedure
Explanation
- Teachers tell students to make groups of 4 people and to move their desks. Once students are in groups, give each group a letter of the alphabet as their ‘team name’. Teachers write the team letters on the board, the students will later use this as a place to write the points they receive. (Note: If you have a blackboard that is not height adjustable, use the lower half of the board as to not embarrass shorter students during the game).
- Teachers hand out Jeopardy sheets (please see page 6).
- ALT puts an A3 size copy of the Jeopardy sheet on the board and asks students to look at it.
- ALT says, “This is a Jeopardy board. It has many ANSWERS. What are answers?”
- When students understand that all the boxes contain answers ALT explains “In your groups you need to make QUESTIONS. What are questions?”
- ALT explains, “In your group you need to make questions, for example, if the answer is “I’m fine thankyou.” (Write it on the board) Then what is the question?
- ALT explains, “There are 3 sections, 1, 2 and 3. 1 is easy, 2 is medium and 3 is...?” At this point generally one student will call out ‘difficult!’
- ALT explains the point system (please see page 4)
- Now that the students know that they need to make questions in their groups and that when they do this they can get points it is a good idea to role play how the game will work.
Demonstration
(ALT pretends to be in the nearest group, JTL stands at the front of the class.) ALT - “I am in Team D. I stand up and go to the teacher with my Jeopardy sheet.” (ALT walks to the front and stands next to the JTL holding the Jeopardy sheet so that the students can see it. ALT points to the box that they will make a question for.) ALT - “How is the weather today?” JTL - “It’s sunny” ALT - “Ok, so because I made a question for section 1, I can roll one dice.” (ALT rolls dice) ALT - “I rolled a 4, so my team, Team D can get 4 points!” (ALT walks over to the board and pretends to write the points next to Team D).
- A this point most students will understand what the procedure for playing Jeopardy is, so it is time to introduce the most important rule of the game. We have found that in each group, the levels of the students English can vary. Being a team game, it is important that students help each other and to do this, we came up with the order system. Instead of the teacher saying the order (i.e. pointing to the nearest group and giving each of them a number) we have found that letting the students decide by using janken in their groups can be more effective. At this point the JTL can explain that the students need to do janken in their groups to decide the first, second, third and fourth person and that they need to come out in order and ask questions. Also, it is a good idea to tell students that only one person from each group can come to the front at a time (in previous lessons, we have found that two or three students from each group will line up causing confusion in the classroom).
- Now that you have explained the rules, point and order system, we find it effective to re explain the procedure one last time briefly like so:
ALT: “Ok, so person number one, please raise your hand! Ok, so the first person, comes to Ms. Ito or myself... question, answer... dice... points... go back and the second person comes to the front... question... answer... dice... points and go back. Do you understand?” If you receive a nod, ‘yes’ etc. from the students you tell them how much time they have and the ALT shouts “Go!”
Game Play
- Students come to the teachers and ask questions. If they get it right, they can roll the dice and write their points on the board. If they get it wrong the teacher says “sorry, wrong” and they have to go back to their group, discuss the question with their group members and ask it again.
- When it is time to stop (5 minutes before the end of the lesson) the JTL needs to tell the kids in Japanese that only the people standing up can ask questions.
Notes: -The point system was introduced to help motivate students when reviewing grammar. Some students enjoy the challenge of English lessons while others may need a little encouragement to help them get motivated. By using a fun and interactive point system you can get students to practice their English and create a fun and motivational learning environment in your classroom. Simply giving the students 5 points for every correct answer may work but we have found that the anticipation of what score they will get from he dice or cards adds an extra level of motivation for students.
-The first time you play this game, you may find students writing their question on the sheet then coming up to the teacher when it is their turn and simply reading the question out word for word (and possibly not understanding what they have asked). We believe that it is a good idea to encourage students to memorise the question they will ask while they are waiting in their seat. They may, however, still write the question on their sheet and bring it with them in case they forget and need to check it while they are asking (after all, the point of this game is not to make students feel intimidated). By doing this, students will hopefully develop a better understanding of what they are asking, rather than just reciting words to get points.
