Sunday, April 21, 2013

Activity 24- Vocabulary Ping Pong



Here is another idea for a very dynamic activity that requires absolutely no preparation. Guess where the material for this activity will come from: students` own mobile devices! 

Level: any
Language skill: speaking
Focus: vocabulary
Device needed: any device with a camera

Number of devices needed:  one per pair of students
Internet connection: off


Instructions:

Use ping pong to draw a metaphor to this activity: students are competing against each other and they have to think fast while they alternate their turn in the game. In pairs, they should choose a picture from their own mobile device's photo library. Explain that the challenge is to point out as many vocabulary words as possible from the picture they are looking at. Remind them that words do not need to be about concrete objects and that they can use words that describe feelings or abstract things (examples from the picture I took a while ago: Student A: statue, student B: church, student A: tired, student B:  family, student A:  money, student B: music, student A: shopping, etc). Each student should say a word at a time. If a student is unable to say any more words, then the opponent is the winner in this competition. Pairs can pick up another photo and compete against each other again. 


Tips:

-Model the activity before so that students understand how it works.
-You don`t need to set the time for each opponent to come up with a new word but remind them that common sense is a must. If  the student takes more than 15-20 seconds to think of a word, he/she should  admit the defeat.
-Since they are working on the activity in pairs and independently, set a 5-minute time limit and let them challenge each other as many times as time allows.
-It would be interesting to establish a rule: no naming body parts allowed in the competition. Otherwise, students might focus only on the body parts vocabulary. The idea is that they explore the picture as a whole. 
-This activity works better in tablets because the picture is larger and more details can be spotted.
-If the classroom has a projector and a VGA cable, you can project the photo on the board and turn this activity into a two-group competition. In this case, group members could raise their hand when it`s their turn to say a word.

Source: Vinicius Lemos


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