Japanese+Grammar-related+Activites


 * Different Question, Same Answer**

This is a great activity that my mentor teacher showed me. It includes a lot of repitition so that students can practice a grammar structure over and over again. In this situation, the students are learning how to invite someone to do something. There will be a sample question such as, "Shall we go eat //__sushi__// together?" and the response will be "Yes, let's go eat." Underneath is a list of other nouns that you can use instead of sushi (Chinese food, hamburger, //okonimiyaki//). Students get into pairs. One student will ask the question using different nouns but the same grammar structure. The second person will always give the same answer. Students try to finish the whole list within two minutes. If they finish the list, they must think of their own questions using that same pattern. Then they switch roles. Students are racing to finish in time but also using the same sentence structure each time.


 * //kore/sore/are//** **Practice**

This activity can be used to either practice //kore/sore/are// (this is/that is/that over there is), practice asking what an object is, or you can use it for vocabulary (of objects). I learned it from my mentor teacher and was reluctant to use it (I thought it would be too chaotic) but it worked well. As a demonstration, you can hold up a pencil and say "This is a pencil" in the target language. Then you go to one student at the front of the room and repeat it several times. They will probably look at you like you're crazy. Then give him/her the pencil and say "What is it/that?" and gesture to indicate that you don't know what the object is. They will get the hint and say "This is a pencil." Motion for them to tell the next person what it is. The second student has to ask what it is, and the first student has to repeat "This is a pencil." While that is going on, go to the back of the room and do the same thing with the student at the end. Continue doing this and it will basically start a chain going from both ends. This means that each student will be saying "This is...." twice and asking what it is once for every object that is passed around. Additionally, each student will have to listen carefully to the student before them to hear what the object is called so that they can relay it to the next student. It's kind of like a game of "Telephone" or "Operator" where information is passed across the room. If they are not familiar with the phrase "This is..." or "What is it/that?" then they will know it by the end of the activity (because they may have said it 20-30 times without realizing it). If they already know that grammar structure, then they can concentrate more on the vocabulary of the objects. Because my students were focusing more on the grammar structure, I could use random objects. I brought in stuffed animals, a Japanese fan, a shoe and it was a lot more fun. If you're focusing more on the vocabulary, you just bring in the physical items that they are learning (pen, pencil, eraser...etc).

After a few minutes of this activity, I got everyone's attention. Almost everyone in the room had an object and I asked "//Nan// //desu ka//? (What is it?) to various students. The student would hold up the object and say "//kore wa usagi desu//!" (This is a rabbit!) and I would have everyone say the name of the object together. This activity is great because it requires no English or instructions. You just do the demonstrations and the students learn to imitate. Even the students who have the most difficulty picked it up right away.

In order for students to understand how to use grammar structures indicating possession, I had each student bring in a baby picture. They were not to show their picture to each other and they dropped it off in an envelope that I provided. If they felt uncomfortable doing that, they could bring in a picture of a pet. Once I got enough photos, I pulled each photo out one by one and asked "//dare no desu ka//?" (who's is this?) The students try to guess who each picture belongs to. After I go through each picture, I pull them out one by one again. This time I ask the students to respond to the question. After I ask the question, I call on students to guess (e.g. //Alison-san no desu ka//? Is it Alison's?) The person who is call on has to either say it's their's (//watashi no desu!//) or say it's not (//soo dewa arimasen!//). After two or three people guess (depending on the size of the class and the number of pictures you have), the person who it belongs to has to reveal him/herself by saying "It's mine!" The students get a kick out of figuring each picture out and there's always one goofy error that a student makes (thinking the baby in the dress is a boy).
 * //dare no desu ka//** **Practice**


 * Sentence Construction Activity**

I didn't think this activity would work so well but the kids seemed to enjoy the challenge. I type up various words (about 50) from the lesson they are working on, including nouns, subjects and verbs. I also typed particles in a larger font. I cut the words and particles out and put them in envelopes. Students got in groups of three (although I think it can also be done in pairs). I would call out a sentence in English and the students would arrange the words into the correct sentences. When the pair or group was done, they would raise their hand and I checked to see if it was correct. After looking over a majority of the groups, I would have someone read the correct answer while everyone else checked to see what they had. This is a good activity because students like to move the pieces around. It also gave me a good idea on what particles students had difficulty with. For example, when I called out "My friend eat lunch in the cafeteria," several groups used the //to// particle instead of the //no// particle. "//tomodachi to kafeteria de ohirugohan o tabemas,"// meaning "My friend and I eat lunch in the cafeteria."

My only suggestion for this activity is to print out the words in different colors and try to give students different colors from the person sitting around them. This way, if someone drops some of their cut out words, it is easy to figure out which group it came from.