Monday, February 22, 2010

Sticky Ball

When I arrived to teach at our school, there was a little ball in each classroom that was covered in suction cups.  This ball, when thrown at a white board, would presumably stick to said white board, and thus, some teachers before us invented “Sticky Ball.”  Unfortunately, the aforementioned balls were falling apart, and therefore were not very “sticky,” although sometimes the suction cups would stick to the board and not the rest of the ball, to the students’ amusement.  Suddenly it occurred to me that these balls were probably still available, so I asked our amazing coordinator to find us some new ones, and she did.  At the 100 yen shop, no less (side note, I <3 the 100 yen shop).

Anyway, Sticky Ball is a great game with many variations.

Variation One (the original):  Target Practice.  Draw a giant target on the board.  I like to make the bulls-eye about the size of the ball, then draw concentric circles around that.  Start with five points in the middle, then have circles worth 4, 3, and 2.  I give them one point for hitting the white board anywhere outside of the target.  :)   Have students line up, ask a target language question, and then let them throw away.  Award points based on where they hit the target.

Variation Two:  Flashcard Sticky Ball.  Instead of a target, draw random circles on the board and, using magnets, affix target language flashcards in each circle.  Let the students throw the ball, then ask them a question about  the circle or card they hit.  Award 2 points if they hit the flashcard, 1 if they get the ball inside a circle.

Variation Three:  Picture Sticky Ball.  Instead of a target, draw one big circle on the board.  Ask a target language question and let students throw the ball.  If they get the ball in the circle, they can add 1 thing to the circle (arm, leg, eye, whatever).  Works well with non-competitive classes, but I also tried this with a class of 4th grade boys and they about fell over they were laughing so hard.

Gambatte ne!

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