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				Apr 26th, 2006, 01:46 am
			
			
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  |   | eslHQ Enthusiast |  |  Join Date: Jan 26th, 2006 Location: Athens, Greece 
						Posts: 47
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  |   Re: The Freeze Game, for teaching past continuous 
 Hi Karen. 
Nice to see (read    you back! I played it the way you do, I said FREEZE and then let the students turn around. I just didn't have to pay close attention to their peeping or not since I let the other group see a flashcard.  
The rubber ball sounds silly I know. However, it is a very successful tool in getting each and every student to say something during class. For some reason which I can't explain (i have never been a fan of ball games) students seem to enjoy catching the ball and saying whatever they are supposed to practise saying. I have a collection of small balls, one looking like a hedgehog, one a funny little smiling face (five cms in diameter), another one that opens up and becomes 5 times its original size when you throw it.  I find  that the moment you  
ask a question and throw the ball an electic current goes through the class and everybody is eager to take a turn.  With my 8-10 year olds I do this at the beginning of each class to revise things we have learnt to say so far.eg. "Where do you live?" . The first student answers and throws the ball to a student of his choice and repeats the question.  When I think they have had enough practice with that I clap my hands and I get the ball back and start a new question thread. 
The rubber ball can very well be replaced by a a crumpled  piece of paper. 
Happy teaching. 
Manuela |