[cabst90]

I have done with with small groups of adults to introduce and practice relative clauses. Hand something (anything) to one student and say something like, "please give this to the woman (man, girl, boy, her, him). Keep it vague so that the student doesn't know who. When the student asks for a clarification or hands it to another person, say, "the woman who is wearing a red shirt." Explain the grammar and have the students practice it in the same manner. It is not very exciting, but it practices the grammar in a context in which it would actually be used.

This can work with items and which/that as well. Bring several books, papers, bags, pens, etc to class. Ask a student to hand you a book. "Which book?" The book that has a picture on the cover.

Also, you can have the student pretend that they are at a party with a friend. The friend doesn't know anyone at the party, so they must tell their friend about all of the other people at the party from a distance. The conversation would be something like..."the woman who is standing by the door is my sister."

Another circumlocution strategy. Have one student sit in front of the class with her/his back to the board. You write a sentence on the board. The other students must get the student in front to say the sentence on the board. The students in the group cannot say any of the words on the board, nor can they use another language. They must give hints and clues. I used this with adults and use it now with junior high students. It worked better with adults, but works with the kids as well.