Can / Can't activity for middle school, help!
 

I would like to put an activity together for learning/reviewing can/can't (ability) with my first year junior high kids. It's pretty broad and so there should be many things to do to fill a 50 minute period, I'm just feeling a little blocked right now. Fruit basket type games may just be a bit too easy for them.

I'd appreciate any help!

Thanks!

Re: Can / Can't activity for middle school, help!
 

How about an activity centred around an interview?

- Show pics of a stunt person in action. Check the students recognise and can name the job and write it on the board.

- Ask what you need to do if you do that job - try and have pics illustrating the things, otherwise mime. For example, drive a car, ski, ride a horse, do parachute jumps, swim, dive, speak English, do judo, do karate, ride a motorbike, use a sword, climb a mountain, do somersaults are all possible and you can probably add more. Write the words around the job as a type of mind map.

- Divide the students into interviewers and interviewees. Give the interviewers a sheet with all the abilities on listed on it with boxes to tick (enough for three interviews). Give the interviewees the same list, but with ticks and crosses at random showing what they can/can't do.

- The interviewers interview the first interviewee asking Can you ride a horse? Can you do karate? etc. The interviewees reply Yes I can/No I can't depending on what's on their cue sheet. (You can make this more complex if they're up to it by adding info to show how well they can do each thing, so that they respond Yes, I can ride very well or I can do karate but I'm only a white belt or whatever they're capable of saying.) The interviewers note this info on their sheet.

- At the end they change partners and interview a new person, and then a third.

- Follow up : Each interviewer tells the class which of the three people s/he interviewed would make the best stunt person and why.

Re: Can / Can't activity for middle school, help!
 

wow, nice! Thanks a lot! That's very creative. I'll be sure to try and use that.

Re: Can / Can't activity for middle school, help!
 

I haven't tried this, but it just popped into my head.

You can make up personality cards with things that people can and can’t do. And pass them out to the students and then the students have a sheet with all the characters and try to guess who the person they are talking to is. Give them a couple of guesses….

A: Can you swim?
B: Yes, I can.
A: Can you ride a bike?
B: No, I can’t.
A: Are you Betty Sue?
B: Yes, I am./No, I’m not.

Just an idea and don't have everything worked out.

Re: Can / Can't activity for middle school, help!
 

So, I was able to try out the stuntman activity with my first year junior high kids. Everything went well. The activity itself isn't that spectacular but the subject matter is very motivating, and that's what I needed most. The students were very excited to learn that they were going to be stuntmen and tv reporters. I printed up pictures of action scenes with stuntmen and prepped the activity pretty well. They key was an effective presentation.

Thanks again!

Re: Can / Can't activity for middle school, help!
 

Glad to hear it went well! I always have trouble looking for relevant images and stuff on the net though - can you share your sources?

Re: Can / Can't activity for middle school, help!
 

I simply searched google images. I put a filter on to find better quality photos. I printed, then laminated, pretty cake. I didn't look for images of the verbs or actions, just some stunt men or stunt crews. (I photoshopped some extra explosions...)