Students make a fold out extend-a-picture that they can show off to their friends while using tall/short or long/short to describe their drawings. Once you show an example, your students will be eager to get artsy and create their own.
Basic Info
| Time: | 15+ minutes |
|---|---|
| Level: | Elementary grade 3 - 6 |
| Works with: | Studying tall/short or long/short |
| Class size: | Any size/td> |
You will need:
- A blank piece of paper for each student - an A4 sheet cut in half lengthwise works well.
Lesson Description
- Hand out the paper. Guide everyone together how to fold the paper.
- Fold the paper in half down towards you, then fold the top layer in half again, up away from you.
- Now draw a picture of a giraffe or something similarly tall. Draw the legs and body on the bottom tab and draw the head and a short neck on the top tab, but connected. Unfold the sheet and extend the neck so now the giraffe has a very long neck. As you open and close the fold, the giraffe will be tall and short.
- Once everyone has drawn their picture, get everyone to stand up and walk around showing each other the pictures they have drawn (and using some English to do it! See tips below.)
Tips
- Experiment with the folding to get it how you like it.
- Prepare one before class so you can show everyone the finished product, and make one in class so you can do it with the students, showing them as you go.
- One possible set of phrases you can use with this lesson is: A: (showing the tall version) "What's this?" B: "It's a tall giraffe", then A: (quickly folding it back to the short version, make a silly face and emphatically say) "Nooooo!"
Warnings
- If you are teaching only tall and short but not long and short or vice versa, you may have some students who don't quite understand the concept. This may be an age thing so even with an explanation they may not quite get it. But take the time to explain anyway. Tall/ short = up/ down.
If after the drawing time ends you see some students have drawn long instead of tall, either get those students to say long instead of tall or just let them continue with the game. The most important part, after all, is that they have fun using English.