Students play a new variation of janken but instead of winning with paper, scissors or rock; they win by doing some simple math the quickest.
Basic Info
| Time: | 2 - 5 minutes |
|---|---|
| Level: | Elementary, Grade 5, 6 |
| Works with: | Hi friends 1 Lesson 3: How many ~? |
| Class size: | Small to Large |
You will need:
- nothing
Description
- Students walk around the class and find a friend, say hello.
- In pairs, they do the fist shaking action of janken (a.k.a. paper, scissors, rock) while saying:
"How (shake) / many (shake) / fingers? (shake and go)" - On "fingers", each student puts out between 1 and 5 fingers (not zero) on the fist they were shaking. It's then a race to see who can count the total number of fingers between the two of them and say the number first.
Tips
- Demonstrate this game with the teacher first. Clearly show counting out the fingers so students understand what exactly is happening.
- Play the game for a short time. This will keep it fun and make sure students are still excited to play it later as a review activity.
- After playing the game, ask some students some real "How many ~?" questions and have a few students ask you or the HRT a few questions too.
Variations
- To practice higher numbers, simply write "+ 10" on the blackboard. Students must now add 10 to their answer - so when 6 fingers are showing, the answer is 16.
- + 20, + 30, etc.