Shiseido Activities Wot Alex Does For Well Good English Lesson Innit

Running Dictation
Skills practised: Speaking, reading, writing, listening

Prep: Write 5-8 different paragraphs onto separate pieces of paper, and then stick them
up around the classroom. I used the magnets for the board and the back wall. The
paragraphs were based on whatever target language Tara wanted to cover that day. I
kept them very simple - only a couple of sentences.

Procedure:
1. Divide the class into pairs and give one sheet of paper to each pair.
2. One student stands up, walks over to one of the paragraphs, memorises a
couple of words or a sentence, returns to the other student, and dictates what
they have memorised. The other student writes it down.
3. Switch roles after 3-5 minutes.
4. The students should aim to get as many of the 5-8 paragraphs down as possible.

Anticipated problems:
1. Sometimes the students "forget" that they need to write down all of the
paragraphs, not just one, so it's a good idea to remind them at the start.
2. The students sometimes stand next to the paragraph and shout it to their partner.
Tell them this isn't allowed when you are setting up the activity. They need to
memorize.
3. Some of the students struggle with pronunciation. Tell them they can spell words
out if necessary.
4. Feedback at the end by getting the students to read out the paragraphs as a
group.
(Here is an example of a paragraph I might stick up around the classroom:)

Yoshi has a Tinder date. He has bad acne. Can you recommend a good cleanser?
Go Fish
Skills practised: Speaking, listening

Prep: Make sure there are enough little cards in each envelope and that each card has
a pair.

Procedure:
1. Divide the class into groups, ideally of around 4-6 students.
2. Place the cards in a pile in the middle. Each student is dealt three cards.
3. The students must make pairs. Student A picks another student from the group
(Student B) and uses the target language to ask them for a card. For example:
"Excuse me, can you recommend me a good cleanser?"
4. If Student B has a cleanser card, they must hand it over. The cards are then put
aside and Student A has one point.
5. If Student B doesn't have the cleanser card, they can say "Go Fish!" or
something else. Student A then picks up another card from the pile.
6. Continue until there are no more cards, or the time runs out. The student with the
most pairs wins.

Anticipated problems:
1. The students "forget" they need to use the target English. Monitor them and
remind them that we can't play games unless they use the target English.
2. Sometimes the students forget that they need to always have a minimum of three
cards. Explain this when setting up. Go round to each group during gameplay
and check everyone always has at least three cards in their hand.
Card pickup
Skills practised: Speaking, listening

Prep: Remember to bring the little cards to the classroom. Make sure there are enough
for everyone to have at least three.

Procedure:
1. Hand out the cards. Three for each student works quite well. Explain to the
students that they should keep them a secret.
2. The students must walk around and use the target language to gain as many
cards from other students as possible. For example: "Excuse me, can you
recommend a good cleanser?" "Yes, here you are. Can you recommend a good
eyeliner?" "Sorry, I can't. Goodbye."
3. The person with the most cards at the end is the winner.

Anticipated problems:
1. Students may run out of cards and not know what to do. I usually doled out more
cards to keep the game going if there was still energy, but you can tell them to sit
down after they have no cards if you like.
2. Students "forget" to use the target language. Tell them not to give the other
student a card unless they are using the English.
Bingo
Skills practised: Listening, writing, memorising vocabulary. Also speaking, if you get
the students to choose words.

Prep: Make sure each student has a piece of paper. It can be any piece of paper - I
usually used spare space on Tara's handouts.

Procedure:
1. Draw out a bingo grid on the board and get students to copy it. I usually went for
3x3, but 4x4 would work well, too.
2. While the students are doing this, write a list of vocabulary on the board for the
students to put into their bingo grids.
3. Specify the rules for winning. I usually said up to five people could win with a line.
Then I was looking for 5 people who had a cross. Then I was looking for
someone who got a full house. It's up to you!
4. Time to start! Use the vocabulary on the board to construct sentences with the
target language. The students tick off the vocabulary that they hear, obviously.
5. If you have time, choose students at random to try and construct sentences of
their choosing to try and win the game.

Anticipated problems:
1. Students can take a lot of time when coming up with their own sentences using
the vocabulary. If you go down this road, make sure you have enough time
and/or choose high-level students.
2. Some of the lower levels are pretty slow in choosing and writing out their
vocabulary. Give them enough time and encouragement during the prep stage.
3. Some of the lower levels might not catch the sentences during the listening
portion. Say it twice to encourage them to listen, then circle the vocabulary you
said on the whiteboard to make sure they got the message.
Drawing game
Skills practised: Memorising vocabulary

Prep: Make sure you can comfortably draw one of the key vocabulary terms on the
board for the demonstration.

Procedure:
1. Divide the class into three teams and choose a "volunteer" from each. Divide the
whiteboard into three spaces.
2. Show the three "volunteers" a key vocabulary term for them to draw on the
board. For example, if the term is "acne", they can draw a face with spots. I
usually show them a picture rather than tell them the word, so they have
something to work from.
3. Tell the three "volunteers" to start drawing. Their teams must guess what they
are drawing.
4. Encourage those who know the answer to put their hands up. The team who
guesses first gets a point.
5. The "volunteer" then chooses another volunteer. Trust me when I say this is a
huge timesaver.

Anticipated problems:
1. Another popular one - things can get a little over-competitive. Remind the
students to put their hands up rather than shouting out.
2. Occasionally, the drawing students say they can't draw. I tend to just give them a
withering look when they do this and they fall into line, but it's also helpful to
explain via the demonstration that their drawing doesn't have to be perfect.
Line Game
Skills practised: Speaking, listening

Prep: Big flashcards

Procedure:
1. Hand out the big flashcards to the students in the first row.
2. The students stand up, turn to the person behind them, and say the target
language. For example, if they have the cleanser card, they might say:

Student A: Hello, how may I help you today?

Student B: Yes, I am looking for a good cleanser.
Student A: Here, I recommend this one. Have a nice day.

3. Student A then passes the card to student B, who turns around. Repeat until the
card is at the back of the line.
4. The student at the back then runs to the front and does the target language with
the first student.
5. The line can then sit down. You can then get them to pass the cards along so
they can do it again with another card.
6. The winning line is the one that sits down the fastest.

Anticipated problems:
1. Students might not use the target language and just focus on getting the card to
the back and then the front so they can sit down quickly. For this reason, I
generally do two "practice" rounds, then make the last round competitive. I also
monitored half the room for the first round, then the other half of the room for the
second round since it's a big group of students.
Other Stuff

- I was editing Tara's lessons by taking out all the difficult vocabulary and whatnot.
It's up to you if you continue this - just ask Tomo - but I found it made things
much easier in the long run.
- I started each lesson with "hangman", but with a snowman rather than a hanging
man. Feel free to use your variant with the baseball players - I'm sure they'll love
a change!
- There are big cards and small cards for eight Shiseido products. Tomo asked the
Shiseido staff for them to be passed onto you. I also left some scissors if you
want to make more cards - there are some spare sheets. And magnets. I hope
that all gets to you.
- I would recommend making big cards and small cards for the skin conditions, too
(acne, dark circles, etc.) I was going to, but unfortunately didn't get around to it.
- I used to write my lesson plan in the corner of the board. My lesson plans would
look a little like this:

1. Snowman game
2. Review (Tara's worksheet)
3. New grammar (I think we both do something similar here: Draw cartoon on the
board, elicit the situation from the students, practise the meaning, form, and
pronunciation of target language).
4. Practise! (I would do one or two exercises from Tara's worksheet, then get them
speaking with one or two of the above games).
5. Bingo! (Or a fun game of your choosing to round off the lesson and help them
leave feeling positive about the lesson).

IMPORTANT: On no account should you follow Tara's lesson plan for the last task,
(writing their own sample dialogue). This is, in my experience, a total waste of time.