This is a lesson that evolved from a worksheet I found on
www.bogglesworldesl.com and turned into a pretty successful activity/game class.
1) Post the 'survival flash cards' on the board with magnets. Divide the classes into 4 or 5 teams and make a chart with a column for each team on the board. Tell them they are going on a vacation and need to pick 3 (if you have 5 teams, 4 if you have 4 teams) items to take with them. Move each item into the column of the team that chooses it. I try to keep the order of selection random so that team #5 isn't always choosing last. (5 minutes)
2) Hand out "Two Survival Situations" work sheet to everyone in the class. Tell them they go on vacation but they have very bad luck. But, if they listen carefully, their team might be able to survive vacation. (Visual aids of Bears and big boats are suggested) Tell them you will read the "Bear Attacks" article first, they must listen and fill in the missing words. When you are finished, ask the students to tell you what words are missing. As they answer, write the missing words in the column of the team that answered, each word is worth 1 point (as you begin to write the words under the column of corresponding team, you wil get a big response from the class, suddenly everyone will be dying to give you an aswer, be warned, it can get LOUD). For tricky words, get the students to spell it out (ie. prey, racehorse, recuers, procuring) and only give a point for the correct spelling. Repeat with the 'Surviving Shipwrecks' article, give 2 points for each missing word given. (30 mins)
3) Lightning round - have students turn over their paper and give them a minute or two to read over the comprehension questions. Ask for the answers and give 3 points for each answer. (10-15 minutes)
4) Tally up the points for each team. The students will get really excited, but tell them you're not done yet. We have to see what they packed in their bags for their vacation. I award points for useful items (1 point for sunscreen, hat; 2 points for mirror/knife; 3 points for the yellow sweater because it's warm, and brightly colored) and take away points for the useless stuff like hand lotion and MP3 player. This is kind of an arbitrary thing, you can adjust points as you see fit, it's just fun to mess with them abit; they freak out over minus points. Tally up the totals and give prizes to the most successful teams (5 minutes)
The missing words for Bear Attacks are (in order of appearance): hiking, Canada, wouldn't, avoid, attacks, away, started, What, wrong, prey, faster, racehorse, towards, slowly, noises, depends, kind, climb a tree, play dead, neck, female, good idea, male, eat people, climb trees.
The missing words for Shipwrecks are: shipwreck, sank, small boat, food, important, one month, rescued, probably, worry, important, visible, recuers, Mirrors, clothing, signaling, suppose, consider, cold, fresh water, about a week, warm clothing, a few hours, procuring.
