I've been using stuff from this site for a long time and I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't contributed anything yet. I had one of my most successful activities after 3 years of teaching today so I thought I should post this! Usually I can't get my students to speak English or do anything, but this activity was more fun than an episode of Starking!

I used this activity in lesson 3 of 3rd grade MS English. Students played a game in which they got a list of favors that they could ask their classmates. The students did rock, paper, scissors (which Korean kids love btw) to determine who did the favor. If they got all 7, they could make their friends come to the front of the class and do the ridiculous task. Some of the tasks, included dancing for the class, singing the Korean national anthem, etc. I provided music, and one girl actually got in front of the class of 45 and danced!!!! :o Almost EVERYONE participated, which is rare in my school especially before tests.

The only problem is that it's a little complicated to explain in English. It helps to have your co-teacher explain in Korean. If you a have a big class, this game will be really fun!

I might be dim, but I think having to dance in front of class would make my students not want to be the 'winner'

I like the idea for this activity, but I can't figure out how to motivate students to finish the worksheet~

So... if student 1 wins, then they ask student 2 to perform a favor.  Once student 2 does the favor, then student one gets student 2's name on their paper correct? So, what happens if student 2 refuses to do the favor?  Wouldn't all of the students just refuse because that would mean their friends wouldn't win?  (Maybe I just don't get it)

Cool, good input rhodes and hank... I'm definitely using the dice idea.  I think instead making the student who doesn't perform lose his signatures (because to start, none of the students will have any signatures), if they don't do the favor, they'll get one more space for a favor signature.   Meaning, instead of asking 7 favors for 7 signatures, they'll need 8 to win (and so on). That way, by not performing, they are making it more difficult for themselves to win.

salabbe, great ideas.  although now the target seems to be "can i ask you a question?" instead of "can you do me a favor?".  this is quite a difference!

changing the wording of the 'no korean rule' is a good idea.  although i rephrase it "i love English."  you can mention to the students something about how they can speak korean everywhere else, but they get a lot of practice for the test by speaking english in class. it might be hard to sing the korean national anthem without using korean.

and something to keep in mind about a pair of six sided dice.  6, 7, and 8 will come up more often than other numbers, so i'm assigning the targets from the book to these numbers.  i'm also allowing the students to write in some of their own ideas for favors in the numbers with a lower probability

here is my version of the worksheet

i have the class think of favors to fill in the blanks. everyone writes down the same favors.  some of the responses i've gotten have been funny "can you help me wash a crocodile?"  "can you help me burn down the school?"

i added more spots for names on the target sentences because these both come up more often and are more important (they come from the book).  i saw lots of students rolling the dice over and over until they got the number they wanted, instead of repeating something they'd already done.  like kjoy said, you can ask students to do you favors throughout the lesson.  "can you please listen to me?" etc.

This looks like a great lesson! Thanks!

Heya,

I like the idea... but some of my students are really shy.

I have edited the activities and changed things around a bit. Put in some silly stuff, but no more singing, or dancing!

This activity in ingenious! My key phrase, in the book I use, consists of using the phrase "Would you mind" and the gerund. It's easy to modify the phrases to your needs.

Instead of dancing, I found a clip from the drama, "Full House" where the main character singe the three bears song. This is a song all Korean kids lean in elementary school. The student has to sing/dance along or they can do it alone if they like. Dancing is optional given the temperament. I also gave everyone a fake dollar (monopoly money) and has them "lend," each other money. This made the students have to ask other people.

I love this activity. It's so simple. Brilliant.