MONSTER DIFFERENCES

Complementary activity about aliens:

The activity that we propose here below is a complementary activity to work listening about aliens. It can be found on this same blog. We think that this activity could be worked in the same session because it is related to the content, it is funny and it can be developed using the same image.

AIMS:

·         Speaking: asking and answering questions.

·         Question formation and parts of the body: arms, legs, head, eyes, ears teeth, hands, How many…has…got?; colours: What colours is/are…?; numbers.

MATERIALS:

·         Picture photocopies.

·         Coloured pencils.

·         Overhead projector.

LEVEL: Beginners.

TIMING: 20 Minutes.

ASSESMENT CRITERIA: The children should be able to ask and answer simple question and work co-operatively in pairs.

PREPARATION:

1.      Photocopy the picture.

2.      Cut the photocopies.

PROCEDURE:

1.     Tell the children you are going to give each of them a picture of a monster to colour. Point out that each child will have a different monster from his/her partner´s.

2.     When they have coloured their monsters, they have to work with a partner, asking each other questions to find the differences between their monsters.

3.    Write the words the children will need on the board for them to refer to, for example, eyes, ears, arms, legs, teeth. How many heads/eyes/ears/arms/legs/ has your monster got?

4.      Give out the pictures photocopies and allow the children time to colour their monsters.

5.    If you think it is necessary, demonstrate the activity to the class. Colour your own monster. Invite a volunteer to work with you so that you can find the differences between his/her monster and yours.

6.    Monitor the class while they are colouring and ask them no to spend time colouring in too carefully. This can cause problems if some children have finished and their partners are still colouring. (They can finish colouring later if they want to).

7.     Put the children into pairs. Make sure that they change partners, so that they are not sitting next to the child who saw them colouring.

8.    Get the children started on finding the differences. Remind them not to look at each other´s worksheets.

Important:

This activity involves self-assessment. When each pair has finished they can look at each other´s monster. They can then assess how well they have done and give themselves a score.

MONSTER DIFFERENCES
We checked our monsters and there are________ differences.
The differences are:
1.      ___________________ 2.      ___________________ 3.      ___________________ 4.      ___________________ 5.      ___________________	6.      _________________ 7.      _________________ 8.      _________________ 9.      _________________ 10.  _________________
We found____________ differences.   We get____________ points.

FOLLOW – UP:

The children pretend to be one of the monsters, give themselves a name, and introduce themselves in two or three sentences. For example: Hi, I´m Scary! I have two heads and five legs. My hair is green.

VARIATION:

You can lower the language level for this activity by limiting the language used as well as the number of differences. For example, if the children don´t colour their monsters, the questions will be How many teeth/ears/ eyes/arms/legs/ has it got? And there will only be five differences focused on.

PORTFOLIO:

If the children want to, they can include their worksheets with the coloured monster and their score sheet in their portfolio.

Made by: Cristina Muñoz, Pablo Pérez.

SOURCE: 500 Activities for the Primary Classroom by Carol Read (MacMillan).