I have
a weekly adult English class that I just love.
They are so enthusiastic about everything. A
couple of weeks ago I introduced a lesson about party planning. The vocabulary included RSVP, venue, and
party favors. We discussed what you need
to know to plan a party: why have it, when to have it, where to have it, who
and how many to invite, and entertainment, among other things.
After
all that, I suggested we host an English speaking tea party and they thought it
would be fun. They chose a date and time
and decided who to invite. They made and decorated the paper invitations, seriously
considering what information the invitation needed, including things like
whether to spell out or abbreviate Saturday.
One person wrote the information of the chalk board during the discussion and when everyone agreed on the information, the invitation making began.
We
decided to play a few games for the entertainment. I taught four games to them one week and they
decided who would teach each one, using Rock, Paper, Scissors. The next two weeks they practiced teaching
and playing the games, in addition to making the “props” needed. I did not give
them the directions or rules written out because I wanted them to understand
the games, then process them into their own words, rather than to read off or
memorize my words.
The
first was a get acquainted name game. Basically, the first person says her name
and a food she likes that begins with the first letter of her name, for
example, my name is Pamela and I like peaches.
The second person does the same for her own name, then repeats the
previous person’s name and food. Each subsequent person does that for all the
previous people, so the last person says everyone’s names and foods. In order to make our guests feel comfortable,
we decided to make name tags at the party and to make little cards with initials and food,
just in case our guests couldn’t think of a food in English or remember the other people's names. I knew all of the people, but they didn't all know each other before the tea party.
The
next game is called Occupations. They
made cards ahead of time with the names of different occupations. One person pulled a card, keeping it to
herself. The rest of the people took
turns asking yes/no questions, such as is your job dangerous, do you wear a
uniform, does your job require a university degree. The others try to guess the person’s
occupation.
The
third game is a counting game called Fizz
Buzz. The group counts off, trying
to get to 50. Instead of five or
multiples of five, the person on that number must say Fizz. Instead of seven (including 17, 27, etc.) or
multiples of seven, the person on that number must say Buzz. If a mistake is made, the group starts over
with one. It’s harder than it sounds!
The
fourth game is also a yes/no question game.
A card with the name of an animal is pinned to each person’s back. All at the same time, people are trying to
figure out what their animals are by asking the other people yes/no questions,
such as do I have a long tail, do I have four legs, do I breathe fire. They
were very creative in using the 12 Chinese Zodiac animals.
We made
little fabric pouches with tea bags inside to give as party favors. I stitched the casing for the ribbon with my
sewing machine and they stitched the bag and put the ribbon in the casing. They could have done all of the stitching,
but this is an English class not a sewing class. I could have stitched the whole bag, but I
wanted them to feel some ownership in the little gifts they were giving.
In
addition to the name tags, they also made a Welcome sign for the door.
So,
yesterday was the party day. I meant to
take pictures of the wonderful food the students brought and a few pictures of
the game playing but I forgot! Someone
else remembered to take a group picture with a timer before everyone left.
Everyone
was wonderful using their English skills. They claimed to be nervous, but I
couldn’t tell. The explanations were
perfect and everyone else understood. The food was delicious. The games
were a lot of fun. I think everyone had
a good time.
