Simon says
Overview
Purpose
Vocabulary acquisition
Learning outcome
Students will be able to understand and respond appropriately to simple words and phrases.
Skills used
- Listening
Related units in Hai! kit
- Unit 9 Doo shimashita ka
Type
Class or group activity
Instructions
The game is played in the same way as 'Simon says...' but with Japanese instructions. The difficulty of the game increases with the speed of the instructions.
Materials
To revise the names of the parts of the body before starting to play, use the two diagrams of the body. Both have the main parts of the body labelled in Japanese, one in roomaji and the other in hiragana. To download these diagrams, select from the following Word or PDF formats:
- The Body diagrams for 'Simon says' activity (Word, 53KB)
- The Body diagrams for 'Simon says' activity (PDF, 116KB).
English version
- Start by playing the game in English with the body part name in Japanese. For example:
Simon says touch your atama (head). - Students stand facing the leader (initially the teacher), and follow instructions to touch specific parts of their body, mimicking the leader. If a player touches the wrong part of the body, they are 'out'.
- When the instruction from the leader is given without the initial 'Simon says', the students are not meant to move. If they touch the body part mentioned, they are 'out'. For example, they should not move in response to:
Touch your atama. - The game continues until there is only one player left, who is the winner.
Japanese version
To play it all in Japanese, use the following instructions:
[body part] wa nan desu ka?
What is [body part]?
For the trick sentence just say:
[body part] desu.
It is [body part].
Tips
- Review the Japanese names of parts of the body before starting the game. (Page 237 in the Hai! folder has a list of all body parts.)
- Have a practice round to familiarise students with the two versions of the instruction.
- When first playing this game, give instructions slowly and repeat the same body part names often until students are familiar with them. Then speed up to make the game more challenging.
Variations
- Begin with the whole class playing with you as leader then, as students gain confidence, form the class into smaller groups with a student playing the leader.
- Vary the game by using classroom instructions instead of naming parts of the body.
Further learning
- Teach the phrase ________ ga itai desu (is sore/hurts) and have the students act out the part. For example:
Atama ga itai desu.
My head is sore.
Language to use
- ________ wa nan desu ka.
What is ________? - ________ desu.
It is ________.