Tangram
Overview
Purpose
Vocabulary acquisition
Learning outcome
Students will recognise and talk about the existence of people and animals.
Skills
- Reading
- Listening
- Speaking
Type
Pair activity
Related units in Hai! kit
- Unit 5 Dare desu ka
- Unit 8 Petto wa
Instructions
The 'tangram' is a type of jigsaw puzzle with triangular pieces, in which words along the edges of the pieces are matched to form the overall shape. The matching words are Japanese and English equivalents.
Materials
To download the tangram template, select from the following Word or PDF formats:
- Tangram template for 'Tangram' activity (Word, 46KB)
- Tangram template for 'Tangram' activity (PDF, 311KB).
The puzzle is done by pairs of students, so you will need half as many tangrams as the number of students in your class.
Game steps
- Each pair of students spreads out the tangram pieces on a desk between them.
- One student chooses a piece and reads a word aloud so that their partner can search for the English equivalent from the remaining pieces. Students say hai (yes) or iie, chigaimasu (no) as they search to confirm whether the matching piece is found or not.
- The two students take turns to be reader or searcher.
- The activity continues until all of pieces are matched up and the a the tangram is completed.
Tips
- To extend the life of this resource, laminate the tangram copies before cutting into triangles.
- Provide an A3-sized copy of the completed tangram for students to self-check for accuracy when they finish their game.
- This is a good activity for students who finish their work before others.
Variations
- The tangram can be adapted for any language learning activity where Japanese words or phrases can be linked with their English equivalents, such as kanji numbers.
- Add an element of competition by having pairs race each other to complete the tangram.
- Students could time themselves to see how quickly they can put the tangram together, or make it into a team challenge using identical sets.
Further learning
- Discuss or compare New Zealand and Japanese families.
Language to use
- Hajimemashoo
Let's start - Moo ichido
Once more - Yoku dekimashita
Well done! - Yatta
I've done it!