Off the Beaten Path: Paper Folding
Hall Houston, Taiwan
Hall Houston has many years of teaching experience at universities in Taiwan and Hong Kong. His first book, The Creative Classroom, was published in 2007 by Lynx Publishing , www.lynxpublishing.com. He is currently working on his second book. His professional interests include cross-cultural communication, discourse analysis, creativity and critical thinking. E-mail: hallhouston@yahoo.com
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Paper folding activities
Secret note dispenser
New chunk wallet
Review a book
Paper airplane writing
Origami jigsaw
End of class accordion book
Paper folding activities bring an element of fun into the language classroom. They can help students develop their writing skills. Furthermore, you can use them to encourage students to interact through writing.
You will need to prepare lots of paper, scissors and tape. In addition, you will need to make copies of some of the handouts below. Here are a few suggestions, along with links to handouts and examples.
Once you have taught a group of students for several weeks, randomly give each student the name of another student in the class. Ask them to compose a short message such as a compliment or words of encouragement to give to the other student. Then give them the handout for secret note dispenser (instructions and PDF file). When they're finished, they should give the dispenser to their classmate. To round things out, ask each student how they felt when they read their secret note. You can leave it up to them if they want to share the secret note with the rest of the class.
www.kerismith.com/funstuff/secretnote.htm
Explain to the class what a chunk is (several words that are commonly used together). Give each student a piece of paper, as well as instructions on how to create a comic wallet.
www.kerismith.com/funstuff/wallet.htm
Next, give each student 10 blank business cards. Instruct them to write down 10 chunks they have learned recently. Also ask them to add more information that will help them remember the chunk. This could include a definition of the chunk, pronunciation, a translation into their native language, or a short dialogue that explains the meaning. Have students put their cards into their wallets, and ask them to bring them to class. You can ask them to share their chunks during breaks, and trade cards if their classmates have any chunks they would like to learn.
Give each student a sheet of paper and ask them to make a book, using the information from this handout:
www.kerismith.com/funstuff/magicbook.htm
Next, ask students to review the last few chapters from their course books. Get them to pick out a few words or phrases they would like to remember. Have them make sentences using the new vocabulary and write one sentence on each page, along with some pictures to illustrate. Finally, ask students to circulate and share their books.
Ask students to write the beginning of a story. Then have students make a paper airplane using the paper they have just written on. They can use this model:
www.paperairplanes.co.uk/dragon.php
or another one from this site:
www.paperairplanes.co.uk
Tell them to throw the paper airplane to another student (if they haven't already done so!!!), and get that student to continue the story by adding another sentence or two. Repeat several times, then call on a few students to read out their stories.
Ask students to skip ahead several chapters in the coursebook. Give them blank sheets of paper and ask them to copy out a long paragraph from a unit they haven't covered yet. Push them to use a variety of writing styles, changing pens, mixing up capital and lowercase letters, using different sizes of letters, and changing the direction in which they write. Then, tell them you are going to show them how to make an origami, such as a snail:
www.origami-instructions.com/origami-snail.html
or a house:
www.origami-instructions.com/origami-house.html
using the paper they just wrote on.
When they're finished, have them exchange with another student, and instruct them to read as much of the text they can, WITHOUT undoing the origami. Their goal is to try to reconstruct the text from what they can read on the origami. Ask a few students to give you a brief summary of the paragraph on their origami. Finally, ask students to open the origami and read the paragraph.
Put several posters on the walls with phrases like "What I liked the most was..." "I will always remember...". Invite students to stand up and write endings to the sentences on the posters. Then get students to work together and create an accordion book. Prepare the materials and copies of the following handout:
www.sdmart.org/pix/accordionbook.pdf
This will provide a wonderful memory of the course, as well as show the progress students made.
Please check the Creative Methodology for the Classroom course at Pilgrims website.
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