Scavenger hung

Today we did a scavenger hunt, and I heard one student say, with a little sadness in his voice because his team lost, "And this is the first time I really tried in this class." I conclude from that comment that the event worked with some of the kinesthetically inclined.

We used the last 50 minutes of the class to hunt around the campus for the following items and information:

1. What is on the door to Mr. Kirk's office?
2. What color is the "Gokuri" (a soft drink by Suntory) can?
3. How many sculptures are in front of Professor Yoshimura's office?
4. How many benches at the bus stop (under the roof)?
5. How many silver balls (not apples) are on the Christmas tree on the first floor?
6. How many paintings are there in the lobby of building #9?
7. How many floors in the library?
8. What time is the mail collected from the mailbox in front of the Administration Bldg?
9. There are five kinds of garbage collected at this school. What are they?
10. What is the tallest building on campus?
11. Who is in room 9507?
Bring back a stone, and a dry leaf.

I think they had a good time figuring out what the English meant, collecting the items, and then presenting the information. Another student said, "Teamwork is really important with this." I said that teamwork is important in language learning, and that if they learn best in a team, that they should make one for that purpose.

Next year this is one activity that I would like to do at the beginning of the year to emphasize that point. That if teamwork works for you in other activities, then maybe it would help in learning language.