What is this? [3]

Goal of this exercise is improving

• auditory attention,

• vocal and prosodic imitation,

• concentration and perseverance.

Because of the many repetitions and distractions caused by theatrical-pedagogical interpretations, the exercise is also particularly suitable for memorising new words for vocabulary, grammatical structures, etc.

Instructions

This game is about passing on information to the next person in the circle. He asks again what it is about. The question is returned to the teacher each time. The confirming answer must then be passed on to the last person. The teacher responds emotionally (amused, annoyed, etc.) by whispering or shouting and the children have to match their answers.

Example

Pupils sit in a circle. The teacher holds up an imaginary word or sound and hands it to the child on the right, saying:

"It's an a."

The child asks, "What is this?"

Teacher: "An A"

Child 1 gives the imaginary sign to the neighbour on the right and says:

"It's an a."

Child 2 asks Child 1: "What is this?" Child 1 returns the teacher's question "What is this?"

The teacher replies, "An a".

This answer is passed back to Child 2 and so on until the information is passed back to the teacher on the other side.

Variants

Instead of individual sounds or words, complex sentences are repeated (e.g. He gave it to her! What did he give her? - A Porsche!...). Information is sent from both sides of the circle by the teacher.

Tips
The game provides an opportunity to observe the students during the many repetitions of vowel articulation and to "gently" correct them, if necessary, by not focusing on the mistake, but simply repeating the correct articulation.

Background information for further reading

Cognition and consciousness

Controlled and automated processes

Learning processes - Critical factors

Variable learning and transfer