American hitchhiking

Objectives

• The learner can appoint another learner by the name.
  
• The learner can name images of the treated topic.

Materials

Cards with images of the treated topic.

Preparation

• If the learners do not know each other’s names yet, ask them to say their name.
  
• If it is a difficult name, ask how one can remember it easily.
  
• Let everyone repeat his/her name and the name of the person sitting next to him/her. Go clockwise.

Instructions

• Sit in a circle.
• Practice the four movements with the learners, at the same pace.

1. Slap both thighs with your hands at the same time.
2. Clap your hands.
3. Raise your right thumb over your right shoulder.
4. Raise your left thumb over your left shoulder.

• Start by giving the example. Mention your own name in step 3 and the name of a learner in step 4.
• The learner whose name was mentioned, now says his/her own name in step 3 and calls another one, and so on.
• Anyone who waits too long is out.
• Indicate the approaching end of the exercise by shouting Three more times.

Variant

• Consolidate the vocabulary of a treated topic by giving each learner an image card.
  
• Check if everybody remembers the name of the food.
  
• Example with the theme ‘Food’.
  
• Instead of using the first names, the learners name the image on their card and the one on the card of a learner.

1.   Slap both thighs with your hands at the same time.
2.   Clap your hands.
3.   Raise your right thumb over your right shoulder and say ‘carrot’.
4.   Raise your left thumb over your left shoulder and say ‘apple’.

Tips for the instructor

Keep the pace slow. Otherwise the exercise will be too difficult.