Games for Single Student Lessons - What am I doing?

This game requires both the student and teacher to make guesses about each other's schedules. The main idea is to take turns guessing what a party is doing at any given time of the day. It requires both parties to imagine the time and day are different than they presently are.

The first person makes a statement about a day of the week and a time of day such as, "it's Saturday at 8:00 a.m." and then follows up with the questions, "what am I doing?" The person who is guessing speculates about what the other party is doing at 8:00 a.m. on a Saturday. If the guess is correct on the first attempt, that person gets 3 points. If it is wrong, he makes another guess. If the second guess is correct, he gets 2 points. If it is wrong, a final guess is made and 1 point is given if it is correct. If it is wrong, the correct activity is revealed.

For example:

Teacher: It's 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday. What am I doing?
Student: You are eating lunch.
Teacher: No, I'm not. Please try again.
Student: You are teaching.
Teacher: Yes, I am. You get 2 points! Very good!

Explaining the game to the student:

The teacher should tell the student they will play a game where they talk about their usual schedules. As an example, the teacher can say the current time and ask the student what she's doing (e.g., "It's 5:00 p.m. What am I doing?"). The student should be able to easily answer, "you are teaching me." Sometimes students have problems with self-referential questions so the teacher may have to correct some problems with "I/you" usage.

After this example, the teacher should tell the student to imagine it is a different day of the week and it is noon (or another time). Assert the time and day you have chosen then ask "what am I doing?" If the student is confused, impress that he should imagine it is not today and to think about your schedule. It is usually better to use the word "imagine" rather than "pretend" with students as they are more familiar with it.

For the first few guesses, it is best to use times with easily predictable scheduled activities so the student is successful and gets the hang of the game quickly. Here are some times which are good to start off with:

• meal times (noon, 7:00 a.m. for breakfast, 7:00-8:00 p.m. for dinner)
• late at night when most people are asleep (4:00 a.m.)
• usual working hours (10:00 am, 3:00 p.m.)
  

The teacher does need to explain the game's scoring. Writing each person's name on a piece of paper or the white board and writing the score with hash marks as correct guesses are made will make it clear. Only the teacher should keep score. The student need not be bothered.

Purpose of the game:

The purpose of this game is to practice a variety of phrases and concepts. It allows the student to practice using "a.m./p.m." as well as prepositions used with days ("it's 12:00 a.m. on Monday"). It is also a good way to practice the present progressive verb tense and everyday vocabulary. It also functions as a way for the teacher and student to either get to know each other or to gauge how well they know each other.

Classroom use:

This game is a good way to review or reinforce the present progressive verb tense, talking about schedules and days, and simply a nice way to talk about daily life outside of the usual question and answer format.