PEARL OF GREAT PRICE

For where your treasure is, there will be your heart also.

 

1. WORKSHEET: Ideas are tricky to convey in a second language class! Illustrations can be more powerful than words–especially in the realm of ideas! Print a “cartoon” worksheet for each student to fill in and keep.

 

2. VOCABULARY: Learning new vocabulary words can become tedious. Try exercises that train students to think and use reasoning skills while they learn new vocabulary.

A. Oyster: A kind of shellfish that people eat.

B. Pearl: Small white object found inside oysters.

C. Annoy: To irritate or bother.

D. Diver: A person who swims in deep water.

E. Treasure: Something you value or consider very special.

F. Seek: To look for something.

G. Jeweler: A person who makes or sells jewelry.

H. Possession: Something that belongs to a person.

I.  Fake: Not real.

J.  Value: To consider something of great worth.

K. Sacrifice: To give up something important.

COMPETITION

A. Before class write the list of vocabulary words on the board.

B. Pronounce each word. Students repeat.

C. Explain the contest! Teams of 2-3 race to look up the words and compose one example sentence using the word. First team to give the definition and use the word correctly in a sentence scores 2 points. Other teams can score 2 points for a correct sentence.

D. Do all the vocabulary words in turn.

 

3. PEARLS: Mystery Bag

Create mystery and suspense. Use the Mystery Box/Bag to create

curiosity about the lesson.

A. Before Class: Make copies of these sentences for each group and cut them into strips.

                    Oysters live in shells at the bottom of the sea.

                    Sometimes a grain of sand gets into their shell.

                    The sand annoys the oyster, so it coats it to make it smooth.

                    Divers swim into deep water to find oysters.

                    Workers open the oysters looking for pearls.

                    Many pearls are poor quality. Only a few are valuable.

B. Teams in rows: Use the “telephone” method as a way to have the teams compete using the sentence strips. The first person in the row reads the sentence and then whispers it to the second person, who then whispers it to the third person, etc. The last person writes it down. Then, give groups 4MIN to draw pictures to depict the story on their worksheet.

C. MYSTERY BAG: Use an onion to show how a pearl is made. Explain that a pearl forms when a grain of sand gets inside an oyster shell. The oyster does not like the sand and begins to cover it with the same substance used to form it’s shell. After a while it becomes a pearl – something that started as an annoyance, but turned into something of great value. (To keep from crying, take the onion apart ahead of time and wash it in cold water. Use a rock for the grain of sand.)

 

4. CHARLIE CHAPLIN DIALOG: Charlie Chaplin was the star of silent movies. Silent movies were popular in the early 20th century because new immigrants to the US could enjoy them without knowing English. This clever type of dialog and activity introduces the theme of the lesson.

A. Write the dialog on a paper. Ask two volunteers to come to the front and say the dialog to the class three times.

B. The fourth time, the two volunteers are silent — just mouth the words — while the class says the dialog aloud! Prompt them if necessary.

DIALOG:

A: If I were stranded in a desert, I’d give everything I have for a drink of water.

B: If I could get an iPod, I would give up my cell phone forever.

A: If I could be in a movie with Brad Pitt, I’d sweep streets for the rest of my life.

B: If I could live ten years longer, I’d never kiss anyone again.

 

5. PERSONAL STORY: Can you guess what Book is 10% exposition, 15% poetry, and 75% narrative/story? Story is powerful. Personal stories are a good device to reveal something about yourself, your dreams, your ideas, or experiences.

A. Tell about something you treasure.

B. Students tell their group/neighbor about something they treasure.

 

6. PEARL OF GREAT PRICE: Story

Language class is very predictable — with drills and recitation. Theatre in the

classroom is magic. To pretend and imagine is universal.

A. Listen to the podcast and rehearse telling the story before class.

B. This is theater. Select volunteers to be the actors and perform the story. Get as many students involved as possible. Use simple signs and props to make the story come alive!

C. You TELL the story and the actors act. If you have a large class let many groups perform at once!

 

7. QUESTIONS: Tic Tac Toe

Questions can teach students HOW to think rather than WHAT to think.

Ask questions that will require reason and imagination.

Draw the Tic Tac Toe Board on the blackboard. Make two Teams: Ask the first person from Team “X” a question. If correct, that team puts an “X” on the Tic Tac Toe Board. Team “O” gets the next question. Continue asking questions until one team wins.

A. Why was the rich man not happy?

B.  What did the man have to do in order to get the perfect pearl?

C. What is your most valuable possession?

D. Have you ever been obsessed with something to the point you thought about it all the time?

E. Who is the most important person in your life?

F. What does the “pearl of great price” mean?

G. What is the “pearl of great price” in your life – something you would give everything you have for?

H. What are the 3 top qualities you treasure in a friend?

I.  If you had only one day left to live, how would you use that day? What does that say about what you treasure?

 

8. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?: Begin re-telling the story line-by-line — but stop and let the students yell out the end of each line.

 

9. VALUES: What do you value or treasure? (Pass The Quote)

A. Before class, write these quotes on individual pieces of paper.

B. Groups: Give each group one quote. Give them 3MIN to write the quote down and decide what value is associated with it. When time is up, groups pass their quote to the next group. Repeat the process for all the quotes.

               Blood is thicker than water. (family)

               A friend in need is a friend indeed. (friendship)

               Faith, hope and love….but the greatest of these is love. (love)

               Money makes the world go around. (money)

               Beauty is only skin deep. (character)

               Honesty is the best policy. (honesty)

               What good is it if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? (faith)

               Time waits for no man. (time)

               The clothes make the man. (appearance)

               You are what you eat. (health)

               All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. (entertainment)

               Nature never did betray the heart that loved her. (environment)

               Cleanliness is next to godliness. (cleanliness)

C. Take a class vote – the top 3 things they value the most.

 

10. WHAT SHOULD WE TREASURE?: TV Commercial

Apply the ideas in the lesson in an imaginary TV commercial.

Treasure: Something you value or consider very special.

TV COMMERCIAL

Small groups create a 30SEC TV commercial about what people should treasure. Perform for the class.

 

11. RE-TELL THE STORY

A. Make small groups. Each group will pretend a pen/pencil is the microphone.

Have one student begin telling the story. When you give a signal they are to pass the microphone and the next student shall continue the story. Continue until all have a turn. The last person should finish the story.

B. Then mix up the students and divide them into new groups to re-tell the story again.