THE WISE MAN AND THE FOOLISH MAN
Location. Location. Location!
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. Wise: To have knowledge and good judgment.
B. Foolish: Without knowledge or good judgement.
C. Thunder: The loud noise that follows lightning during a storm.
D. Lightning: A bright flash of light in the sky during a storm.
E. Flood: To cover with water.
F. Sand: Very small tiny pieces of rock in deserts and on the seashore.
G. Symbol: Something visible that represents something invisible.
DICTATION
A. Before class write one sentence for each vocabulary word that fits the skill level of your class.
B. Dictate each sentence in turn — students write in their notebook.
C. Volunteers write the sentences on the board. Many volunteers at once! Read each sentence and have class repeat.
D. Students exchange papers and correct the mistakes.
3. 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 a time that you made a wise or foolish decision.
B. Students tell their group/neighbor about a time they made a wise or foolish decision.
4. RAINSTORM
Make rainstorm in class:
STEP 1: Rub finger tips together.
STEP 2: Rub palms together.
STEP 3: Clap hands on thighs.
STEP 4: Continue clapping on thighs while stomping feet.
STEP 5: Clap hands on thighs.
STEP 6: Rub palms together.
STEP 7: Rub fingers together.
STEP 8: Stop.
YOU TUBE: Search for Perpetuum Jazzile’s “Africa” — watch the first 2MIN.
5. STORM: Mystery Bag
Create mystery and suspense. Use the Mystery Box/Bag to create curiosity
about the lesson.
A. Collect these items before class and put them in the Mystery Box/Bag: a basin, a rock, sand, a bottle of water, and 2 “houses.”
B. MYSTERY: Have all the students gather around so they can see. With great flair open the Mystery Box and one-by-one reveal each item to set the stage. After you reveal the items, ask the students to guess what their significance is to the lesson.
C. As you tell about the man who built his house on the sand, pour some of the water on the house until it washes away!
D. Then about the man who built his house on the rock -– pour water on it — and it should not wash the house away. NOTE: Use duck tape or super glue or some secret device so it will not wash away!!
6. 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. Ask two students to say the dialog (written on a piece of paper) to the class three times.
B. The fourth time, the two demonstrators should just mouth the words while the rest of the class says the dialog aloud (prompt them if necessary).
DIALOG:
A: Did you hear that storm last night?
B: What storm?
A: Are you kidding! The storm nearly washed our house away!
B: I’m teasing you. I couldn’t sleep at all because the wind was shaking our house!
7. WISE MAN AND FOOLISH MAN: 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!
8. 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. Spell “foolish”–backwards!
B. Yes/No: Did the house on the rock fall down?
C. Where did the foolish man build his house?
D. Which is a better teacher — pain or shame?
E. What do the symbols of rock and sand represent?
F. What does the symbol of the storm represent?
G. What storms should we expect in life?
9. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?: Begin re-telling the story line-by-line — but stop and let the students yell out the end of each line.
10. WISE AND FOOLISH DECISIONS: Big Paper Contest
A. Divide the class into 3-4-5-6 teams. Separate them to opposite sides or corners of the room. Give each team a BIG paper and a marker.
B. Announce that the class has 4MIN to make two lists – (1) “wise” decisions and (2) “foolish” decisions. Give them hints if they have trouble getting started: wise – study / work hard, be kind to others, obey parents, be faithful to husband / wife, loyal friend; foolish – smoke, cheat, lie, steal.
C. Tell them to whisper so a rival team cannot hear their ideas.
D. Create excitement. Watch the timer. Announce the time remaining at different intervals. Say “2MIN left.” “Only 1MIN left.” “30SEC.” “10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.” “Time is up. STOP. Hands up in the air! Pens down.”
E. Now, let one team read the first answer on their BIG Paper. Read only one! Everyone must listen carefully!
F. If an answer is duplicated on another team’s BIG paper, it must be canceled. All teams with that answer must cross it off their paper.
G. If it is not duplicated by any other team — circle it. It is worth one point!
H. Now, let the next team read the next thing on their BIG paper. Only read one answer at a time. All listen. Cross out duplicates. Circle items not duplicated. Take turns. Let each team in turn read the next answer. When finished, count how many items are circled on each BIG paper. Tally the points. Team with the most points wins!
I. Follow the same process for the “wise” list.
11. REGRET: TV Commercial
Apply the ideas in the lesson in an imaginary TV commercial.
Regret – a sense loss or heartache.
QUESTIONS
A. What is something you wish you had done — but you did not?
B. What is something you wish you had NOT done — but you did?
C. What can be done about regret if you cannot change the past?
D. QUOTE: You should have seen what I could have been.
TV COMMERCIAL
Small groups create a 30SEC TV commercial about regrets. Perform for the class.
12. 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.