In the movie Stand by Me, there is a scene where the boys debate who would win in a fight, Mighty Mouse or Superman.
This inspired me to do the following lesson:
All that you need for this is a stack of index cards, each with the name of possible combatant written on it. For example: samurai, tiger, battleship, pro-wrestler, ninja. Make at least 30 or 40 cards. Mes English also has some cool superhero cards www.mes-english.com/flashcards/supers.php
Also these Eigomon (Pokemon like) cards. www.mes-english.com/games/eigomon.php
Shuffle the cards and choose two, then ask your students who would win a fight between the two combatants named. The idea here is to get your students talking and, if possible, speculating. Ask them why they think this or that fighter would win. Is he / she stronger, larger, or faster, than the vanquished foe?
As always, its good to add a few comedy entries in the list of fighters. How about Tom Cruise vs. a chicken? Godzilla vs. Madonna? Mike Tyson vs. an army tank? You can also add the names of students–this always gets a laugh, and can cause animated debates among your kids.
The great thing about this format is that it can always be randomized, simply by re-shuffling the deck.
This post was submitted by David.
- Tags: comparatives, speaking
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3 Responses to Who would win – Mighty Mouse or Superman?
Ellen
July 21st, 2009 at 1:34 am
I can’t tell you how many times I have listened to this game while raising my two sons : ). Never seems to lose its appeal!
Daniel K
March 4th, 2010 at 11:55 am
My Korean co-teacher did a game like this last year doing comparisons (”A puppy is smaller than Jae-seok,” “The subway is longer than a pencil”), and the students really enjoyed it.
She put in some students’ names, but she chose ones that she knew “could take it,” to prevent anyone from getting their feelings hurt (i.e. we didn’t want anyone to get teased for being short, fat, etc.). It’s tricky when putting in students’ names, to make sure nobody gets hurt or taunted.
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