Target

 Target

Draw a target on the board: the standard target being three or four circles within each other with different numbers of points written in each circle; this target could also be divided up into sections like a dartboard.

Next you set up a line of FCs along the floor, just like with Jump and Run and Touch.

WHITEBOARD

Team A                                          Team B

#1s             FC             #1s

#2s              FC             #2s

#3s             FC             #3s

#4s              FC             #4s

#5s              FC              #5s

#6s              FC             #6s

FC

Individual students now take turns to throw a ball (ideally a small ‘sticky ball’ with suction attachments) to hit the target.

The FCs are used as such:

A student must stand on the first FC (furthest from the whiteboard) and say this FC. If the teacher agrees that the student has pronounced the vocabulary item from this FC well enough, the student can move forward to the next FC. Thus the student is making their way forward to get closer and closer to the target. If they make it to the last FC (the one nearest the whiteboard) then obviously hitting the target will be easier. If they pronounce an FC wrong or cannot remember how to say it, they must stop on that FC and throw the ball from there. (Of course as the teacher you should take this opportunity to correct their pronunciation.)

To develop this game further, you can also have it so that students are making a sentence using each FC as they stand on them. (Here, you can test their ability to make positive statements, negative statements, question forms, use the third person, etc.) If the sentence is correct, they move on to the next FC. If incorrect, they must throw the ball from the FC on which they are standing.

One problem with this game is that the shy students can occasionally feel a little apprehensive about playing. When you first introduce this game to a class, it is a good idea to get students to volunteer to play rather than force any of the more reticent ones to get up and be tested in front of their classmates – you do not want to knock their confidence. In fact it is often better to encourage less willing students to take part in high pressure games once the class have had a chance to get used to the activity, i.e., once it has become a regular game that they are familiar with.