It has been a tiring day at work, but I feel flushed with exhilaration because I think I conceptualise a brilliant lesson plan for my seventh graders.

We are studying Subject Verb Agreement, and I leverage my experience from the Japan Exchange Teaching programme to help my students review verbs in an authentically fun way. That is because I often played games with the Japanese kids then, so it’s natural for me to think of ways that incorporate lots of movement and excitement.

First, I make use of verbs that are in my students’ vocab handouts.

Then, I write each word on a card. I settle on 24 words because 22 students show up today, so if each student has a card, I should aim for a multiple of 3. Hence, 24 words. This means that I will hold on to 2 cards.

When my students come for class, I give each of them a card and a worksheet. I use a verb from the previous lesson (kick) and ask them which category I should park it. Of course, they unanimously say add -s to verb because I’m the greatest teacher ever. After demonstrating this, I ask them to look at the word on their card and give them time to park it in the right category.

The highlight of the lesson arrives. I demonstrate the game with a student first. I show them how we are supposed to swap cards and write the new word in the right category. When they understand how to play the game, I get everyone to stand up and Just Do It!

Chaos ensues, but it is lovely pandemonium because everyone is engaged in swapping cards and writing the words. I get them to think about the correct SVA form (-s, -es, -ies) without even breaking a sweat. I not only play the game with them, but also have the time to help the weakest kid read some words.

I am quite competitive and manage to write down 19 words. The top participant beats me by an edge - 20 words. Oh well.

Subsequently, I get students to come to the whiteboard one by one and write down a word. This is when I realise they haven’t mastered the material yet. Most of them put the words in the wrong category, so I have to correct them on the spot. Compare the wife disparity between my strongest and weakest students:

Honestly, I don’t expect them to get the SVA wrong for most of the verbs. So, the learning is scattered and piecemeal at the end due to my lack of foresight. The students who come up to the whiteboard to write a word randomise the way I explain the words. In hindsight, I could have taken better control of the lesson by explicitly going through all the words in each category. That way, they will have at least learnt that we add ‘s’ to verbs that end with ‘e’ (introduce, advise, organise), as well as add ‘ies’ to verbs that end with ‘y’.

Oh well, live and let live.

Also, the weakest kid seems to have remembered how to read ‘problems’. Yay!