Lost Island (to practice must, mustn’t)

This a good lesson to practice “must” and “mustn’t,” which my 7th graders learned from their grammar classes this week. They get to draw a little bit and use their imaginations, and they all seemed to enjoy the lesson.

First, divide the into groups of 3 or 4 students. Don’t let them pick their own groups, because there will inevitably be one group that finishes in 20 minutes and one that uses up the entire 45. Mix them up.

Give each group a piece of paper, or have them use one of their notebooks. Tell them to draw a map of an island. It helps if you have one that you’ve drawn as an example. The island can include beaches, mountains, hills, forests, lakes, rivers, natives, or whatever (side note: some groups will get really creative - one of my groups drew a candy island, complete with ice cream hills, cotton candy clouds, and a river of vanilla. Another group drew a nightmare island where children who get bad grades are tortured by some of my school’s stricter teachers and made into zombies, who then go and torment good children).

Give them 5 or 10 minutes to complete their islands. As each group finishes, explain to them that this island is like the island in the TV show “Lost” (they all know “Lost,” if you don’t just click the link), and that their group is lost together on this island. Have them write 20 rules, using must and mustn’t, to help live on the island. Examples: We must look for food. We mustn’t drink the ocean water.

When they finish, have each group pick their most important rules and share them with the whole class.

If you have extra time: have them write short stories of how they got to the island, or how they got home.

If they’re really into Lost, and have learned future tenses: have them write what they think will happen this season (meaning in the 2nd season, which is playing in Hungary right now).