Saturday, October 20, 2012

Playing store with my adult Norwegian class

One of my adult Norwegian classes is studying food right now, and just learned about the Norwegian monetary system. There is a dialogue in our textbook that illustrates how to shop for food, but that is the only example given. Many of my students either want to go to Norway in the future or are already planning their trip, so I use this opportunity to do a practical, hands-on lesson. Over the years, it has become a favorite among all my classes. I take the play food that the barnehage (children's immersion class) uses and set all the pieces out on a table. I include some silverware and condiments. Then I set the play cash register on the end and take out the play money. I make sure to hide the credit card that comes with the cash register! The students bring their books along and gather around the food. I sit at the end with the cash register and start the activity, greeting the first "customer". The "customer" chooses what he or she wants to buy, then gives it to me to ring up. I make up reasonable prices, but have a current advertisement from a Norwegian grocery store chain as a reference for those who want to use that. I tell the "customer" the price, then he or she pays me and we end the conversation. The "customer" then becomes the "cashier" and another student becomes the new "customer". I then am the last "customer" so that every student has an opportunity to fill both roles. If there were an interactive whiteboard in our classroom, the students could use the online advertisement site to pull up the actual prices of their merchandise so the "cashier" could ring it up accurately. This would also incorporate the techniques of skimming, reading forms, and spelling.