This month, ETA Michael Walsh prioritized helping students at SMKN 1 Tana Toraja learn how to both read and write descriptive texts. To help strengthen students’ English reading ability, Michael and his co-teachers designed a game called “Designing a Dream House.”

Students were divided into six groups. Eight descriptive texts were posted around the classroom and one student from each group was in charge of reading one of the descriptive texts. The descriptive texts described a specific household object that must be in the groups’ dream houses. The students were presented with three options after each descriptive text and had to choose the correct one. Once the student determined the correct object, they went back to their groups and drew the object in the groups’ dream house. The first group to correctly identify all eight correct objects and draw them in the dream house won.

This activity was a highlight for Michael this month because students effectively worked individually and collectively to decipher the descriptive texts and students were very engaged throughout the game.

Michael Walsh is currently teaching at SMKN 1 Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi.