Matchmaking

Matchmaking by Anjali

1.Divide the class into 8 groups and tell them that they are parents. Give four of them daughters and four of them sons. Explain that their children are around the right age to start thinking about getting married. We want to pair up the four boys with the four girls.

2. Go over the various vocab that will describe their child (name, appearance, profession, personality (you’ll also have to explain outgoing and introverted), interests, ideal mate, etc.) and give them about five minutes to come up with their child’s profile. Meanwhile, divide the chalkboard into 8 parts and write the team number and gender of the child at the top of each column.

3. Ask each group to pick someone to come to the board and draw their child (face only is ok). They really get into this part but make sure they don’t spend too much time on the drawing—around 5 minutes. Do not skip this part—the lesson will not be the same without it!

4. Ask each group to tell the class about their child and take notes on the board next to the child’s picture as they speak.

5. After all eight groups have presented, give them a couple of minutes to discuss who they want to set their child up with and why (do they have similar interests, etc). Then pick one group and ask them who they want to set their child up with and why. Ask the parents of the other child if they agree to that set up and why or why not. If they agree, then there’s a match (and the whole class cheers!) and you can ham it up by linking the two pictures up with arrows and drawing a heart. If the parents of the other child don’t agree, then ask them who they want to set their child up with. Keep going until all the children are paired up. Lots of fun and worked like a charm in all of the classes.

NOTE: in each class there is always one really “undesirable” child that no one wants to be with. Save that one for the end because the last remaining child will have to be paired up with the undesirable one!