I was recently asked to prepare an activity for junior high-level English classes to have students use gerund phrases as modifiers for verbs. I took an idea from my coworker to have the students use whiteboards draw pictures which describe sentences that they put together by drawing cards at random. I made a stack of noun cards with pictures (Darth Vader, Michael Jackson, Taylor Swift, a pencil, etc), a verb (enjoyed, started, or finished), plus a gerund phrase (baking cookies, talking to plants, reading a Harry Potter book, etc). The picture would depend on the verb, whether its something that just began, just finished, or is in progress. I played this game with my daughter Ulan. She used her digital blackboard to draw pictures. We played several rounds.
Bananas started swimming in yogurt.
Elmo enjoyed playing the drums.
My neighbor’s stupid dog started riding a dinosaur.
Gunma-chan (Gunma Prefecture’s mascot) finished wrestling an octopus.
Anya finished hunting a Totoro.
Sponge Bob started stalking AKB48.
My cat finished building a time machine.
A muffin started stealing cars.
My grandmother enjoyed punching Luffy.
Ulan likes drawing goofy pictures, so this was a perfect way to play with English on a Sunday afternoon.