Have you ever played with folded paper "fortune tellers" or "cootie catchers"? You know, the ones where you pick colors and numbers, folding and unfolding the fortune teller until you discover your "fate" within? Not sure what game I'm talking about? Then check out the photo at the right! I designed Christmas fortune tellers that my students could play with. Instead of numbers, there were Christmas colors and designs to help my students practice and expand their English vocabulary. Hidden inside were questions asking what they had done over winter break, such as, "What did you do with your family on New Year's Eve?" and "What was your favorite Christmas activity or present?" I was surprised to learn that some of my Cypriot students had played with these folding fortune tellers before--the very same ones I had played with halfway around the world when I was growing up. Even though my students had played with fortune tellers before, they were excited to play with the ones I had made, and even more excited to learn how to design their own the next day. In fact, the photograph at the right shows one of my students' designs. These activities were a great way for us to learn about each others' cultures. On the first day, I got to learn about my students' holiday traditions, and on the second day, I taught my students about an American holiday tradition: writing New Year's resolutions. That's right, I challenged my students to set goald for 2019 and to write their own resolutions— serious or silly— inside their fortune tellers! New Year's resolutions aren't a common tradition in Cyprus, but you would never have guessed that from my students' serious and silly responses.
