Musical Chairs with the Chamorro Alphabet

Print version




Elementary, 1-5

Time required

15 min.

Materials required

  • Note cards or paper
  • Marker
  • Chairs [optional]
  • CD or tape player with music

Related background reading


Related documents


Related links

Guampedia: Hale’ta: Chamorro Cultural Glossary

Lesson Plan


In this activity, students will play a simple, interactive game (similar to musical chairs) to practice the Chamorro alphabet.


  • In a relaxed environment (in the course of playing a game), students will practice applying their knowledge of the Chamorro alphabet.
  • Students will be encouraged to creatively apply their understanding of Chamorro phonetics and spelling.
  • Through play, students will be able to identify more difficult letters, and words that apply to them.

Questions or Assessment

  • How much effort did it take students to be able to complete the task following each round? Were they able to?
  • Did students appear frustrated? If so, were they able to improve over time?
  • Were students creative in their answers?


Teacher prep
1. On a series of note cards or pieces of paper, write a single Chamorro letter. Make sure it is large enough for the entire class to see.

2. Note: If the class has not learned the entire alphabet yet, or if the class size is very large, it is okay to only focus on a few, repeating letters.

3. Set up the chairs in a circle, with one for every student. Place a single alphabet note card on each seat. [Should chairs not be available, it is possible to play this game by simply designating a sitting space around each note card placed on the ground].

Playing the Game (15 min.)
Students will play a game of musical chairs, but in order to maintain their seat, they must apply their knowledge of the Chamorro alphabet.
1. Student will stand in a ring around the chairs.

2. The instructor will remove one chair (so that the total number of chairs

3. The instructor will start the music, and while the music is playing, students will circle the chairs.

4. The instructor will stop the music at a random point, at which time the students must quickly find a seat on which to sit.

5. One student will be unable to find a seat (at which point, they are “out” and must stand to the side).

a. Be certain not to draw too much attention to the student being “out”, as some will be shy and uncomfortable with the potential for negative attention.

6. Have each student stand, hold up the alphabet note card, and face toward the center of the circle (so that all students can see each others’ note cards).

7. Very quickly, move around the circle and have each student say a word that begins with the letter they are holding. If students are more advanced, do not allow them to repeat words that have been used before.

8. If a student gets a word wrong, they are “out.” Have them remove their chair and alphabet note card from the circle.

9. Repeat steps 1-8 until there are no more students left.

Recap (5 min.)
1. Recap what we’ve done and learned in the lesson

“Today we applied out knowledge of the Chamorro language by discovering words that start with individual letters. We had fun experimenting and trying out these words, and this will help us better understand the alphabet and Chamorro language spelling in our future studies.”

2. Ask students for their favorite parts of the lesson.


Utilize the language resources available on Guampedia, including the soon-to-come Online Chamorro Dictionary, to decorate the room with letters and words. By having such exposure to Chamorro words and letters in a passive manner, students will feel more comfortable with the language.