Chapter 4: Twenty Successful Activities

The Art of Teaching Speaking: Research and Pedagogy for the ESL/EFL
Classroom Fourth Edition
by  Keith S. Folse  (Author)

Presented by Dennis Henderson

Summer I 2019
BESL 6088 01
Tchng 2nd Lang Spkng-Listening
Organization

 Needed:
 Preparation Steps:
 In Class:
 Caveats and Further Suggestions:
 Example:
 Source:
Activities

 Find Someone who – icebreaker. Classroom participantion e.g. find someone

who has a red hat.
 Find the Differences – compare/contrasting students drawings, pictures, or
versions of the same source
 Draw a picture – dictation and asking clarifying question ask 1 student tell the
other what to draw
 Information Gap: simple completion – students pair up to trade missing pieces
of intel to complete map, area, family tree...etc. each student will a piece of the
puzzle( paper snippets of drawing or incomplete chart..etc)
 Information Gap: Group Problem Solving – same as above but in groups like
scavenger hunt with one main paper to complete
Example of #5
Activities... con’t

 Ranking – Teacher descramble the list. in groups < 7. discuss and rank Real
World items e.g. highest country population; which are more expensive; which
city eats more...etc.
 True or False – in small groups uncover the truth, like the game liar. E.g. 3
statements are true but 1 is not.
 Auction – speaking game to compete against teams to “buy” correct sentences
e.g. for Grammar or Vocab definitions
 If you were the Judge – read/ consider the facts and make a judgement. Show
proof. Bring it in for class discussion
Example Case
Activities... con’t

 Liar – groups of 3 student act out the instructions without letting the 4th person
see what happen. All 3 accuse each other but only 1 is lying. 4th student must
listen, ask questions and infer the liar. Using past tense agreement “ I saw...”

 Pair-Talking(minimal pairs and difficult sounds) – 2 students 4 pictures per

sheet. One student describes a picture without pointing and the other has to ID the
exact picture some words are homophones like ice and eyes
Activities... con’t
Activities... con’t

 Communication Crosswords Puzzles – pairs of 3 or 4 solve together but some

of the clues the other student doesn’t have.
 Twenty Questions (pairs, small groups, or whole class) – community activity
asking yes or no questions uncover the teacher selection students secret the teach
gave.
 Solve the Mystery: Finish the Story – in small groups find out the ending to the
story. Nonfictional.
Activities... con’t

 Role Play – students use their creatively and personality to play the role s person
while interacting with another person in the role play.
 Flexible Odd-Person Out- < 3 students group. A card game. Work to find out
who has an object that is different, then the odd person is out.

 English Language Questions Task Cards – 3 or 4 persons. Answer

grammar/vocab questions/ task. Inductive learning. Discuss and reach consensus.
Activities... con’t

 Battle: Find It First – pairs or groups ask yes or no questions to ID a certain

picture that the student has marked. Like I-spy game.

 Tell it Three Times: 3-2-1 – fluency building. < 3 in a group. From teacher
prompt tell a story, then switch groups are tell the story. (3 mins , 2 mins , 1 min
decreased time to tell the story)
Last one...

 Strip story – Student say and listen to the part of a short narrative in order to put
themselves in the correct sequence. Students move around. The teacher selects the
narrative cut the sentences and scramble them.