REAL CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES Chapter 2 – Classroom activities Chapter 15 – Tools, techniques, activities

Information gap One student has information the other student needs to complete the activity Mimics real life communication – or at least that’s the goal Secondary goal is “completing the task” which can be motivating Example: Partner A and partner B have partly filled in weekly schedules (see sample) Example: “Spot the differences” – 2 pictures that vary in some details (see example in Scrivener’s DVD)

Jigsaw Similar to information gap, but with several student “holding the pieces” to the puzzle or missing information Students work collaboratively to complete the task Task can be completed piece by piece with two students working together at once, or with a small group

Find someone who… An absolute favorite of ESL/EFL teachers, and one of my favorite!! (Scrivener says it has reached “classic activity status” with ESL teachers) Frequently used as a “Get to know you” type activity at the beginning of a semester Challenge of this activity is student must turn around the sentence and make it a question Excellent verb practice Countless variations – lexical or grammatical focus Should be modeled by instructor See examples

Flashcards Multiple uses include: - vocabulary items like clothing, food, etc. - visual image to accompany a story - prompts for group story-telling activity - actions that can be used for drilling / eliciting / practicing various verb tenses

Picture stories Series of pictures Used frequently in speaking or writing activities Can be used as warm up to a reading example from Amazing Canadian Newspaper stories

Route Map for pictures Introduce the topic – warm up Preview vocabulary, discuss pictures Have pairs tell story to each other Switch pairs and tell the story again? Post activity – write the story? Notice that the picture story is not a complete lesson, but a stage in the lesson provided in the textbook.

Storytelling Scrivener calls it an activity “that involves virtually nothing but TTT” Remember our definition of an activity? - Activity: “Something that learners do that involves them using or working with language to achieve some specific outcome.” Is there any merit to teacher story telling? - authentic listening – for content - my experience – students connect with it Student storytelling activity – “2 Truths and a lie”

Dictogloss Essentially a classroom dictation activity where learners are required to “reconstruct” a short text by listening and noting down key words A multiple skills activity involving listening, writing, and speaking Focus can be grammatical or lexical Preview/review of lexis/grammar Students listen while teacher reads text During second reading, students take notes In small groups, student reconstruct the text as accurately as possible

Dictogloss example Language learning seems not to benefit very much from long explanations. Ability to use a language seems to be more of a skill you learn by trying to do it (akin to playing football or riding a bicycle) than an amount of data that you learn and then try to apply.

Role plays A favorite among EL teachers as it mimics a real-life communicative situation Mixed success – compare simple role plays such as hotel guest/reception vs. angry customer complaining at a restaurant Example used in communications class “At the airport”

TABOO! Popular activity that feels like a game Can be played with only 2 people, or in teams Can be an excellent review of vocabulary covered in a written article or a topical discussion Forces students to use all their knowledge and rephrase many times