Warmer Activities

ORAL SKILLS IN SECONDARY

“Warmer Activities” A portfolio

by Javier Zabaleta

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

Diana Lindsay 2012

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ORAL SKILLS IN SECONDARY

INDEX Name of the activity ______________________ page 1. Guess the mime

3-4

2. Keyword dialogue

5-6

3. Matchmaking discussion

7-9

Materials

10-12

4. Ranking

13-14

5. Castaway

15-16

6. The Divorce Case

17-18

Materials

19-20

7. Short Role Play

21-22

Materials

23-24

8. Thunk

25

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

Diana Lindsay 2012

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ORAL SKILLS IN SECONDARY

ORAL ACTIVITY Name of teacher JAVIER ZABALETA Title of activity

“Guess the Mime”

Aim of activity

Students mime sentences which their group tries to guess.

Age / level of learners / time

20'-30'

Teaching aids / materials

Resources: Hotel Reception The situation: a guest who is staying at a hotel has a bad cold and cannot speak. They want the receptionist to do something for them. A point to note is that the cards are not declarative sentences but rather requests.

There are 12 different cards, and they are arranged into 3 sets according to difficulty: hotel_mimes.doc (html preview). Groups of 4 students are ideal for this activity. An example to use for the demonstration is: "The television in my room is broken. Please send somebody to look at it."

Procedure

Introduction Students work in small groups. They are supplied with cards and they have to communicate the information on the card to their group members without speaking. The other members of the group can speak, however. What they have to guess is not just a single word or concept—that would be a test of vocabulary rather than fluency—but instead a scenario with some degree of complexity. Thus, the group has to negotiate the meaning, one person using mime and the others using English.

Preparation Prepare slips of paper with the scenarios written on them, and make enough (identical) sets so that each group can receive one. Or better yet, although a bit more difficult to manage, is to split the cards into smaller sets according to difficulty. At the start of the activity, give the easiest set to all the groups. Then when a group finishes that set, swap it for a more difficult set. Since some groups will be quicker than others, not all the groups will finish every set.

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

Diana Lindsay 2012

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ORAL SKILLS IN SECONDARY

However, you will be able to give all the groups time to finish the current set before stopping the activity, rather than having to stop them when they still have unused cards left (or waiting until every group is finished, which would leave the faster groups with nothing to do). Make sure the different sets are easy to distinguish! For example, secure them with different coloured paperclips.

You also need one or two scenarios to mime yourself, to demonstrate the activity.

See the Resources section for examples. If you adapt this activity to a different theme, please post your ideas in the Comments section.

Procedure First explain the situation. For instance, in the Hotel Reception example explain that you are a guest at a hotel but you have a bad cold and cannot talk. You have come to the front desk because you want the receptionist to do something for you. Tell the students to guess what your request is, and then mime it. Doing this demonstration is very important, not only to explain the activity to the students, but also to introduce mime into the classroom. Miming can be a bit embarrassing, especially if the students do not know each other well, and unless you make a fool of yourself in front of the class first, you cannot expect them to make a fool of themselves in front of their peers!

Next explain the activity: student work in groups of four. You will give each group a set of cards. Students take a card, but do not show it to the other members of their group. They have to communicate the information on the card without speaking. Their group members have to guess the information on the card—not word­for­word, but just the idea. Remind them of the situation (for example, hotel reception) since guessing the mime will be a lot more difficult unless they keep this in mind. Check: Can you show the card to the people in your group? (no) When it's your turn, can you speak? (no) They how do you communicate? (actions) Can the other people in your group speak? (yes) Do they have to guess every word, or just the main idea? (just the main idea)

Comment

Hand out the sets of cards. If you have split the cards into several sets according to difficulty, you do not need to explain this at the start of the activity. Just be ready to swap the sets when you see that a group has finished.

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

Diana Lindsay 2012

4

ORAL SKILLS IN SECONDARY

ORAL ACTIVITY Name of teacher JAVIER ZABALETA Title of activity

“Keyword Dialogue”

Aim of activity

Students roleplay a dialogue, guided by a handful of keywords.

Age / level of learners / time

Any level.

5'

Teaching aids / materials

The aim of the activity is: To practise questions orally.

Materials: None

Procedure

Introduction Roleplays typically need some sort of guidance to avoid them falling flat. In this case, the guidance is a set of keywords written on the blackboard. The students are free to use these words in any way they can think of.

Each student in the group has a different set of keywords, which forces all the students to participate in the conversation. Since their partner's keywords are visible, the activity is quite cooperative: ideally, students guide the conversation so that their partner has an opportunity to use their keywords.

Preparation The keywords should guide the students to certain topics of conversation, but be open enough so that the students can use their own knowledge to flesh out the discussion (obviously, the topics should be about something which the students are familiar with). Since the first sentence is often the most difficult, you can give the students a push by also writing an opening sentence for one of the students. If the topic can be chosen to follow on smoothly from the previous activity or topic, then the interest already established by the students can be preserved. For example, the following set of keywords (and one opening sentence) were used immediately after the students practised a dialogue in their books where two people were talking about popular foods in America.

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

Diana Lindsay 2012

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ORAL SKILLS IN SECONDARY

Visitor to China: "You have so many different kinds of cooking in China."; chili; favourite; American.

Chinese friend: North; rice; famous; South.

Obviously, the idea is for the two students to roleplay a conversation about food in China, including discussing the differences between Northern and Southern cuisine, the use of chili, some famous dishes, and so on.

Procedure Before the activity, write the keywords on the blackboard. I suggest writing them in a cloud rather than a list, otherwise students might try to use them in the same order as the list, which cuts down the opportunity for creativity and spontaneity.

Explain the roles, and the rule that each person should use each keyword in their column at least once. But that's during the whole conversation—there's certainly no need to try to fit more than one keyword into the same sentence!

Comment

Afterwards, you might invite one or more groups to perform their roleplay...

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

Diana Lindsay 2012

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ORAL SKILLS IN SECONDARY

Name of teacher JAVIER ZABALETA Title of activity

“Matchmaking Discussion”

Aim of activity

Students discuss how best to pair up the profiles of eight single people.

Age / level of learners Teaching aids / materials Procedure

Introduction This is a jigsaw activity: each member of the group knows some of the information, and they have to combine that information in order to solve the problem. Specifically, each member in the group of four knows the profiles of two people. The aim of the activity is to match up these (4 x 2 =) eight people in the way that the group deems the most suitable.

To make the scenario more concrete, ask the students to pretend that the profiles are the two children of each group member. This also adds an element of roleplay.

There are several ways to run this activity. The simplest is just to divide the class into groups of four, give each person one of the four information sheets, and insist that students do not show the sheets to each other. I have not tried this, but it would probably be quite effective as long as the teacher makes sure that students do not peek at the other sheets.

Another option, which prolongs the activity and also makes "cheating" impossible, is to first get students to discuss their two "children" in pairs, considering what kind of person would make a good marriage partner for them. During this stage, the students are also expected to memorise the profiles. Then the information sheets are collected by the teacher, the pairs split up, and groups of four formed.

If there is enough space in the classroom, forming the new groups of four should be quite easy for the students to do by themselves. But if you doubt the logistics of doing this, for example the classroom space is too tight, then you need to assign students to groups. The method below describes a way of doing just this, using slips with group numbers written on the back, but it is not for the faint­hearted!

I welcome suggestions for a better way of managing this aspect of the activity.

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

Diana Lindsay 2012

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ORAL SKILLS IN SECONDARY

Preparation Make enough copies of the information sheets (each one is half a page) so that each pair of students can receive one of the four sheets. These are in this document: eight_singles.doc (html preview).

The above document also includes a sheet with the characters names.

Make enough copies so that each student can receive one pair of names. The sheet should be cut up into slips, each containing one pair of names: Tony and Paul, Edward and Matthew, Jenny and Sue, Ingrid and Julie.

But before cutting up the sheet, mark the back of each slip with a number to indicate a group number. Each number should appear four times, on the back of four different kinds of slip: for example, there should be one "Tony and Paul" slip with a number 1, one "Edward and Matthew" slip with a number 1, and so on.

Put the information sheets in a certain order, ready to hand out to the pairs during class. For example, order them: Tony and Paul, Edward and Matthew, Jenny and Sue, Ingrid and Julie, Tony and Paul (repeating the sequence), Edward and Matthew, etc.

Put the name slips in the same order, but in this case each pair will receive two slips, so double them up: two "Tony and Paul" slips, two "Edward and Matthew" slips, two "Jenny and Sue" slips, and so on.

Ideally, the group numbers on the backs of the slips should be in a random order. Procedure Before the activity, it is a good idea to introduce some phrases that would be useful while matching people up. For example, "well­suited", "compatible", "...would make a good couple".

Introduce the situation: the students become parents, each with children who they want to marry off.

Explain that you will give each pair a sheet with 2 sons or 2 daughters.

In their pairs, the students should discuss what kind of partner would be suitable for each child, considering personality, job, interests, etc.

Distribute one information sheet to each pair.

If the number of students is not exactly divisible by four, then you should decide in advance whether you will have a few groups of three for the final discussion phase, or a few groups of five. In the former case, you should give the groups of three the missing information sheet to look at.

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

Diana Lindsay 2012

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ORAL SKILLS IN SECONDARY

Now comes the most difficult part. While the students are discussing their children's marital future, spread out the name slips on your desk, choose one slip from each group (ie. each set of slips with the same number on the back) to be the group leader, and circle the number of the back of that slip. Try to choose group leaders so that they are distributed around the class, because the groups will assemble at the group leader's desk. To clarify: you need to circle one of each number, one number 1, one number 2, etc. The reason this is often difficult is that you have to deal with the problem of empty desks and so on, and you have to look at the slips laid out on your desk and see how they correspond to the seats in the classroom. When you have finished, stack the slips in a pile, ready to hand out to the students.

After the students have had some time to read the information sheet and discuss it, explain that they also need to remember this information because you are going to recollect the sheets. The students should not write down anything! Also, make it clear that they have to remember both profiles, because the students in each pair will be split up and assigned to different groups. Check:  Can you write anything down? (no)  Do you need to remember both, or just one? (both) While the students are working, distribute the name slips. Each student should receive one, and the names on the slip should match the names on the information sheet that they have been studying.

Collect the information sheets.

Ask everybody to look at the number on the back of the name slip.

That is their group number. Now ask the people whose number is circled to stand up. These are the group leaders. The leaders will stay where they are, and the other group members have to move to that area of the classroom and sit down. Ask the group leaders to say their group numbers, while the others listen. Check:  If your number is circled, do you move? (no) Allow students to quickly move to their groups and sit down. Then tell them that their task is to match up the eight single people in the most appropriate way. They can use the name slips as discussion aids: tear the slip in half first, and then match the names up.

Once most groups have matched up their "children", stop the activity and discuss the results. For example, you can ask "Who did you match Jenny with?", write the most popular answer on the board, and then ask one of the groups to explain why this match is suitable. Note that there is no single correct answer.

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

Diana Lindsay 2012

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ORAL SKILLS IN SECONDARY

Your son Tony is a young doctor who often works long hours at the hospital. He is quiet and intelligent, and likes reading books and magazines. But he’s shy, especially with women, and sometimes has difficulty communicating with people.

Your son Paul has a stable job in a shop. He loves sport, and plays in an amateur football team. He’s good-looking and fit, but has never had a girlfriend. He is more interested in spending time with his friends from the team! But he would like to get married, and looks forward to teaching his son to play football.

What kind of women should your sons marry?

Consider personality, work, interests, etc.

Your son Edward is studying business at college. He loves chatting and joking with people, and is very confident (sometimes even a bit bossy). He has had several girlfriends, but never for more than 2 or 3 months—he says that none of them were exciting enough.

Your son Matthew has a job as a gardener, which he is very happy with because he likes being outside. In his spare time he paints, and enjoys reading poetry. He hopes that one day he can sell some of his paintings. He doesn’t have much money, but he is very romantic. He also loves cooking.

What kind of women should your sons marry?

Consider personality, work, interests, etc.

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

Diana Lindsay 2012

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ORAL SKILLS IN SECONDARY

Your daughter Jenny is doing a Master’s degree in engineering at a top university. She’s kind and generous, but she is easily upset and sometimes feels depressed. In her spare time she takes photographs, and loves travelling.

Your daughter Sue works in a restaurant. She enjoys her job, and likes talking with the customers—especially handsome young men!

She is always cheerful. Her favourite pastime is going shopping with her friends.

What kind of men should your daughters marry?

Consider personality, work, interests, etc.

Your daughter Ingrid is a shy girl who works at a nearby factory.

She’s an excellent piano player, and usually practises for an least an hour every day. She’s pretty, but sometimes selfish. She is very close to her parents, and she looks forward to having a child of her own.

Your daughter Julie owns a bookshop, and is often very busy.

Although not good-looking, she is lively and confident and has many friends. When she has time, she likes going to restaurants, films, and music concerts.

What kind of men should your daughters marry?

Consider personality, work, interests, etc.

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

Diana Lindsay 2012

1

ORAL SKILLS IN SECONDARY

Tony

Paul

Jenny

Sue

Edward

Matthew

Ingrid

Julie

Tony

Paul

Jenny

Sue

Edward

Matthew

Ingrid

Julie

Tony

Paul

Jenny

Sue

Edward

Matthew

Ingrid

Julie

Tony

Paul

Jenny

Sue

Edward

Matthew

Ingrid

Julie

Tony

Paul

Jenny

Sue

Edward

Matthew

Ingrid

Julie

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

Diana Lindsay 2012

1

ORAL SKILLS IN SECONDARY

ORAL ACTIVITY Name of teacher JAVIER ZABALETA Title of activity

“Ranking”

Aim of activity

Groups discuss how to order a list of words.

Age / level of learners Teaching aids / materials

Resources Job Stress (This is the example given in the introduction). Rank these jobs from most stressful to least stressful: factory worker, pilot, policeman, doctor, teacher, housewife, president, taxi driver, manager.

Choosing an Apartment Rank these in order of importance: large, near shops, near school, near bus stop, good security, quiet, nice view.

Procedure

Introduction Group discussion often works best when there is a clear goal. In this case, the goal is for all the members of the group to agree on how to rank a list of concepts. For example, rank these jobs from most stressful to least stressful: factory worker, pilot, policeman, doctor, teacher, housewife, president, taxi driver, manager.

Preparation The only preparation is to decide on the list of words and the ranking criterion. There are many possibilities for these. If possible, try to pick something related to the topic of the lesson.

I used the above example during a lesson where an earlier activity was also related to the topic of stress.

Six to nine concepts is usually appropriate. Of course, try to choose concepts which are likely to provoke some disagreement (in my class, opinions varied greatly over how stressful a housewife's job was) otherwise there will be little need for discussion!

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

Diana Lindsay 2012

1

ORAL SKILLS IN SECONDARY

Procedure Write the list of words on the board (in random order), and explain any words which might not be recognised. Then explain the activity (probably with a diagram or example on the board).

Check:    

Do you work in groups? (yes) Will your group write down its answer? (yes) Should everyone in the group agree on the answer? (yes) So, how many lists will each group write down? (one)

As groups begin finishing, invite some to write their results on the board, preferably groups whose lists exhibit differences.

Round off the activity with a brief class discussion of these differences, asking each group to explain why it chose such a ranking, taking a vote on the first or last place, etc.

Comment

Variations: The list can come, at least partly, from the students. For example, you might write "skiing, boxing, horse-riding" on the board, and then ask the students if they think think that these sports are dangerous. Then elicit some other (dangerous?) sports from the class, until you have six or seven in total. The group activity follows: rank these sports from most dangerous to least dangerous.

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

Diana Lindsay 2012

1

ORAL SKILLS IN SECONDARY

ORAL ACTIVITY Name of teacher JAVIER ZABALETA Title of activity

“Castaway”

Aim of activity

Students practice oral fluency talking about uses for everyday objects in a difficult situation.

Age / level of learners

Intermediate

Teaching aids / materials

The aim of the activity is: “it’s used for... it could be used for...”

Procedure

Materials: A collection of everyday objects from around the house and a large bag to put the objects in. Here is a sample list of the kind of objects that work well for this activity: A coat hanger, some diskettes, a bread knife, a can opener, a hammer, some lipstick, a comb, a paintbrush, some string Warmer Tell the students that to imagine the following situation: they were all on a cruise ship when there was a terrible storm. The boat sank, but they have managed to reach a small tropical island. There is abundant fruit on the island and lots of fish too. However, the only things they have with them are these objects, which have washed ashore.

Stage One Bring out the objects and make sure the students know what they are in English. While doing this, ask, “What is it used for?” making sure that they use the gerund. Divide the students into groups of three or four. Each group has to come up with alternative uses for the objects in their situation. Write an example on the board.

The coat hanger is used for hanging clothes. It could be used for fishing.

They have to discuss this as a group and at the end present their solution to the class.

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

Diana Lindsay 2012

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ORAL SKILLS IN SECONDARY

Stage Two Circulate and monitor the groups while they are doing the speaking activity. Set a time limit (10 minutes is usually enough, but let it go on longer if they get into it!). The activity works better if each group has some or all of the objects so that they can touch and handle them. If you have a big class, or don’t have enough objects, try one of the variations below.

Stage Three Stop the activity when students have decided how they can use the objects. Ask each group to present their ideas to another group. At the end, ask which group had the most imaginative uses for the objects. To follow this up, ask students to work in their groups again and make a list of the ten objects they would most like to have in their situation.

Variations Comment

If you can get a copy of the film Cast Away starring Tom Hanks, you could use it as part of the warmer or study some scenes after the activity.

You could also ask the students to bring in the objects without telling them what they are for.

Tell them to each bring in four household objects that they don’t know the word for in English. Do stage one with them in groups.

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

Diana Lindsay 2012

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ORAL SKILLS IN SECONDARY

ORAL ACTIVITY Name of teacher JAVIER ZABALETA Title of activity

“The Divorce Case”

Aim of activity

A discussion where students decide who gets what in a divorce, then discuss issues surrounding divorce.

Age / level of learners

Intermediate +

Teaching aids / materials

The aim of the activity is: Expressions to describe relationships Materials: Worksheet: The Divorce Case (2 pages) / Follow up discussion questions on Divorce

Procedure

Warm Up Write the following letters on the board.

PAITNSHEROLI Ask students to work in pairs and to make as many words as they can using these letters. Give them a time limit of 2 minutes to do this, and then check back their answers.

Could anyone make a word using all the letters?

There is one word you can make using all the letters: it is RELATIONSHIP. Tell the students that today’s class is about relationships, more specifically about divorce.

Expressions about Relationships Give each pair of students the worksheet and ask them to do the first task. Check back the answers all together. If you have a monolingual class, you could ask them if they have any similar expressions in their language.

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

Diana Lindsay 2012

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ORAL SKILLS IN SECONDARY

Answers: Their relationship is on the rocks. U They are still in a honeymoon period. H They aren’t getting along very well. H They’re going through a rough patch. U They can’t see enough of each other. H She can’t put up with him any more. U They’re going (their) separate ways. U They stick together through thick and thin. H The Divorce Case Ask each pair to work with another pair and form a group of four. Ask one student to read out the introduction to the divorce case on the worksheet. Pre-teach custody and any other words you think your students might have trouble with. Then let students read the situation. Make sure that everybody knows what they have to do. Stress that they must discuss this case, but can only use English in their discussion.

They must write their recommendations in the space provided on the second worksheet. Set a time limit of fifteen minutes. You could let this go on longer if the students really get into it. Circulate and help where needed. When the time limit is up, do some feedback on what the different groups decided. Was there a consensus in the class?

Comment

Divorce Discussion Doing the above task will probably raise some issues about divorce that can now be discussed. Give each group a copy of the third worksheet. Appoint a reader for each group. The reader chooses one of the questions on the worksheet and asks it to the group. Emphasize that this should also be in English.

Circulate and listen to the different groups. If you have time, correct and review new language that came up in the activity at the end.

The issues surrounding divorce can be very personal and sometimes controversial, depending on where and whom you are teaching. Teachers should use this material only if they, and their students, are comfortable discussing it.

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

Diana Lindsay 2012

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ORAL SKILLS IN SECONDARY

Vocabulary: Talking about relationships.

Look at these expressions about John and Cristina. Which ones indicate that they are in a happy relationship, and which expressions indicate that they are in an unhappy relationship? Write H for happy and U for unhappy next to each sentence.

Their relationship is on the rocks.

They are still in a honeymoon period.

They aren’t getting along very well.

They’re going through a rough patch.

They can’t see enough of each other.

She can’t put up with him anymore.

They’re going (their) separate ways.

They stick together through thick and thin.

Divorce Case: Ford vs. Ford Imagine you are judges. YOU are responsible for divorce cases where the husband and wife cannot agree. Today you have been presented with another difficult case: Ford vs. Ford. Read about the case below.

Cristina Ford Cristina Ford is a forty-year-old advertising executive. She works very long hours and earns a lot of money. Since their daughter Olivia was born four years ago, Cristina has worked and supported the family.

John Ford John Ford is an unemployed forty-two year old man. He worked for many years in a bookshop. At the moment he is trying to write a novel. He stopped working when their daughter Olivia was born, and has stayed at home to take care of her for the past four years.

The Divorce John and Cristina got married ten years ago. They began to have problems in their marriage after Olivia was born. They have decided to get divorced, but are now very angry with one another.

Cristina wants: • Full custody of Olivia.

• The family house, a three-bedroom house in a nice part of town.

• Charlie, the family dog.

• Cristina wants to sell the summer beach apartment and share the money.

She refuses to give John any money at all. She does not want any money from John.

John can see his daughter every two weeks and have her for the summer holidays.

John wants: • Full custody of Olivia.

• Charlie, the family dog.

• The summer beach apartment so he can write there.

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

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ORAL SKILLS IN SECONDARY

• John wants to sell the family house in the city and share the money. He also wants Cristina to pay $1000 a month for child support. Cristina can see her daughter every two weeks and have her for the summer holidays. John also wants $25 000 compensation because he feels he sacrificed his work to raise Olivia.

Now discuss with the other judges in your group. You must come to a decision and make some clear recommendations. Write your recommendations here: _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________

When you have written your recommendations, consult with another group of judges.

Did you agree on what should be done? Then turn the page and look at the discussion questions on divorce.

Divorce conversation questions           

What are some of the common causes of divorce?

Is divorce legal in your country? Has it always been legal?

Is it easier to get a divorce now that in the past? Why? Is divorce more common now than in the past? Why or why not?

Some people say that children of divorced parents are more likely to divorce themselves. What do you think?

Many actors, for example Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones, sign very detailed contracts before they get married (called pre-marital contracts). These contracts say exactly how much money and materials each person will get if they divorce. Do you agree with these contracts?

Would you make one before you get married?

Does age make a difference in divorces? Are younger couples more likely to divorce than older ones?

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

Diana Lindsay 2012

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ORAL SKILLS IN SECONDARY

ORAL ACTIVITY Name of teacher JAVIER ZABALETA Title of activity

“Short Role Play”

Aim of activity

Oral fluency practice

Age / level of learners

Basically any activity where students pretend to be a certain character, or in a certain situation (and usually both) can be called a roleplay. A simple but effective way to manage a roleplay is to provide each student in the pair or group with a different sheet explaining their role.

The aim of the activity is: Role play according to instructions on roleplay card.

Teaching aids / materials

Materials: Roleplay cards Procedure

Preparation With a little bit of imagination, short roleplays can be devised to suit the content of the lesson: either to practise recently learnt language or to take advantage of ideas or interest generated by a previous activity.

Roleplays for beginner students might need to give quite explicit instructions, but at higher levels a roleplay that leaves room for adlibbing will provide the best opportunity for oral fluency practice. Some ways of doing this include: *giving the characters conflicting interests, and instructing them to negotiate and reach a decision or compromise; *requiring them to find out information that goes beyond what is given on the roleplay card, meaning that the students have to invent the details (for example interviewing somebody or meeting somebody for the first time); or having one character ask the other for their opinion or their advice.

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

Diana Lindsay 2012

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ORAL SKILLS IN SECONDARY

On the other hand, the instructions should be clear enough so that the students understand the situation and know what they have to do. Knowing how to start can sometimes be the most difficult thing, so it can be helpful to print the first sentence of the dialogue on one of the roleplay cards.

Some examples are given in the Resources section. Since the roleplays typically only require a few minutes each, often two or three can be included on one sheet. The students do each roleplay one after the other. The roleplay card can either be written in simple english, or the students' mother tongue.

Photocopy enough cards so that each student gets one. The sheets can be collected after the activity and used again with a different group of students.

Procedure Before handing out the roleplay cards, remind the students not to show their cards to each other. If there is more than one roleplay on the cards, explain that the students should do each roleplay in turn. Check: Can you show your sheet to your partner? (no) How many roleplays are there? (eg. 3) Which roleplay do you do first? (the first one!)

Resources Comment

Office Roleplay Here are three situations set in an office, for pairs to roleplay: office_rp.doc (html preview). You may need to pre-teach "overtime", and possibly "project" in this context.

Study Choices study_choices_rp.doc (html preview): This set of three short roleplays can be used after "college majors" vocabulary has been introduced: science, social science, humanities, business, accounting, philosophy, etc. Each roleplay is a discussion between a parent and a teacher, where they try to agree on what the child in question should study at college. There is no one "correct" answer, so at the end of the activity you can ask different pairs what they agreed on, to see what ideas have emerged.

This activity worked reasonably well, but not as well as the "Office Roleplays" activity described above. The difference is that this activity is more of a discussion than a roleplay, and most pairs just began by reading the information on their card to each other. (This is something to keep in mind when designing your own roleplays).

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

Diana Lindsay 2012

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ORAL SKILLS IN SECONDARY

Office Roleplays (A) 1. Worker A It is 5pm on Friday, but the boss has just asked you to work overtime to finish a project.

That’s terrible, because you have a date tonight! Beg Worker B to do the project instead of you.

You start: “Have you got any plans for tonight?”

2. New worker You are a computer programmer, and you have just started a new job today. You feel a bit nervous, but the office is nice (it has airconditioning!) and the people seem friendly.

Your partner starts.

3. Boss Last week, you gave a Worker a project, and told that person to finish it by today. You need the results from the project for a meeting at midday tomorrow.

You start: “Have you finished that project yet?”

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

Diana Lindsay 2012

2

ORAL SKILLS IN SECONDARY

Office Roleplays (B) 1. Worker B It is 5pm on Friday. You have no plans for tonight, but you are looking forward to going home and resting because you feel very tired.

Your partner starts.

2. Experienced worker You see a New Worker. Ask that person what their job is, and what they think of this company. Invite them to eat lunch with you.

You start: “Are you new here?”

3. Worker You were supposed to finish an project by today, but you haven’t finished yet because you didn’t have time. You have had to do many other important things this week.

Explain to your Boss that you will finish it by the end of tomorrow.

Your partner starts.

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

Diana Lindsay 2012

2

ORAL SKILLS IN SECONDARY

ORAL ACTIVITY Name of teacher JAVIER ZABALETA Title of activity

“Thunk”

Aim of activity

To guess the meaning of the word “thunk” in different contexts.

Age / level of learners

Any level.

Teaching aids / materials

The aim of the activity is: To practise questions orally.

Materials: None

Procedure

1. One volunteer/person stands up in the middle of the class. This person has to think about one English verb.

Normally action verbs. He/she can write down this verb in a piece of paper or tell the verb to the teacher, to be checked at the end.

2. The rest of the class, students, have to guess the verb the volunteer has thought.

3. In order to discover the verb, they have to ask questions using the word “thunk” as an English verb. i.e. when do you thunk?

How often do you thunk?

Can you thunk at home?...

4. The questions can be open or closed ones.

5. The volunteer has to answer all the questions. Telling the truth, according to the verb he/she has thought.

Comment

The person who guesses the verb hidden in thunk, can be the next volunteer... or the activity can be done in groups...

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

Diana Lindsay 2012

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