Speaking activities

Last Letter Game

Level: All Procedure: Ask Ss to choose a category (example: animals). T says the name of an animal and the first St must give the name of another animal that begins with the last letter of the T’s city. For example: T says Snake, St says Elephant. Go around the class. It helps to write the words on the board, ask Ss to spell them as they go!

Guess the Password Level: Secondary Procedure: Divide Ss into two teams. T sends two sts out of the room, one st from each team. Have the class decide on a word that they want the sts to guess, e.g. ‘ice cream’ After the word is chosen, bring the 2 sts back into the room. Each student takes a turn giving a clue to their teammates until one of the sts guesses the correct word.

Situational Role Plays

Level: Secondary, Post-Secondary Procedure: T divides sts into small groups and gives each group the same situation (either orally or on cards). Sts write dialogues for that situation and then performs them for the class.

Variation #1 : T gives each group a different situation, perhaps based on the same theme or vocabulary set. Variation #2: T gives each group a list of vocabulary, on a specific topic. The sts must use the vocabulary in their role-play.

2 Truths and a Lie

Level: Secondary, Post-Secondary Procedure: Each student thinks of three things to say about themselves, 2 of which are true and 1 is false. Depending on the level of the sts, these facts can be simple or complex. They tell their three things to a small group and the others try to guess which is not true. This can be used for many different tenses.

Variation: T writes some on the board about themselves and students vote for which one they think is a lie. (This way is quicker and better for warm-ups)

Directed Drawings

Level: Secondary Procedure: One st comes to the board as the drawer. The other sts give instructions of what to draw and where to draw it. The sts then make up a story to go with the picture (What is happening?). T can give them specific vocabulary to use or a topic to cover.

Back-to-Back Instructions

Level: All Materials: Pictures and blank pieces of paper Procedure: T divides sts into pairs, they sit back to back. On st in the pair has a picture. S/he must describe the picture and the other must draw. Then they compare the pictures to see if the description was successful. Variation: One st has a picture of a room and the other has the room and the furniture that belong in it. The first st must describe where the furniture belongs in the room.

Hot Seat

Level: Secondary, Post-Secondary Procedure: Good idea for vocabulary review. One student sits facing away from the board. Teacher writes a word on the board. The student’s teammates must describe the word until the student says it. Saying the word in Mongolian is not allowed!

CHAIN 1: Question Chain

Level: All Procedure: Teacher writes a question on the board (something about student’s lives like “what did you eat last night?” Or “What will you do after school today?). Teacher asks one student. Student answers. This student asks another student, who answers. Continue this chain until all students have answered.

CHAIN 2: Memory Chain

Level: Secondary, Post-Secondary Procedure: Teacher gives category (Example: Food) One student says “I have an Apple.” Next student thinks of a B food word and repeats previous student’s word. “I have an Apple and a Banana.” Next student says “I have an Apple, a Banana, and a Carrot.” Continue until alphabet is finished or all students have gone. This can be used for many different sentence structures.

CHAIN 3: Sentence Chain:

Level: Secondary, Post-Secondary Procedure: Good for practicing conditionals and cause/effect statements. First student makes a statement: “If I spoke perfect English, I would live in America.” Then the second student uses the end of the first sentence to start their sentence. “If I lived in America, I would eat hamburgers.” “If I ate hamburgers, I would be fat.” Etc.

Line up according to....

Level: All Procedure: Students must stand in a line according to an idea the teacher gives (oldest to youngest, earliest birthday to latest birthday, name by alphabetical order, etc). Students must ask a question to find out what order to stand in (How old are you? When is your birthday? What is your name?). Use a question that they have already learned. Teacher checks by asking each student the question.

Who am I?

Level: Secondary, Post-Secondary Procedure: You can use this with any subject. Write the names of famous people (or kinds of animals, or places you can go.. any noun from any category) on small pieces of paper. Tape a paper on the forehead of each student. Don’t let them see what their paper days. Then students can pair up (or mix with each other in a “cocktail party” setting) and ask yes or no questions to determine who they are. This game can be adapted for many different vocabulary sets.

War Daniel Morris, M21

Level: Secondary Materials: Deck of cards Procedure: Put S’s into pairs. Give S’s 9 cards each. S’s put down one card each. Whoever has the higher card must ask the other student a question. If S’s are younger write questions on the board as reference. If the player answers the question incorrectly, player 1 gets the card. If player 2 answers the question correctly then he asks player 1 a question. If the S answers incorrectly he loses the card. If both players answer correctly it’s a draw. Repeat the process. The player with the most cards wins.

Improv Story Daniel Morris, M21

Level: Secondary Materials: Paper, pens, printer/computer (if typing it up) Procedure: Each S will write a story. The number of sentences depends on skill level and age. In each sentence leave at least one word out, and replaced by a blank space. Everyone must pass their story to another S. Let them read and think about appropriate words to fill in the blanks. Can be lesson specific vocabulary. Once finished, each S should stand up and read their stories out loud. S’s with the most creative words in their stories wins a prize.

Variation: T’s could write a story prior to class, and allow S’s to fill in the blanks.

Theatre Jason P. Douglas, M21

Level: Secondary, Post-Secondary Materials: Paper Procedure: T breaks S’s into groups after presenting a short story/fable. T chooses one narrator in the Group, and the narrators must read the story out loud. While narrator recites the story, other S’s must act it out.

Variation 1: For younger S’s or shy S’s, make puppets as a proxy to act out the story. Or, allow shy S’s to be inanimate objects, as they will still benefit from the activity (i.e. tree). Variation 2: For advanced S’s, have them write their own skit based on the story. (Writing Comprehension)

The Hot Seat Katie Leitch, M21 Level: All Materials: Blackboard, Chalk Procedure: One S sits in the ‘Hot Seat’ facing the class. The T (or, if an advanced class, a S) stands behind the Hot Seat, at the board. S’s ask the Hot Seat S questions, and the Hot Seat S answers. T writes the questions on the board, correcting if necessary. Once S’s are finished asking Q’s, the written list can be used for a ‘line dialogue’: S’s line up, facing each other, and ask/answer Q’s, rotating partners every few minutes.

Cocktail Party Katie Leitch, M21

Level: All Materials: Paper Procedure: On the first day of class, have S’s get out a piece of paper. S’s should write their names, big, in the middle, and then write A’s to Q’s in the four corners. T decides Q’s beforehand (i.e. What kind of music do you like?). Write the Q’s on the board. Have S’s hold papers in front of them and circulate, having a ‘cocktail party’. Also consider using these as nametags and/or taking a picture of each S to learn their names.

Miracle Workers & Superheroes Anonymous, M21

Level: Secondary, Post-Secondary Procedure: Each S receives a handout with 15 Miracle Workers and Superheroes. S’s must divide them into 3 groups of 5: 1. The most desirable qualities for her/himself; 2. The most interesting; 3. The least desirable. Have S’s discuss their choices in small groups, and try to discover patterns. Have S’s explain their most desirable quality or defend their other choices. Have S’s debate over the most desirable qualities.

Swap Shop Anonymous, M21

Level: Secondary, Post-Secondary Material: Cards Procedure: Each S is given a role card (i.e. They collect model trains or They collect old records). S’s are also given a prop or description of an object they are willing to swap. S’s walk around the room discussing their interests, and what they are willing to swap until they find a partner. Partners discuss whether or not they are willing to swap their items and why. Probably work better with smaller groups. S’s can model transaction in front of the class.

What are you doing? Stephanie Sullivan, M21

Bizz-Buzz Counting Game Mindy Adams, M21

Level: Secondary, Post-Secondary Procedure: S’s stand up. T picks a number (i.e. 3). S’s are not allowed to say 3, multiple of 3, or a number with a 3 in it (i.e. 13) when counting. First S starts counting 1, next S 2, next S has to say “bizz” or “buzz” because T picked the number 3. If S says correctly, keep counting. If S says “three” instead of “bizz/buzz” S sits down, and the next person starts at 1. Continue until only 1 person is standing.

Hot Potato Alyssa Vohies, M21

Level: Secondary Material: ball, thing to throw around the room: S’s throw item around the room to different stu. The stu could ask questions, e.g. “how many people in your family, where do you live?

Sparkle Alex Hill, M21

Level: All Material: None Procedure: Ss stand in circle. T says a vocabulary word, the first S says the first letter, the second S says the second letter and so on. Once the word is spelled out, the next S says, SPARKLE! Then choose the next word.