Speaking/Listening Activity
The following is adopted from the improv game: One Word at a Time.
LEVEL: Mid-basic or later
TIME: 15 minutes (min)
PURPOSE: To practice either speaking/listening comprehension in a way that is a little different. It can function as a variation of word scramble (ie. you have a bunch of words and have to put them together in a sentence) for teachers who want to provide more of a challenge or assessment following a similar activity. Best of all, it’s adjustable to the level of any group of students with enough grammar and vocabulary to have a conversation.
PREPARATION AND MATERIALS: None, though some sort of warm-up activity before this one is highly recommended. If students are expected to use newer vocabulary, it may be helpful to write a word toolkit on the board.
GOAL: Students must compose a letter together by only saying one word at a time.
ACTIVITY:
- Students sit in a circle or small group.
- If doing groups, I recommend odd numbers of people. This game is traditionally played with two people, leaving one to say all the grammar and the other to do all the “thinking” (Example: I wrote you last week, but you didn’t write back). Part of the “game” is the person doing all the improv to choose words to “flip” this relationship. This may not be as extreme for beginner ESL students, as they are equally learning grammar, but it should be avoided.
- Everyone picks a topic or topic is taken from the subject of the lesson (example: food) and decide name and relationship of person the letter is directed toward (example: John, friend)
- Randomly choose a student (ie. spin a wheel, throw a ball into the air, etc). This student is where the game begins.
- The first student begins with “Dear,” the next the name of the person the group is writing a letter to, third formally begins the letter.
- Students then continue the letter, going around the circle with one word at a time, composing a letter.
VARIATION: Instead of speaking, students write their words on a piece of paper and pass it around.