This blog has been created to serve as a humble resource for secondary school English teachers looking to make their spoken English activities more fun and creative. Rather than rigid and boring exercises, I aim to incorporate improvisation and games to encourage students to express themselves in English. I offer ideas and provide solutions. All activities are just a starting point. Teachers can adapt them to their needs.
A BANANA DICTATION IS A LISTENING EXERCISE WHERE THE TEACHER READS A TEXT ALOUD, BUT REPLACES CERTAIN KEY WORDS WITH THE WORD "BANANA." STUDENTS MUST LISTEN CAREFULLY, WRITE DOWN WHAT THEY HEAR, THEN USE CONTEXT CLUES AND LOGICAL REASONING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THE ORIGINAL MISSING WORDS SHOULD BE. IT COMBINES DICTATION PRACTICE WITH VOCABULARY INFERENCE SKILLS.
IN THESE COLLABORATIVE STORYTELLING ACTIVITIES, STUDENTS BUILD NARRATIVES TOGETHER BY ADDING SENTENCES OR ELEMENTS SEQUENTIALLY
AS USUAL, TEACHERS CAN PRINT AND HAND OUT, MIX THE STORIES... THE POSSIBILITIES OFFERED BY THE ACTIVITY ARE DIVERSE
HERE ARE TEN TOPICS THAT ARE EASY FOR STUDENTS TO UNDERSTAND BUT WILL ENCOURAGE THEIR CREATIVITY AND IMAGINATION WHEN THEY NEED TO COME UP WITH ANSWERS STARTING WITH A SPECIFIC LETTER.
THESE TOPICS ARE STRAIGHTFORWARD ENOUGH THAT STUDENTS CAN EASILY UNDERSTAND WHAT IS BEING ASKED, BUT OPEN.ENDED ENOUGH THAT IF THEY CAN'T THINK OF A "REAL"ANSWER FOR A PARTICULAR LETTER, THEY CAN INVENT SOMETHING CREATIVE. FOR EXAMPLE, IF THE LETTER IS"ZAND THE CATEGORY IS "REASONS TO BE LATE FOR SCHOOL" A STUDENT MIGHT INVENT "ZOMBIE BLOCKED MY PATH" IR "ZEPPELIN CRASHED IN MY YARD"
USE THESE QUIZZES TO ENCOURAGE GUIDED CONVERSATION IN THE CLASSROOM. STUDENTS CAN ADAPT THE ANSWERS AND EXPAND ON THE QUESTIONS.
