Seven easy to prepare communicative tasks

Level: Indicated before each activity. The level of tasks goes from easier to more difficult.
Materials: Strips of paper/pieces of paper/ or nothing

Game 1: Ask the teacher some questions
Level: students should be able to write basic questions

Students write questions for the teacher on strips of paper. The teacher answers (for higher levels, only if correctly formed) for about 15m by going round the classroom. Then students work in groups to write the teacher’s biography with one untrue fact. Groups take turns reading their bios and figuring out what is false.
Game 2: Passing notes
Level: students should be able to write basic questions

Teacher hands students several slips of paper, on which they write their name in the lower left corner and the name of someone they want to exchange notes with in the upper right. They write a note, asking at least one question, and then deliver it. Students answer notes and pass them back.

Game 3: What's the number?  
Level: students should be able to write simple sentences in present

Teacher gives small groups of students a number 0-10. Students write 3 riddles or sentences that hint at number on a piece of paper (e.g. a dog has this number of legs). Groups exchange papers and add two similar sentences. Repeat. Discuss favourite riddles, hang up on wall, etc.

Game 4: Conversation with an object
Level: students should be able to write questions. Vocabulary depends on chosen object but this tends to be more complicated than previous tasks. Eg. If you speak to a sock, you may want to use words such as “sweaty” or “wool” .

Teacher tells students to think of an everyday object (e.g. tea kettle, a sock, a pen..). Then students should write a conversation with that object without stopping their pens. Teacher lets students write for 3-5m. Students can exchange papers, ask questions.

Game 5: Blog on paper
Level: students need to contribute points of against or in favour of a statement. This requires somehow higher skills

For 20 students the teacher prepares 5 papers with different leading question at top (e.g., The driving age should be raised to 22. Agree or disagree? Why?). Make 4 copies of each paper and distribute. Students have 5m to respond, then exchange papers and reply for 5m.

Game 6: I yelled at my teacher  (or mother,  boyfriend... you name it!)
Level: students should be able to write sentences in the past/future and use the connectors you provide
 Teacher gives pairs of students a paper with "I yelled at my teacher"(or other person of your or the student's choice). in the middle of the page. Students take slips of paper with connectors (then, so, after that, before +ing, etc.) from bag and must build story above or below the sentence.

Game 7:  Connecting the Top 40
You MAY want to use  a projector for this task  
Level: higher as the titles of the top 40 songs may be difficult

Distribute and review list of the current Top 40 song titles. If you don’t want to use a list on paper, just type “top 40 BBC” in the search engine (google or other) and project the list on the board.

Working alone or in pairs, students write a short narrative using 10 of the titles (unchanged). E.g., One day while hiking, I went Off the beaten path. I ended up getting very lost and couldn't find my way out of the forest. Finally, at 8:18, I heard...

Attention: the week of the 30 of September, hit number one was “Talk dirty”. If your students are underaged, check the list before projecting it.

Thanks to Kirk Moore, speaker at the British Council workshop on September 2013 for sharing these ideas, which he has compiled from different sources.

I have adapted Mr. Moore's talk for my blog and therefore I hold responsibility any mistakes or omissions that may appear.

Magic Box Poem. Add things to put inside the box and finish the poem by describing the box

Aim: students add lines to the Magic Box poem.
Level:  students need to be able to write simple present tense sentences and understand most of the poem below.
This task is suitable to all levels and should help integration of students in multicultural classrooms.
Procedure: students read (all or part of) the poem Magic Box by Kit Wright and add lines to the poem.

Attention: The poem is too difficult for my students so I have  adapted it to my lower levels. I have chosen the easiest verses. Since the word SUN appears two times and they are too close in the adapted version, I have  substituted SUN for FUN in one of the verses. I hope the author approves the change!

Find underneath:

• the adapted version of the poem, that is to say the poem with the easiest verses
• the whole poem. 

Just copy and paste the poem on a Word Document, change the suggested underlined  words to suit the origin of your students. Project it on the board and ask the students to read the poem aloud and to add stanzas to the poem.

Suggested procedure for adding verses to the poem and for creating a whole class poem: students work in groups to create new stanzas. Each Group writes their best stanza on the board.  Number the stanzas and have all students to read their class poem aloud.

Materials:

• a projector to show the poem to the students

THE MAGIC BOX, by Kit Wright (ADAPTED). Substitute underlined word by places that represent the origin of your students. 

I will put in the box
the tip of a tongue touching a tooth
a sip of the bluest water from Lake Lucerene,
and the first smile of a baby.

I will put in the box
three violet wishes spoken in Gujarati,
the last joke of an ancient uncle
a fifth season and a black sun

I will put in the box
a cowboy on a broomstick
and a witch on a white horse.
the colour of the my fun

I will put in the box…

YOUR TASK

Complete the poem. 

A) What would you put in the box? 
B) Finish the poem by adding a description of your box? 

• What does the  box look like? 
• What is it made of?   
• What shape does it have?

These are the verses my 2014-15 school year added.

Attention: Students have added these stanzas. They are posted  EXACTLY as the students entered them.

1. I will put in the box 
a sweet kiss and a hot night
good memories of our chilhood
a rainbow in the sky.

2. I will put in the box
 the smile off my grandparents
and the my parent's love
a twilight with my loved one.

3. I will put in the box
photos of my family
to remember the good times
that we had in the past

4. I will put in the box
a lot of food
and a piece of fruit
and a glass of soda

5. I will put in the box
another smaller box
inside it  will have something smoller
it is said our wedding ring 

6.I will put in the box 
happy moments with my friends
the day I passed my catalan exam 
a lovely smile of my father


 

THE MAGIC BOX, by Kit Wright (Complete version)

I will put in the box

the swish of a silk sari on a summer night,
fire from the nostrils of a Chinese dragon,
the tip of a tongue touching a tooth.

I will put in the box

a snowman with a rumbling belly
a sip of the bluest water from Lake Lucerene,
a leaping spark from an electric fish.

I will put into the box

three violet wishes spoken in Gujarati,
the last joke of an ancient uncle,
and the first smile of a baby.

I will put into the box

a fifth season and a black sun,
a cowboy on a broomstick
and a witch on a white horse.

My box is fashioned from ice and gold and steel,
with stars on the lid and secrets in the corners.
Its hinges are the toe joints of dinosaurs.

I shall surf in my box
on the great high-rolling breakers of the wild Atlantic,
then wash ashore on a yellow beach
the colour of the sun.

You may want to visit the Poetry Society page on ideas on how to use this poem HERE 

Thanks to John Lavery, at the September 2013 British Council workshop  in Barcelona for providing me with this idea.

Six Word Stories: speaking and writing task

 The most famous six word story is supposed to be Hemingway's :

For sale: baby shoes. Never worn. 

Aim: students decide what several "six word stories" mean and then they create their own "six word stories" . Procedure:  the teacher provides students with six word stories so that  they decide what they mean. After, students are challenged to create a "six word", or longer, story, (flash fiction piece).  You can use the six word stories in pictures to model what the students have to do. I have included them on the provided power point. Note that there are not correct answers for this activity.

You can download the Power Point by clicking HERE

Level: the level depends on the stories you choose. I propose some stories underneath. These are are suitable for  pre-intermediate or above levels.  The vocabulary  used in the the six word stories goes from easier to more difficult. I have copied and posted them on a Power Point presentation that you can download. Note that many stories refer to alcohol, divorce or death so be careful if you are showing this to sensitive students.

By typing "six word stories" in google you can access many other stories that may suit the level of your student.
You can download the Power Point by clicking HERE


 I propose these six line stories (apart from the ones in the pictures)

1. Tanline on his ring finger? Goodbye.
2. Disputes between nations. Sorrow among families.
3. Facebook has ruined my entire life. 
4. Her friends forgot their drunken promises
5. Drunk. Home late. Locked Door. Divorce.
6. Man cries holding his dog’s leash.
7. One candle, unattended. Only ashes remain.
8. 365 Apples. My annual insurance policy.
9. Single shy zombie seeks terminal necrophiliac.
10. Vehicle swerves. Alcohol flavored regret. Homicide.

Source  for these six word stories: http://www.sixwordstories.net/ . Tip: if you scroll down the six word stories page you can access six words tories grouped by subject: crime, love, loss, famous authors...
Check also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-Word_Memoirs and http://sixwordstoryeveryday.com/Best-of-2011,where you can see the six word stories in pictures, which  I have included in this post.
 


Thanks to John Lavery, at the September 2013 British Council workshop  in Barcelona for providing me with this idea.

You can download the Power Point by clicking HERE  

Please leave a comment if you have used or plan to use this activity. 

By María Zabala Peña