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.

Crumpled up questions

These are some of the questions on the handout (3 our of 17)

Aim: Students practice asking and answering a variety of questions in past, present perfect, present simple and future.
Procedure: Teacher cuts questions and students take turns asking and answering the questions. Students pass the questions around or, if you want to risk it, throw the crumpled up questions to their classmates.
Extension: Students can take notes of their classmate's answers and write a report about that student.

Download the materials from this site HERE

Materials:

• Print the questions on the handout (once or twice, depending on how many students you have). The same handout contains the instructions to carry out the task.

Download the materials from this site HERE

Source of the task: http://eslsite.com/rd/Speaking/crumpled_up_questions.html, adapted by myself, María Zabala Peña

Accepting and declining invitations

Level: lower intermediate and upper

To download the handout with language items and procedure click HERE. 

Language items: 

a) Structures for invitations such as: (see handout for more)

• Do you want to . . .
• Do you wanna . . . (informal)
• Would you like to . . . (more polite)

b) Structures for accepting invitations such as: (see handout for more)

• Sure, I'd love to. What time?  (or any other question)
• Sounds like a great idea. (Ask a question)

c) Structures for turning invitations down such as:   (see handout for more)

• No thanks. I'm kind of tired right now (or other possible excuse)

• I'm terribly sorry. I have other plans for that night

Marterials. 

• Handout  (Provided below)
• Whiteboard

To download the handout with language items and procedure click HERE.
You may want to project  the language structres provided on the Whiteboard

Using a picture prompt to ask questions to intertwined characters

Purpose: students practice asking questions in the past. The level of the questions and answers depends on the level of the students. At the end of the activity, as a follow-up to the speaking task, students could write a letter or email.

Level: students need to know how to ask questions in the past using question words and they need enough vocabulary to ask about age, family, relationships, job, likes, dislikes and past life.  Students may have to use modals and a variety of pasts in their answers.

The teacher may have to help the students with vocabulary or can give them a dictionary.

Materials: a photo of a person. At the end of this post I propose some photos the teacher can project on the white board with the  Projector . There are many more pictures/portraits available at google images.  I offer a variety of pictures that  may appeal to children, teenagers and adults. The one of the girl in the office could cater for the needs of students in administration related vocational training programs.

Procedure:  Students may work individually or in groups.

A) Show a picture of a character to the students and ask them to write down 15 questions for that character. Note that the first 6 questions will be very similar in all groups (how old are you? Are you married? etc.) The aim of asking the students to write down 15 questions is to force them to produce more creative questions as well as to practice question structures.  You may not have to wait until everybody has 15 questions if the production is adequate.

B) When the students are ready, tell one of them to come to the front of the class and impersonate the character in the picture. He/she has to answer his/her classmates’ questions.  As he/she answers, the other students will spontaneously change their questions according to the characters' answers. This allows students to practice question structures without previously having written them down.

Note that as the character-student answers, new characters will pop out: his/her mother, his/her husband, his/her boss...

C) When you spot an interesting character (the husband, for example), tell the student at the front of the classroom to go back to his/her seat. Ask another student to come to the front of the classroom. His/her role is to impersonate “the husband” by answering  his/her  classmates’ questions.

D) Proceed this way until 4 or 5 students-characters have answered their classmates’ questions.

F) Possible follow-up: divide the students in 4 or 5 teams, depending on how many characters you have had.

Each group of students represents a character (eg. the mother, the husband, the cleaner, the child, the boss, or the secretary of the person in the picture).  Ask students to write an email or a letter to the character.  

Thanks to Roger Hunt, our English methodology teacher at International House, summer 2010 for this idea. The course  I took was "Language Analysis for Teaching Purposes"

Green card/Citizenship

Laguage: Questions in present, past and future
Level: lower intermediate and upper
Materials: A sheet of paper per group of students
Possible special occasion: Saint Valentine
Procedure:
Ask students what a person can do to obtain citizenship. Prompt students to say word “MARRIAGE”.

1. Make groups of 4 or 5 students. Two people are going to be married and the other 2 or 3 are policemen that need to make sure the students got married for love and not for papers.

2. The married couples need to leave the classroom and agree on normal aspects of their everyday life (where/when/how they met, colour of toothbrush, likes and dislikes, pets, birthdays, honeymoon, which side of the bed they sleep in…)

3. The policemen need to think of 10 questions to ask to  the couple

4. The teacher needs to go out and help couples to orientate their answers if the policemen’ questions are very different from what the couples are preparing. Just stick the head out and say (have you thought about your animals or the names of your in-laws)

5. The teacher needs to help the policemen to understand the aim of the game. Some questions need to be different for each of the member of the couple, others can be the same:

e.g. “What is the name of your mother?” should be rephrased for the other member of the couple as “What is the name of your mother-in-law?” whereas “Where do you live?” is valid for both members of the couple.

6. When questions are ready, the first member of the couple comes in and answers the questions. The policemen need to record the answers. Then the second member of the couple comes in and answers the questions. The first member of the couple can stay in and sit behind his/her/wife/husband in such a way that both members of the couples can not see each other

7. If couples get 7 or more answers right they get citizenship


By Maria Zabala inspired by the game Crack the Alibi and the film Green Card

Find me at: http://mariaenglishforesonophotocopies.blogspot.com/2009/09/laguage-questions-in-present-past-and.html

Small talk questions

Level: any level but students need to know how to ask basic questions about other people's job (where do you work?, marital status (Do you have a husband/wife?, everyday activities (Where do you usually eat lunch? ) ...

Material: provided video + provided teachers' pack with questions for students. PHOTOCOPIES FOR STUDENTS ARE NECESSARY

Click HERE to access the video and teachers' pack

ATTENTION!

A)this is NOT an activity without photocopies and therefore is not located in this blog. I have a blog for students in vocational training programmes. This is the blog where you will find the materials.


b) the teachers' pack contains possible answers for exercises. These answers have been designed for students in vocational training. You will have to adapt the answers to a high school setting if your students are not adults. The questions are the same for teenagers and adults.



Click HERE to access the video and teachers' pack

What's the question?

Level: Any Level
Purpose: review question forms previously studied in class

Option A for smaller classes ( up to 20 students)
Option B for larger classes

REMEMBER: its is important to simulate the game once before the real competition starts.

Option A)

Form two teams (three will also work, but two seems to add just the right amount of competitive tension).

1. Have two players--one from each team--come to the front. Style it like a game show if you like, with the students standing side-by-side. If you have access to bells or buzzers, it's even more fun.

2.Next, read an answer to a question and say, 'What's the question?' The fastest player to respond wins a point for her/his team. New contestants come to the front for a new round.

Option B)
If your class is too big for option A, make groups.
Ensure you have at least 4 teams of between 5 and 6 students.

1. Each group creates a list of possible answers. The teacher (of a student ) gives answers of group 1 to group 2, group 2 to group 3…clockwise

This way every group has a set of answers that was created by another group.

2. Nominate: 1 person in each group as the moderator

The moderator acts as the teacher: he/she reads the answer and the other 5 say/ write the possible questions

3. Set a time. When the teacher sees some groups have finshed, each group passes the set of answers to the next group, clockwise. Nominate a different student as moderator. Repeat as long as students are working

Source : http://iteslj.org/c/games.html
Submitted by: Tim
Adapted by Maria Zabala

Fold-over stories

Level: Any Level.

Students need to know question words
Procedure: Give each student a sheet of blank paper. Write the following words on the board one under the other: WHO?, WHAT ?, HOW ?, WHERE ?, WHEN ?, WHY ?

Explain that everyone will be writing a sentence story.

1. Tell students to write someone's name at the top of their paper, e.g. their own, a classmate's, the teacher's, a famous person that everyone knows.

2. Students fold the paper over once so that no one can see the name, then pass the paper to the person on their right.

3. Students write on the received paper what the subject did (suggest funny or outrageous actions), fold it over and pass it on to the right.

4. Students answer the next question (where?) fold the sheet and pass it to the right.

5. Repeat with the remaining question words.

6. Have the students unfold their stories, and read them silently. Help anyone who cannot read what the others wrote, or doesn't understand.

7. Ask one student at a time to read "their" story aloud and vote for the funniest.

Source: http://iteslj.org/c/games7.html
Submitted by: Vicki Konzen