Hello everyone, John from Cool English, with your weekly activity update. This week I have some engaging speaking and writing activities for all levels. I call them Topic Talks.
There are basic, intermediate, and advanced levels of topics. Students choose one and see four brief facts about it. Then they must present it to the teacher or class in a minute or less. It helps students get accustomed to speaking in front of people and linking ideas.
There are two ways I like to use this activity:
Hide The Facts
Tell students they will have a short time to read the four facts before they disappear. You can decide whether to let students take notes or not. The hide fact button automatically flashes thirty seconds after choosing a topic, so use that as a signal to hide the facts or let them have more time as needed. After hiding the facts, I let them have another 15-30 seconds to prepare their answer. Then use the 60-second timer to limit their response or not; the choice is yours.
Don’t Hide The Facts
Another option is to leave the facts visible. Give students a little time to prepare and let them present. Sometimes I ask students to change the phrases to make them their own, but other times, they can read the facts unchanged and try to link using conjunctions, relative clauses, or sequencers. The choice is yours.
If used correctly, this can mimic the TOEFL test and many others. I use it in the classroom as a speaking exercise and then assign it as homework but as a writing activity.
I hope this helps some of you, and please check back next week for more cool stuff on coolenglish.net.
John
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