Productive English

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Productive English Quarter 2: Mon. and Wed. Classes

Assignment	Due Date

One-minute discussion (quarter capstone grade)

This activity is a great way to get a discussion going and assess the knowledge and abilities of individual students

Activity: Ask students to volunteer three times during the semester to speak spontaneously about a topic for one full minute.

Objective: To increase fluency and confidence in speaking

Other benefits:

• Expands discussion on book topic
• Allows extended, uninterrupted speech by one speaker
• Elicits vocabulary
• Allows speaker to observe that their ideas are important
• Allows the whole class to benefit from a discussion of a few students
• Time limit is democratic—everyone gets the opportunity to speak
• Prepares students for formal presentations and makes them aware of time limits
• Illustrates to the students the advantage of planning an oral task without writing down the entire content. (e.g. using an outline )

Procedure: On the board, I will write a topic related to the current textbook unit in the form of a question.  Students take turns talking about the topic. Write the names of volunteers on the board. (Students are required to volunteer 3 times during the quarter.) I will give the class a few minutes to write notes. (This can be a practice for using note cards and/or outlines for presentations.)

I will ask a random person on the class roster to stand up. (Note: You can decide whether to come to the front of the classroom in order to replicate the experience of giving a presentation, or stay in place in order to decrease anxiety.)  You will talk about the issue for no less than one minute. I will time you.  When time is up (with an alarm indicator) the student stops speaking.  The class applauds for the speaker, and another speaker stands up to take her/his turn.

I will keep a record of who has spoken and awards points for each completed activity. Remember, you will need to speak 3 times during the semester. Be prepared to speak at any time.

Rules:

1. Only one person speaks at a time—no interrupting!
2. If the person runs out of things to say, the class can ask her/him a question to keep the speaker going. (If they want to add their own comment, they have to wait their turn!)
3. One-minute is the minimum, but it’s okay to go over one minute to finish your thought.
4. Students can volunteer after the exercise begins.
5. Students must stay on topic to receive credit.
6. The object of the exercise is fluency, so mistakes should not be corrected except to clarify a misunderstanding.
7. Before a person who has already spoken (in a previous class period) can speak, the floor is open to those who have not spoken.

Good luck!