Look again at the speaking activities mentioned in exercise 1.
Role play
Show and tell
Debate
Conversation
Chat
Do you use all of these different types of speaking activities? Why / why not?
YES I USE MOST OF THEM, THE ROLE PLAY I USE IN SOME TOPICS FOR EXAMPLE IN FIRTS GRADE I USE WITH THE TOPIC OF COMMUNITY HELPERS AND STUDENTS MEMORIZE THE DIALOG AND PRESENT TO THE CLASS, ANOTHER IS IN THIRD GRADE WITH THE TOPIC OF HEALTH PROBLEMS AND MY STUDENTS LIKE A LOT.
DEBATE I LIKE TO WORK ONLY WITH THIRD GRADE STUDENTS BECAUSE THE HAVE ENOGTH VOCABULARY AND FLUENTLY TO SPEAK AND MOST OF THE TIME THEY DON´T FEEL SHY.
CONVERSATION I LIKE TO TELL MY STUDENTS TO EXCHANGE INFORMATION ABOUT DIFFFERENT TOPICS OR INTERCHANGE IDEAS.
CHAT. WHE MY STUDENTS HAVE DOUBTS THEY CAN CHAT WITH ME FOR SPECIFIC DOUBTS.
What advice would you give to a teacher who was going to use one of these types of activities for the first time?
THE TEACHER MUST HAVE A CLEAR IDEA OF THE ACTIVITY AND EXPLAIN TO THE STUDENTS AND MONITOR THE ACTIVITY ALL THE TIME.
Here are some of the potential problems with discussion activities, which we looked at in exercise 2:
Students make lots of mistakes
Not all the students participate
Sometimes students aren't interested in the topic
The students spend a lot of time speaking in their mother tongue
FIRST GIVE STUDENTS CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS AND CORRECT THEM BEFORE THEY SPEAK LOUD TO THE CLASS AND EXPLAIN WHY IS THE MISTAKE.
MOTIVATE STUDENTS TO PARTICIPATE AS MUCH AS THEY CAN AND WANT IT IS IMPORTANT THAT TEACHER GIVE CONFIDENCE TO STUDENTS SO THEY CAN PARTICIPATE EVEN IF THE MAKE MISTAKES.
TRY TO ORGANIZE STUDENTS IN GROUPS ONE STUDENT WEAK WITH ANOTHER STRENGTH SO THEY CAN HELP EACHE OTHER AND CAN PRODUCE A GOOD RESULT.
CHOOSE AN INTERESTING TOPIC AND ASK STUDENTS LOOK FOR SPECIFIC INFORMACION SO ALL CAN PARTICIPATE.
TRY TO SPEAK AS MUCH ENGLISH AS YOU CAN, SO STUDENTS FEEL THAT THEY NEED TO USE THE LANGUANGE TO COMMUNICATE.