English Workshop: Speaking and Listening Activities

I'm going to try and maintain a log of practical workshop activities that I may draw upon for classroom ideas in the future. Today in our English workshop we went through a few activities aimed at improving a student's speaking and listening abilities. Our lesson revolved around the central idea that spoken language is the base for building literacy. In groups we actively participated in chain storytelling and a scenario activity called 'what good luck / what bad luck.' As with any classroom activity, it is important to first clearly outline how the activity works and its purpose. In this case students are looking at the importance of focused listening, and oral creative expression.

1) Chain storytelling : In groups of 2-4 children take a turn each in verbally adding one line to the story. The teacher may first read a story to the class and have them recollect the story, the students may recollect a common fairytale they already know, or they may take a turn each at constructing their own story.

2) What good luck / What bad luck : In groups of 2-4 children take a turn each in adding to the story, starting each phrase with 'What good luck....' and then 'What bad luck...' For example:

Student 1 - What good luck, today was Sam's birthday.
Student 2 - What bad luck, Sam woke up with an awful cold.
Student 3 - What good luck, when Sam saw his enormous present he felt much better..and so on.

In facilitating the exercise teachers may encourage students to include adjectives and use expression when speaking. The importance of eye contact when listening may also be touched upon. A group discussion may follow each activity allowing students to express their ideas and any difficulties they may have faced.