Speaking Cycle 6: The Best Of Friends

1. Activating

· What different ways do people typically make new friends?

· What different kinds of things do people enjoy doing with friends?

2. Sharing

· Think of different friends you had when you were growing up.

· Work in groups of three. Tell your group about some of these friends. As you listen to your partners, decide if you had similar friendships when you were growing up.

3. Preparing

· Choose one childhood friend of one member of your group. One of you is going to tell the rest of the class about this friend (it doesn't matter if the person who speaks is the person whose friend it was or if they talk about a friend of someone else in their group).

· Spend 15 minutes, as a group, preparing what the speaker is going to say. Think about a) information, such as what the friend's name was; when and how the friendship began; what kinds of things the two friends involved used to do together; how the friendship developed; and whether the two people involved are still friends now; and b) the organisation and structure of what the speaker will say.

4. Performing

· The speaker from each group talks to the rest of the class.

· As you are listening to other speakers, try to answer the following questions.

a) What was the name of the friend in each case?

b) When and how did each friendship begin?

c) How did each friendship develop?

d) Are the people involved in each friendship still friends now?

e) Which of the friendships is most similar to friendships you've had yourself?

5. Reporting

· When you have heard the speaker from each group, check your answers to the questions with the other members of your group.

· As a group, decide which of the friendships you have heard about was, in your opinion, the strongest.