Saturday 9 May 2009

Speaking Cycle 9: Wacky Weather

1. Activating

· How many different kinds of weather can you think of?

· How do people usually cope with extreme weather conditions?

2. Sharing

· Think about some occasions when you experienced extreme or unusual weather conditions.

· Work in groups of three. Tell your group about these experiences. As you listen to your partners, decide if you have had similar experiences to theirs.

3. Preparing

· Choose one experience of one member of your group. One of you is going to tell the rest of the class about this experience (it doesn't matter if the person who speaks is the person who had the experience or if they talk about the experience 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 where the person was and what they were doing; when the experience took place; what the weather was like and in what way it was extreme or unusual; and how the person reacted to the weather; 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) When and where did the experience take place?

b) What was the person doing at the time?

c) What kind of weather was it?

d) How did the person react to the weather conditions?

e) Do you think you would have reacted in a similar way?


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 people you have heard about was, in your opinion, the least well prepared for the weather conditions they experienced.

3 comments:

The TEFL Tradesman said...

Hmm - a speaking activity about the bloody weather? Well, I suppose it works in countries with extreme or changeable weather, but I think with Gulf students it might hinge around hot, very hot, or infernal!

HAve you tried death? Not personally, MArk, but as a topic for discussion I mean...

Joking aside, I do like the framework you provide (4), so that others keep their attention up. It's a very good idea - why have I never thought of formalising things like that myself?

BTW, are bicycle clips obligatory for this blog?

The Speaking Cyclist said...

Yes, our Saudi students occasionally ask me how they should try starting conversations with English speakers when they go back home. 'Lovely day, isn't it?' doesn't seem to be the kind of thing they'd find very useful somehow....

Clips are optional, yes. I'd strongly recommend a safety helmet though.

The TEFL Tradesman said...

Yes, a lot of 'Eastern' peoples tend to try and start a conversation with questions about your family, which a Westerner might find quite intrusive. "How is your wife?" and "How are your children" strike us as a little odd when they have never met them, and usually fail to establish any dialogue. Bit of a conundrum, that one is.

Perhaps "Do you ride a bike" could be a winner - safety helmet or not?!