Like, Comment, Share
Would you like to Like, Comment and Share? This is the activity I mentioned on my last blog post about the three key features to teach speaking. These are the instructions.
Preparation: cardstock paper, popsicle sticks, a pencil, templates, scissors and glue.
- Tell students they are going to have a group discussion about ‘dilemmas’ and that the Facebook symbols will be used for them to interact. Each student will be given a dilemma and they have to read it to the class. Students can also talk about their own dilemma.
- Show students the symbols and tell them what they mean for that discussion.
‘Comment’ means they would like to either give some advice or disagree with a piece of advice which has been given. To give advice, they could say “If I were you, I’d …”, “I would …”, “I wouldn’t …”, “You might want to …”. To disagree, they can use “I see what you mean but …”, “I’m not sure I agree because …”.
‘Like’ means they like the advice someone has given and would like to show interest in it. Students can use “That would be + adjective” to do so.
‘Share’ means they agree with the advice. When they show this symbol, nothing needs to be said.
Students have to use the three symbols at least once during the conversation.
- Give each student the three symbols and the dilemmas and have them start the discussion. Tell students they should try not to ask you for help in case they do not know how to say a word in English. Instead, encourage them to ask their peers for help using classroom language.
Sit back, listen and take notes of what you would like to praise and of the mistakes you want to correct when the discussion is over.
As you can see, it has the three key features to teach speaking – function, exponent and context and gives students the necessary tools to perform it well.
Feel free to use it with your students and tell me how it went 😉
Paulo Torres
Paulo Torres has been in ELT for over 20 years. He is currently working on the implementation of the Educate Bilingual Program as a bilingual academic coach in several regions of Brazil. He is a certified leader coach by Sociedade Latino Americana de Coaching (SLAC). He is also the president of the BRAZ-TESOL Espírito Santo Chapter and Cooperativa dos Professores de Línguas do Espírito Santo (COOPERLING).
