Speaking is one of my student’s favorite things to do and extremely important. Speaking can really boost the students confidence up when they realize how much they know, they get their point across, and they have fun doing it.
Below are just a few speaking activities I do. I will post weekly a variety of activities for free that can be used in the classroom. Be sure to keep checking this page as I will be adding to it as I get ideas and have time to add to it.
1) Circumlocution
I have my students arrange the desks so one can see the board/smartboard and the other student has their back towards the board. Each student has 1 partner (sometimes there is a group of 3 due to an odd number of students in the class).
a) A Picture is Worth a 1000 Words – I have a picture on the board. The student who can see the picture must describe the picture in detail without saying what it is while the person with his/her back towards the board draws what their partner is describing. I set the timer for 2 minutes usually for this activity, but it can vary based on the difficulty of the picture. Once the 2 minutes are up, the student drawing can turn and look at the picture to compare his/her artwork with the picture on the board.
Click link for a collection of picture I’ve used in the past: speaking-pictures.docx
b) 4 Words – I have 4 words on the board. They can be nouns, adjectives, or verbs. The student who can see the 4 words must describe the words without saying the word. They can not use hand motions or sound effects. They have 2 minutes to describe all 4 words. The person with their back towards the board is guessing the words. Once the timer is up I ask them who got 2 words, 3 words, and 4 words. They get excited if they can raise their hand. I’m just happy they’re speaking entirely in Spanish and having fun doing it. Based on the difficulty of the 4 words on the board, you decide if the person guessing has to guess in Spanish or English.
An example of 4 words that the person would guess in Spanish: car, kitchen, eye. to put on makeup
An example of 4 words that the person would guess in English: candy cane, UFO, pacifier, headlights
c) Te toca a ti – This is a great speaking game for clothing, adjectives, and the verbs Tener (to have) and Llevar (to wear). Awesome for levels 1 and 2. Put all the desks in a circle. All the students sit in or on their desks except for 1 student who is in the middle. The student in the middle says : Una persona que lleva una camisa negra (a persona that’s wearing a black shirt). Every student wearing a black shirt must run and find a new desk. The person in the middle runs and tries to find a desk. They must move at least 2 desks. Below are some examples of what the person in the middle could say:
-Una persona que lleva rojo
-Una persona que tiene una hermana
-Una persona que tiene (insert a teacher’s name from your building)
-Una persona que lleva aretes
-Una persona que tiene pelo rubio
-Una persona que juega al fútbol americano
-Una persona que lleva unos zapatos azules