ESL Activities: The "Dumbo Feather" and Communication Circles
ESL Activities, Pictured: the Apples to Apples boardgame (Bible edition). Some teachers have raved about the original edition--Apples to Apples.
by Thomas C. Anderson Hopefully teachers remember the Disney Film "Dumbo" about the baby elephant with very large ears that could fly and became a hero. When Dumbo began to fly, his friend the mouse gave him a red feather with the idea that he could fly if he held it. In a dramatic rescue bid Dumbo loses the feather but finds out that he doesn`t need it. With lower level students I give them a "red feather" conversation frame (see example) thendo this procedure: 1. I hand out the frame print and go over any new vocabulary, do a bit of work on pronunciation, stress, intonation, body language etc. 2. Students fill in blanks with their own information, for example: I`m from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. 3. Students are divided into two groups which stand facing each other. 4. One side is chosen to begin the conversation using the "start drama" mentioned or just "Good morning" or "Hi!" 5. Students talk to each other using the "look (at the paper)look (at your partner), speak. 6. One line moves one space to the right or left and do steps1-5 with a new partner. 7. Eventually students do the conversation with no paper. My role at this time is to monitor, noting any body language or other problems, making sure students aren`t reading from the paper or chatting in Japanese.
Get your students speaking 100% English in their classes. ETJ Activities ETJ Activities is a Yahoo Group that you must join! It is free and member contribute activities that work with Japanese students.It is specifically for English teachers living in Japan and members discuss and exchange classroom activities suitable for allages. You must join ETJ--English Teachers in Japan and membership is free. ETJ Activities Check out the ESL activities available for your classes at the Handout Hub
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