I
remember years ago I read a children’s book called “What do you
say, dear?”.
It was a prize winning picture book on teaching good manners,
illustrated by Maurice Sendak.
It’s
surprising sometimes how you can create a teaching material by
simply taking a good idea and adapting it to your class.This is
what I did.
In the
original book, that children really love, there is the
following:
“You bump into a crocodile on a crowded city street”
“What do you say, dear?”
“Excuse me!”
Here are
some new versions of the above to help students with their
conversation in everyday life situations.
1) You’re at the Post Office. You want to mail a letter to your
friend but you don’t know how much it costs to send a letter to
France. What do you say?
2) It’s
7:30 a.m. You are about to leave the house for work. The
telephone rings.
It’s your sister. What do you say?
3)
You see a red
sweater in the shop window. You like the style but you don’t
like the colour. The salesgirl asks if she can help you. What
do you say?
4)
You receive a phone call from your aunt. She invites you to
dinner that evening
at 7 p.m. What do you say?
5) You
meet your friend John, who you haven’t seen in a long time.
What do you say?
6) You
read in the newspaper that there is a new tax on your house.
What do you say?
7)
You arrive home
from work. Your wife serves you a delicious dinner with your
favourite dessert. What do you say?
8) The
doorbell rings. It’s you best friend, Ann. You weren’t expecting
her. What do you say?
9) You’re in a crowded bus. You accidentally step on someone’s
foot. What do you say?
10)
You’re looking for your favourite blue scarf. You can’t find it
an anywhere. You ask your mother if she has seen it. What do
you say?
One could go on and on. If
your students work in groups, one group can make up a situation
and the other group respond.
This simple drill can prove very valuable. It makes the students
think. At the same time they are using the English language in a
conversational form. There’s a motto somewhere that says, “Ask a
simple question, get a simple answer
A Nice Thought:
“It
usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu
speech.”
Mark Twain