Class Level: High-Intermediate

Class Type: Speaking

Topic: Art and Its Influence

Activity 1: Pictionary!

  • For this activity, each student is given a coloured marker of their choosing for the whiteboard. Then Tt will read out a brief decriptive scene. Then from memory, students will try to draw what was described to them. For example: Mary has a husband, two kids and a dog. She lives in a house with a garage next to a park. Her son and daughter are on the swings. Making sure to repeat the scene two or three more times or until the student feels comfortable enough to draw something (anything) from the scene. When doing the example, make sure you cannot see the descriptive scene and draw from memory yourself. Maybe “forget” a small detail or two to show students that mistakes are okay, and that it is a low-stakes activity. Tt can see if there are any volunteers or choose who goes next.
    • I think this activity went over well, as some Ss were eager to participate but even the ones that were waiting for their turn or had already finished tried to figure out the overlying theme of the scenes I had created. They had been based loosely on different Disney movies. Since I was working with a small class of six students we were able to work it that everyone waited their turns, but I think if I were to do this activity with a bigger class I might split the class into groups with small whiteboards. I will admit, the activity had gone a little longer than anticipated purely because I had indulged them in the answers to what the different Disney movies were. Other than this however, I think this activity went really well!

Activity 2: Gallery Walk

  • In pairs, Ss will take turns rotating around the room, and talking about different paintings posted around the room. There will be discussion questions on the board to aid in conversation. Each student will then leave 1 sticky note with something they want to say about the painting.
    • Now while I hadn’t recieved any feedback about any particular activity in this lesson, I think I might do things a little differently. While the students understood that I wanted them to talk about the paintings, I don’t think they understood that I wanted them to keep talking about them until I told them to rotate to the next picture. If I were to do this again, I might give them either a small worksheet for things to fill out about the painting but still keep the main focus as speaking. I also think I might put a list of conversation questions next to the photos, or even brief summaries of the painting’s history and have them share something they thought was interesting about it to the class. There are so many difference uses for a Gallery Walk, and I look forward to doing another one sometime again in the future.

Activity 3: Fill in the Blanks

  • In either the same or different pairs, each student will sit across from their partner at a distance. Each student will be given 1 of 2 worksheets with various fill in the blanks and missing information. They must talk to each other and try to fill in their blanks. Once either everyone has finished or a few minutes before the end of class, everyone comes together to go over the answer key.
    • I was actually suprised at how well this activity went! While I am still getting used to activities that are not so Tt involved, it was nice to see that the students carried on and didn’t need any other further help or instructions from me. Since this was the last activity for the class, in between doing checks on the students I tidied up from having the Gallery Walk, and prepped the projector so I could quickly go over the answers on the sheet with the class at the end. I was a little sad that going over the answers was a little rushed, so I think I still need to work on gauging how long activities will take for different levelled students. However, overall I think this a solid lesson for myself and my students.