Category Archives: Speaking

Speaking and Writing Activities with Playing Cards

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Getting students to actively use language in meaningful ways doesn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes, all it takes is a deck of playing cards and a little structure. In this post, I’m sharing one of my favorite sets of no-prep activities that consistently get students speaking  while having fun and building confidence along the way.

In Cœurs, Carreaux, Trèfles et Piques / Corazones, Diamantes, Tréboles y Picas, students pull one red and one black card to create a subject-verb pair or subject-picture pair. They write complete sentences, flipping new cards each round. It’s quick, simple, and gets students thinking beyond isolated words.

In Le Chemin / El Camino, students lay the whole deck of cards out as a winding path. They roll dice to move their game piece and create sentences based on where they land. I love how this brings energy and movement to the classroom, and students stay motivated to keep communicating.

Match Nul / Partido Empatado is all about quick thinking. Students flip cards, and the highest card wins the chance to create a complete sentence using a subject and verb or picture from the game board. It’s fast-paced and perfect for encouraging spontaneous language production.

Each game also comes with support pages — adverbs, conjunctions, negatives, questions — to help students add complexity to their sentences. I’ve found this really empowers students to push beyond basic structures and communicate more fully.

These activities are no-prep, highly engaging, and a fantastic way to build language confidence in a fun, low-stress way.

You can download French and Spanish of these activities here:

French:

Spanish:

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Posted in Activities and Games, Grammar and Structures, Speaking

Foreign Language Number and Color Practice Activity

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I’m always looking for ways to reinvent materials that I already have in new and interactive ways.  Many times we as teachers don’t need to reinvent the wheel, we just have to find new ways to spin it.   This is a quick set-up activity that requires almost no prep and gives students numerous opportunities to practice saying colors and numbers in the target language.  There is also an opportunity for students to practice some simple math.

Foreign (World) Language Number and Color Practice Activity (French, Spanish) wlteacher.wordpress.comI use a deck of UNO cards minus all the special cards (Reverse, Skip, etc.).  Only the number cards are used in the activity.

  • Students play in groups of 2-4 and lay out the cards with the numbers facing down.
  • Each player takes a turn choosing two cards, they do not have to match in number or color.  The player then says the two colors and the two numbers.
  • Depending on the math level of the students, the play can either add the numbers together and say the total or multiply them.  He/She then puts the cards aside and records the sum.
  • After each player takes a turn, he/she adds to their total.  Once all the cards are used the player with the highest total wins.

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Posted in Activities and Games, Speaking

Foreign Language Group Speaking Activity : The Group Dynamic

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This activity is a great way to get students speaking in pairs or small groups.  They make choices about what they will discuss and offer personal opinions.  There are no right or wrong answers because they are expressing personal opinions.  I typically project a screen like the the ones below or simply show printed versions of the pictures.  Any topic can be used (i.e. movie posters, animals, food items, sports, activities, hobbies, etc.).

Foreign (World) Language Group Speaking Activity: The Group Dynamic (French, Spanish) wlteacher.wordpress.comScreen Shot 2013-08-23 at 8.08.00 PM

These are the steps that I follow to conduct the activity:

  • Find others with similar opinion
  • Discuss opinion in group
  • Be ready to share group consensus
  • Grade/Points for entire group
  • Random person selected to speak
  • Points taken if target language not used during discussion

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Posted in Activities and Games, Speaking

Interactive Foreign Language Vocabulary Game Using Powerpoint

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I call this game A Vos Risques (French) and A Su Riesgo (Spanish). It’s an interactive Powerpoint game with many opportunities for students to practice and review vocabulary in the target language. It is a great way to use the animation options in Powerpoint.  I typically divide the class into teams that play together against the other teams.

Interactive Foreign Language Vocabulary Game Using Powerpoint (French, Spanish) wlteacher.wordpress.comHere’s how it works:

  • –Teams choose a square and say the number. The teacher clicks on the number to reveal a question.  The number is hyperlinked to a slide in the presentation.
  • –The team answers the question on the slide.  A click on that screen  reveals the answer for verification.
  • –This is where the “RISK” comes into play. If the team is correct, they choose a colored question mark on the slide (I put three options.) that will reveal 1, 2 or 3 points, a Zut (French)/Caramba (Spanish)–lose points, a slide with directions to take a point from another team or to give points to another team. I put a home icon on this screen that is hyperlinked back to the gameboard.
  • –The team with the most points once all numbers have been chosen wins the game.
  • –The three different point possibilities on each screen allow for this activity to be used multiple times with the same class.

You can create this activity using powerpoint animation and hyperlinking or you can download complete version of this game below:

French:

Spanish:

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Posted in Activities and Games, Speaking, Technology

Foreign Language Modes of Communication

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Here are key points to distinguish the modes of communication (Presentational, Interpretive and Interpersonal) in a very accessible manner:

Screen Shot 2013-02-25 at 6.50.17 PMScreen Shot 2013-02-25 at 6.50.30 PMScreen Shot 2013-02-25 at 6.50.41 PM

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Posted in Classroom Procedures, Speaking, Teaching Methodology and Research

Foreign Language Activities to Practice Countries, Capitals and Nationalities

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Here are some engaging and communicative ways to teach geography in the foreign language classroom. These are a few activities that students to practice the vocabulary for country names, capitals and nationalities.

In this first activity, students work in pairs and ask questions to try to figure out the answers that the other partner has decided on. Since the goal is to record information, the focus is on speaking and listening. Students ask yes/no questions in the target language and also answer in complete sentences. This activity can be used many times because the pairings and answers can change each time. (Spanish Version, French Version)Foreign (World) Language Activities to Practice Countries, Nationalities and Capials. (French, Spanish) wlteacher.wordpress.com

This next activity will get students moving around the classroom and speaking. Students are given a sheet with a list of countries. They are also given a small slip of paper with the language(s) that they speak. They first must figure out where they live based on the language(s) that they speak. The task is then to figure out where all the other students live by either asking them where they live or asking them which language they speak. (Spanish Version, French Version)

Foreign (World) Language Activities to Practice Countries, Nationalities and Capials. (French, Spanish) wlteacher.wordpress.comIn this last activity students cut up the squares and line them up in order in one long strip placing the country above the nationality. (Spanish Version, French Version)
Foreign (World) Language Activities to Practice Countries, Nationalities and Capials. (French, Spanish) wlteacher.wordpress.com

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Posted in Activities and Games, Cultural Exploration, Speaking

Communicative Speaking Activity for Foreign Languages: Category Sort

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This activity is a very effective way to get students communicating with each other using a specific set of vocabulary that they are familiar with.  This is also a great activity to practice circumlocution.  I typically provide a list of words that students know well and they have the task sorting the words into categories.  Screen Shot 2013-02-17 at 2.05.45 PMI either give a list of words that students list in categories or they cut them out and physically place them in categories.  The first time through, I have them put the words in two categories, then three categories and sometimes up to seven or eight categories.  The objective is to do this using only the target language as the groups or pairs negotiate the categories.  This is why it is best to provide words that are familiar.  This helps to maintain the focus on speaking and communicating the negotiation in the target language and not focusing so much on the meaning of the words.  The great thing about this activity is that there are no right or wrong categories as long as the groups can explain why the words are grouped together.  Here is a WORD document with words to use to practice to do this activity with your students.  The activity is in English, Spanish and French.I have also done this with pictures of well-kn0wn people that are related to the language and culture that we are studying (artists, actors, politicians, authors, etc.).  Screen Shot 2013-02-17 at 1.46.27 PM

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Posted in Activities and Games, Cultural Exploration, Speaking

Foreign Language Verb Form Card Game

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In this game players are dealt 5 cards to begin and place a card face up on the discard pile that is either the same verb (any form) or the same form (Je/Yo/Io/Ich, Tu/Tú/Tu/Du, etc.-any verb) as the top card on the discard pile. When the card is placed down, the player must say a complete sentence in the target language using the verb form.

Foreign (World) Language Verb Form Card Game. (French, Spanish) wlteacher.wordpress.comTo make it a little more interesting I also put special cards that a player can choose to play:

  • “arrêt” changes the verb
  • “sauter” skips the next player
  • “inverser” changes the direction of play
  • “+2” requires the next player to pick up 2 cards.

The first player to use all of his/her cards wins the game. A very interactive way for small groups of students to review verb forms and practice speaking in complete sentences.

Foreign (World) Language Verb Form Card Game. (French, Spanish) wlteacher.wordpress.comYou can download full French and Spanish versions of this card game below:

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Posted in Activities and Games, Grammar and Structures, Speaking

Foreign Language Vocabulary Activity– Zut! ¡Caramba!

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This is an interactive and tactile game for practicing  vocabulary. Put a set of cards with pictures of vocabulary in a bag.  I use cards from a memory game.  Make a few cards that have a word or picture that indicates a “bad” pick.  I use “Zut” (French) and “Caramba” (Spanish).   Make sure the “bad” cards are the same size and shape as the picture cards.

Foreign (World) Language Vocabulary Activity (french, Spanish) wlteacher.wordpress.com

  • Split the class into teams. Teams take turns choosing a card out of the bag. When they choose the card the team can do various things to keep it depending on the language level of the students.  They can identify the picture in the target language, use the word in a sentences orally or write the word.
  • If they choose a “Zut” or “Caramba” card they must put all their cards back in the bag, including the “Zut” and “Caramba” card.
  • Play continues between the two teams and the cards/points change often because of the “Zut” and “Caramba” cards.
  • If a team doesn’t know a word it goes back in the bag.  The teacher can decide if the team keeps their other cards and passes the turn or must take another card out of the bag (this the is the way I do it).
  • After a certain number of turns or a specified about of time, the team with the most cards wins.  This game can also be played in small groups (4-5) with individual students play against each other.

Here are some images by vocabulary theme that can be used to to this activity:

French

Spanish

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Posted in Activities and Games, Speaking

Pre-Speaking Activity for the Foreign Language Classroom

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Choose a targPrep for Speaking Activity for the Foreign (World) Language Classroom (French, Spanish) wlteacher.wordpress.comet language passage, phrase, object or a picture and place it in the center of large sheet of paper and have  students write 1-2 short sentences about it. The complexity will depend on the level of language that students have.  It might a well thought out opinion, or a simple state of personal preference if the prompt is a piece of fruit.  If it is a photo, students can write about what they think is happening.  Students then write responses to the phrases of other students.

This is an engaging way for students to collect their thoughts on a topic and respond to the ideas of their classmates in quick, informal writing before engaging in a conversation. This can work with advanced students with access to more complex grammar structures and vocabulary or with beginner  and intermediate students if the prompt is less complex or visual.

Do this activity before engaging a class discussion as a pre-speaking task and you will see how much more students have to offer.  They can also have these conversations in small groups.  This works best with no more than 6 students per prompt, so several station will need to be set up to account for all students in the class.  The prompt can be different each station, then groups can rotate to a new station and write their thoughts, then respond to the other comments.  After a few rotations there are lots of thoughts to comment on.  The conversation can take place between each rotation or at the end.  This activity could be used just as a writing activity without the conversational follow-up.

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Posted in Activities and Games, Speaking, Writing