Activities for Practice: I Know Everything
(excerpted and adapted from Tutoring ESL: A Handbook for Volunteers)
Purpose: Creative use of language; question and answer practice.
Materials: High interest objects, such as objects students and teacher bring in because they are important to them in some way, such as: something from the student’s culture a gift from a family member or friend a favorite piece of clothing something that the student or teacher has made
Directions
The teacher begins by modeling the activity. The teacher selects an object. The teacher shows the object to everyone else present.
The teacher says, “I know everything about this object. Ask me anything about it, and I will tell you.”
The teacher helps the students to ask questions about the object.
Then, let a student select an object. The student shows the object to everyone else present. The student who has selected the object says, “I know everything about this object.”
The teacher and other students ask questions about the object.
Some questions will be easy:
What color is it? (When asking questions, no one should ask about colors if the student cannot see colors. If the student volunteers that she knows the color or colors, that is okay. But, the student should not be put in a position where she cannot answer a question because she doesn’t have any way of determining the correct answer.)
What is it used for?
Some are more difficult:
What are some things you cannot use this object for?
What do you think about when you use it?
The student with the object must try to answer every question. The student should not say, “I don’t know.”
No answer is wrong unless it directly contradicts something about the object. (Don’t say the red coat is blue.) The students must think about jobs, relationships, etc., using their imagination. The teacher can supply vocabulary as needed, but the student is the know-it-all.
From Tutoring ESL: A Handbook for Volunteers. Reproduced with permission from the publisher, Tacoma Community House Training Project, Tacoma, WA 98405.
Excerpted and adapted, with permission, by