Bright idea contributed by Sarah Lynn and Eleanor Stafford Teacher Sarah Lynn runs a blog of good teaching ideas. A friend of hers, Eleanor Stafford has been using Surveys for Conversation with a technique she calls "Hot Seat Monologues." Eleanor's enthusiasm got Sarah not only to put it on her blog (2/10/2010) but to encourage me to share the idea on our Pro Lingua website. Here is Sarah's blog entry. Do visit her blog. It has lot's of good ideas.
Here is a great activity from my colleague, ELEANOR STAFFORD. It gives students ample opportunity to practice their speaking and listening skills. Eleanor does this activity in her low level ESOL class but it works for all levels. 1. The teacher assigns students a topic, oftentimes from a book of simple surveys for English Language Learners. Students write complete narratives, or words/phrases for homework. Alternatively, students may suggest a topic they'd like to explore. In the following few classes, each student goes to the front of the class and sits in the "hot seat"-without his/her text. 2. Once in the hot seat, the student volunteer gives a monologue on the topic for 1-3 minutes, depending on the level of the class. (The length of the monologues usually increases over the year.) The other students must listen only, without writing. They do not ask questions. 3. At the end of the allotted time period, a timekeeper says "Stop!" and the speaker must stop wherever s/he is. Having a finite period of time in which to speak gives students a goal to reach for, as well as a feeling of safety that they will not be expected to speak indefinitely. 4. Once the student has completed his/her hot seat monologue, the other students and the teacher write down everything they remember on a piece of lined paper. 5. The teacher gives a one-two paragraph write-up to the student, which serves to validate that the student communicated effectively. 6. The teacher collects the other students' write-ups and writes comments on them-supplying missinmg information and correcting inaccuracies-but more importantly, validating that they comprehended much of what was said and were able to record it in English. The teacher does not correct grammar or spelling in these write-ups, as the Hot Seat Monologue is primarily a speaking and listening exercise. Some students may write only lists of words or phrases while others may write complete narratives. Just a portion of each class is devoted to the Hot Seat Monologue. With a class of 12 students, all students are able to deliver their monologues in 3-4 classes.
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