This blog post is to support those looking for ways to work with role play that encourage teacher and children to practise:
asking and answering questions
speaking in sentences
engaging in conversation
and
describing people,places and things orally (and in writing)
It is really important that you plan for the stages of developing this skill:
- From simple responding to a simple question (maybe in a game where the teacher sits children in a circle and the class practise in song or rhythm a question until the teacher stops and selects a children to respond- perhaps by rolling a ball to the specifc child or picking a name tag lolly stick randomly from a tub etc
- Through to matching appropriate questions and answers that are written on randomly ordered cards and reading them in a correct order with a partner
- To developing conversations independently using asides and additional language.
Take a look at this report for some very real reasons why it is so important to support children to build the ability to engage in conversation with target language speakers.
Here are some creative ways to develop your role play beyond simple personal information questions and answers, shopping dialogues etc
