This is a discussion activity that can be used for many topics.


This is a discussion activity that can be used for many topics. This is around phrases from "O Canada" (national anthem) basically talking about values and citizenship rights and responsibilities. Part of Remembrance Day content. The prompts come from "A Grab Bag of Canada " by Elizabeth Ganong and Dan Ingram. Some of questions (on the little orange rectangles) are "What makes a country feel like home?", "How do people show they love their country?" What Canadian values need to be protected and how can we do this?"

Six questions on six sheets of flip chart paper. Six groups of 2-3 students. Each group gets a paper. Five minutes to discuss the question and each student writes their opinion. Then the paper moves to a different group and they add their answers. ( Everyone gets a different coloured marker. Signing is optional. If the group runs out of time the students can add their contribution later...!Then we put them up as a display and talk about the different suggestions.

Comments

  1. Steven HerderNovember 11, 2017 at 9:31 PM

    Lovely activity Claudie G, (My Canadian pride is smiling)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Penny UrNovember 11, 2017 at 10:58 PM

    Brilliant. I love 'pass it round' activities, can be used for lots of things ... I'll be picking this up again in the 'writing' session (last session of the course).

    ReplyDelete
  3. Francesca Di MambroNovember 14, 2017 at 10:17 AM

    That looks great! Very adaptable to other topics/discussions. Thanks a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hannah McCullochNovember 17, 2017 at 3:27 AM

    Thanks, Claudie! A question I continue to ponder in my own teaching is whether my students should be writing in a conversation class, as part of my job entails Getting Them to Speak during a 45 min lesson every 2 weeks, but sometimes they need a pen and paper as well as support from others to get their thoughts together. Until now, I have only really ever asked them to make notes/brainstorm, but having a record of a successful lesson is great to look back on and should make both the students and teacher feel proud. Did you also ask them to paraphrase what they had written on the displays? Such a lovely idea!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Claudie GNovember 18, 2017 at 6:52 PM

    Hannah McCulloch Hi Hannah, actually this Pass it Round was part of a theme leading up to "Remembrance Day". We also went to the Ontario Legislature for a tour. The follow up activity was "Write a letter to a friend telling them about the field trip" (pre taught letter writing conventions.) ( For more advanced students I sometimes add "include your observations on the system of government in Canada."!!)
    You reminded me that I should include a "debate" - again pre teach debate conventions and rules.:) But that involves a ton of prep...so I've only done it twice!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Claudie GNovember 18, 2017 at 6:59 PM

    Thanks Hannah, I didn't think about the paraphrase - but I think one could do definitely do it also practicing asking for clarification.
    Learner A reads Learner B's contribution and ask "So, you mean...?" (students have the option to sign or not..so this might best be done in the original small group...)

    ReplyDelete

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