# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A big part of learning English is learning how to actually speak it.

Now, this can be tricky to practice in classroom settings.

After all, you can't have meaningful one-on-one conversations with every single student every single class.

This is why it's important to find speaking activities that will include everyone and make learning fun!

Here are 8 different ESL speaking activities for kids to add to your lesson plan!

Contents

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere.Click here to get a copy. (Download)

1. Investigative Journalist

The basis of investigative journalist is for students to interview one another in pairs and present their findings.

It can be used for groups at all skill levels from beginning to advanced, as long as you tailor it to their levels.

Beginners may ask their partners about their family structure, favorite colors and foods, pets and hobbies.

Intermediate students could practice past tense structures by asking about their partner's childhood or what they did over the summer.

Advanced students might benefit from a murder mystery version of the game, where each student is assigned a character to play and the game concludes with the "murderer" being sussed out as a result of the questions.

A great way to prepare students for this versatile activity, no matter their level, is with authentic videos of English conversations from FluentU.

FluentU takes authentic videos-like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks-and turns them into personalized language lessons.

The FluentU videos are all organized by level and come with interactive captions, flashcards and exercises to help students pick up new words as they watch.

Through these supercharged English dialogues, news reports, interviews, movie clips and more, they'll get comfortable with the types of basic English conversations investigative journalist requires.

Students can access FluentU from their devices as well as it's available as an app for iOS and Android.

2. Debate

Debate is another classic that can incorporate pair or group work, depending on the size of your class.

Create groups and assign each group or pair a side of an argument. Allow the groups time to research their topic and form their argument.

Then you can have the students execute their debate.

While this may sound like a more advanced activity, you can easily tailor it to age and level.

You might have your older and more advanced students arguing a political or ethical issue, while you can just as easily have your younger students argue which candy bar is better.

Debate is made even more interesting when you present students with authentic materials to use as support for their claims.

Check out this video if you want to see how a debate should be run:

3. What's Your Secret?

What's your secret? is a pair work activity that truly involves the whole class.

In this game, each student writes a secret down on a piece of paper, things like: "I play the clarinet." or "I have a twin."

The papers are placed in a hat and each student draws one: that's where the game begins.

The game can either be played by allowing students to mill about the classroom freely or by setting up a speed dating scenario, where each pair has 1 minute to speak before rotating.

Students may ask one another yes/no questions-they may not ask directly if what's on the piece of paper is true about them or not.

Students then must guess to whom the secret they drew belongs.

4. It's Your Turn: Teach a Class!

This is a fun activity for advanced ESL students that reinforces their learning by having them teach something to the class themselves.

Depending on your class size, you can have each student present something on their own or work in pairs or groups. You assign each student, pair or group a grammar, vocab or culture point that they'll have to teach to the class.

They then have to prepare activities and lesson plans to teach the point to the class.

Be sure to assign a time limit depending on how much of your classroom time you'd like to dedicate to this activity.

Unlike many of these other activities, the conclusion portion of this activity is built right in: when the students teach the class, the teacher should play the role of the student, but you may evaluate the lesson at the end and feel free to correct any mistakes the "teachers" make!

5. Following Directions

Following directions is an interesting game that offers a change from classroom routine.

In this game, each student in the pair draws a picture, keeping their paper shielded from the eyes of their partner.

Ideally, pictures should be fairly geometric. Once the picture is complete, they explain to their partner, using words only, how to replicate the image.

For example, if a student has drawn the stereotypical square house with a triangle roof, he might say: "Draw a square in the middle of the paper that's about a third of the size of the paper. Draw an equilateral triangle on top of the square, using the top side of the square as the bottom side of the triangle."

The goal of this game is for each partner to replicate the other's drawing going by these spoken directions.

This activity is great for not only practicing speaking skills, but listening skills as well. If you want to make things competitive, you can offer up a prize for the group that has the best drawing!

6. Yes, No Game

Games can be a great way to mix things up and keep students interested in learning.

This is a game where the only two words that students aren't allowed to say are yes and no.

Pair students off and have them take turns asking each other questions. Students may answer the questions however they like, they just can't say yes or no.

When a student loses, he or she is out and the winning partner is paired with another winning partner. In this way, you can create a tournament of yes, no.

Other versions of the game also forbid "maybe" and "I." Consider these versions when the game is lasting too long or students need an extra challenge.

7. Guess Who

Guess who is a version of 20 questions that focuses entirely on people.

Students draw the name of a famous person out of a hat (you'll need to prepare these slips in advance!) and their partner tries to guess who's on the paper by asking a series of yes/no questions.

Like yes, no, guess who can be turned into a tournament-style game.

To add a cultural aspect, you can have a lesson beforehand on various famous figures in English culture and then have the students play this game to remember who they are.

8. Make a Movie

Making a movie is a fun way to keep students engaged and teach them the importance of speaking.

You can have the whole class do one movie together, split into groups or split into pairs.

If the kids are younger, you can give them a script they need to read out loud. If the kids are a bit older, you can even let them write and perform their own script.

If you do choose to provide the script, try to find the script for a movie that will be familiar to students, such as a Finding Nemo or Shrek.

Try to encourage your students to memorize as much as they can. I recommend at least having a rule that they must look at who they're speaking to in order to avoid a robotic "reading voice."

You can either just have the students perform their movie in front of each other or you can actually record it.

I'd highly suggest recording the movie because then you can play it back for the students to hear their own speech and how they're doing.

Now you have eight different ESL speaking activities to try next class.

You can even mix things up and add your own variations to make things more interesting!

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere.Click here to get a copy. (Download)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
8 ESL Speaking Activities for Kids Sure to Keep Them Entertained | FluentU English Educator Blog

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Need some ESL speaking activities for kids? This post will give you eight fantastic speaking activities that you can try with your students next class! These activities are fun and engaging and make for an easy lesson plan! From playing games to making movies, your sure to find something your students will enjoy!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Scaffolding Content and Process in PBL | Blog | Project Based Learning | BIE

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Scaffolding is the term used to describe the supports provided to students to help them learn a new concept or skill when it is first introduced. Scaffolds help move students from what they can do now to what they will be able to do later.

# data[].attributes.headline
7 Ways to Scaffold Instruction for English Language Learners

# data[].attributes.subject
7 Ways to Scaffold Instruction for English Language Learners

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
ELA posts - Teach. Learn. Grow. The education blog

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
ELA relies on so much of a learner’s toolkit: reading, writing, grammar, spelling, vocabulary, speaking and listening, speech and debate, poetry and research. With such a robust landscape, we promise to provide equally rich resources.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Write Your Story template. Writing scaffold worksheet for narrative writing. Title, setting, beginning, problem and solution.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Scaffolding and chunking worksheet for #ADHD #EF skill development

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
6 scaffolding strategies to use with your students

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
power point for helping teachers at classroom

# data[].attributes.headline
Scaffolding Your Way to a More Engaged Classroom

# data[].attributes.subject
Scaffolding Your Way to a More Engaged Classroom

# data[].attributes.headline
Three Types of Scaffolding: There’s a Scaffold for That

# data[].attributes.subject
Three Types of Scaffolding: There’s a Scaffold for That

# data[].attributes.headline
5 Scaffolding Teaching Strategies to Try Today

# data[].attributes.subject
5 Scaffolding Teaching Strategies to Try Today

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
5 Scaffolding Teaching Strategies to Try Today

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
by TeachThought Staff

Teaching through stations-or 'station teaching'-is a flexible and underrated teaching and learning strategy that can add versatility to your craft.

This approach requires unique classroom management strategies, precise time management, and a clear relationship between the design of each station and the learning objective itself. If you can meet these demands, station teaching can allow you to differentiate and personalize learning for students, meeting their needs while reducing your workload.

See also 12 Types Of Blended Learning

One key to station teaching is planning-having a clear sense not just of what 'students should do at each station,' but rather 'what each station should do for students.' This allows differentiation to be possible through scaffolding, awhen it comes to scaffolding, the gradual release of responsibility model is a fantastic way to get started.
Differentiation Starts With Adjustability
In 4 Strategies For Implementing Learning Stations In Your Classroom, we recommended differentiation as a key strategy in teaching and learning through stations.

'2. Differentiate the work in your centers and stations: Take each station and think of it as a common core or state standard. Make levels of difficulty A-D of each standard for your groups and neatly organize your packets A-D. "A" being the foundational skill and "D" being mastery. You can come up with your own system, but there needs to be levels of increasing comprehension they can access independently. Sometimes it's best to have different levels or learners in a center around the same activity. The more advanced children can help the students that are struggling on their A or B level packets. The key is the center is differentiated for all learners at the table for each learner at their level.'

This is a notion shared by teacher Stephanie Van Horn on her blog, 3rdgradethoughts.com, where a 2013 post of hers (that's been shared over 200,000 times) discusses her own experience with teaching math through stations.

'As with everything, the devil is in the details, so prepping is the key. I spent a looooooong time making sure the kids had activities and trying to account for "dead time"- thus, the Fact Practice option. I also wanted to make materials accessible and easy to get to, so there wouldn't be any excuse for not getting started right away.'

The 'dead time' is, of course, different for every student. Because of varying levels of readiness, background knowledge, and even student motivation, students 'move' at different speeds.

Station teaching doesn't automatically correct for this. You can setup learning stations, set a timer, have activities for each station, and still slow some students while rushing others.

One solution could be stations separated by function which closely follow the common approach of learning through stations, which is the application of the gradual release of responsibility model: Show me, help me, let me.

Below, we've created four possible models for station teaching based on the GRR model that can be used at any grade level, and with a little tweaking, for any content area.
Using Station Teaching To Scaffold Learning For Any Grade Level Or Content Area Station 1: Show me
Purpose: Introduce new topic

Useful Teaching & Learning Strategies: Think-Alouds, Direct Instruction, Modeling, Concept Mapping

In the first station, the teacher introduces new content. This can be a new principle in math, concept in science, reading strategy in Language Arts, or even an extension of previous learning. It can be done in small groups (i.e., a station), or the entire class as well through whole class instruction.
Station 2: Watch me
Purpose: To provide close support as students begin to experiment with the 'new content'

Useful Teaching & Learning Strategies: Jigsaw, Scaffolding, 5 Questions, Inquiry, Emotional/Cognitive 'Coaching'

In the second station, students begin to apply the previously introduced concept or skill. This can be done in pairs within the small group, individually, or in a mixed setting where some students are paired and some work alone, based on student ability, background knowledge, or other need.

See also The Definition Of Personalized Learning
Station 3: Help me
Purpose: To increase student fluency/autonomy with the new content based on personalized learning need

Useful Teaching & Learning Strategies: Conferencing, Workshopping, Differentiation, Scaffolding, Chunking

In the third station, the teacher will observe the students continue to apply the concept or skill, and do so in small enough groups where individual feedback can be given in a 'just the right time' approach.

This is also the station where the personalization and scaffolding of learning really start to take shape. Some students may need emotional support while others may benefit from simply having the task broken up into smaller steps, or 'chunks.'

The right pairing could be the tool some students need, while others may need a re-worded definition or pop culture analogy to make sense of a new idea. This group can also be differentiated by readyness-'ready' students can pass this station on the way to the 'Let me' station.

In some cases, some students may even need to return to a previous station. In this case, consider encouraging students to 'pass go' and go back around rather than 'move backwards.'
Station 4: Let me
Purpose: Further 'splinter' topic/skills; become more specific with personalization; adjusting pacing based on available time based on data from the previous station; provide opportunities for creative transfer

Useful Teaching & Learning Strategies: Pair-share, Inquiry, Correct Misconceptions, Learning through Play

In the final station, students rotating more slowly may never reach this center, while students may spend the majority of their time here clarifying, reinforcing, and otherwise extend their learning through structured and open-ended learning activities.
How To Scaffold Learning Through Station Teaching

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How To Scaffold Learning Through Station Teaching -

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
How To Scaffold Learning Through Station Teaching by TeachThought Staff Teaching through stations-or 'station teaching'-is a flexible and underrated teaching and learning strategy that can add versatility to your craft. This approach requires unique classroom management strategies, precise time management, and a clear relationship between the design of each station and the learning objective itself.