Conversation Class Lesson Plan

Section: Advanced Conversation
Date: February 9, 2010

 

Class theme/topics discussed: Creative story telling

How did you pick this theme or topic? The students had really enjoyed the previous lesson and working creatively, so I thought of another exercise, where they had to use their imagination a lot and create something new.

How did you present the material? (handouts, group work, general discussion, student presentations, etc.)
To get my students’ imagination going, I played a game first. I put a sheet of paper on the table which showed a little guy, we called him Manni. I asked the students to describe Manni, think about what he might like to in his free time, what he likes to eat, where he works, etc. The students were supposed to work together while describing him: Each student was only supposed to say one word, and then the next student would continue the sentence and so on.
Then, I gave each student an ABC-list, which they were supposed to fill with German words starting with letters A-Z. After that, the students were supposed to share their words and write a story or dialogue, using as many words out of their lists as possible. Then, they presented their product.
Finally, we played a well-known game to end the lesson: 20 questions. Every student (one after another) was supposed to think of a German word and the other two were supposed to ask questions to guess the word.

How did students react?
The students love Manni! They had fun doing teamwork in order to describe him. They also liked to write their own story and present it.

Did they engage with each other and you?
Yes, they talked a lot. They seemed to have a lot of fun too.

 

What materials or media did you use? (articles, satellite tv, digital projector, etc.)
Sheet of paper with ‘Manni’ picture
ABC list

 

Would you recommend this activity for a future class? Why or why not?
Yes, I would. The first exercise could also be used at the end of lessons, if you need to fill a couple of minutes, because you can end this game whenever you want, there is no certain time range required.

Manni