Since it is very important to develop in students not only language skills but also to broaden their horizon and make them committed to the environmental issues I decided to use topic “Water and Pollution” in oral developing activity. The following game is based on the activity “The Incredible Journey” (Fredrickson, 1999, p.28). It can be used with students of the Intermediate, Early Advanced and Advanced levels (English-language, 2009, pp. 19-24).
First the teacher draws students’ attention to the two circles, “Water Circle” and “Pollution”, depicted on the board (these circles have common space). It is also necessary to support this chart with pictures of the water circle and different ways of pollution all over the classroom, in order to hint students with ideas. First the teacher asks the students to name the main objects of pollution: air, water, soil, outer space, etc.
This all is written in the circle “Pollution”. Then the teacher asks the students to name the main states of water and define the main “stops” in water cycle (ocean, clouds and air, soil), which is written in the circle “Water Cycle”. After this the teacher suggests to define the points where these two circles meet (ocean, soil, air, etc), which is written in the common space.
After the first brief part the main part of a class follows: the teacher chooses one of the students, and divides the rest of the students into three groups. The teacher explains the essence of the game: a newly born molecule of water is in the ocean starting her way in the water cycle, trying to understand what is going on and to get as much information as possible.
The chosen student becomes a molecule of water, which is given a list of possible questions, for example: What is ocean? What does it consist of? Does it have any problems? How and where does water go further? Are there any deviations in this way? Can pollution prevent molecules from making her way? Of course, the student is encouraged to make his/her own questions.
While Molecule is reading the given questions, the teacher names the group and asks them to make graphic image of their group (e.g. waves, clouds, and an island with a tree). When everything is done (it will take few minutes), the students start their discussion: Molecule asks different questions and the students from the group “Water” must answer them, other groups can also participate in this process.
The teacher takes passive part in this discussion, and takes a part of Mother Nature, which interferes when some difficulties occur: students don’t know the answers, or don’t have any questions. So Molecule leaves group “Water” and passes to the group “Air”, and the discussion continues, as well as with the group “Soil”. In the end Molecule comes back to the group “Water”.
The final part of this activity is making conclusion. Each student must take floor and express his feelings and thought about pollution or water cycle.
The teacher then assesses the students’ work in class: first of all, the teacher should pay attention to the students’ skills in grammar and pronunciation, and then the teacher is to focus on the clarity of students’ expressing their thoughts. The best result show the students who use correct and reach language, express their thoughts in a simple and logic way.
References
English-language Development Standards for California Public Schools: Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve. (2009). Sacramento: California Department of Education.
Fredrickson, J. (1999) English Language Development Theory and Practices: Background Information for “EE” Providers. Sacramento: California State Dept. of Forestry and Fire Protection