This document outlines 10 activities to develop speaking skills in beginners: 1) One student describes what they saw outside and others ask questions; 2) Small groups explore an area and report back answering questions; 3) A student describes something vaguely and others ask questions to guess what it is; 4) Students compare and describe similar objects; 5) Groups analyze pictures and answer questions; 6) Partners describe pictures to each other without showing; 7) Students demonstrate and describe making something; 8) Students act out actions for others to guess; 9) Groups make up stories from common objects; 10) Partners give each other directions to their home and ask clarifying questions.

1. Ten activities for developing speaking skills in beginners
Developing speaking skills

2. 1. What did you see?
 Onestudent goesout to seewhat is happening outside.
Hecomesback andtells the class what he saw.
Forexample:
- I saw a truck, two shops and a bicycle
 Therest of the children ask questions about it, one by one.
ForExample:
- What was the truck carrying?
- What was beingsold in the shop?

3. 2. Asking the explorers
 Send a group of five to six children to study a specific object or place near the
school building. Eg. Atea stall, a brokenbridge, or a nest.
 While the groupis way exploring, tell the
remaining children, details about the objectorplace.
 When the explorer group comes back they have to face questions from the
class which they will have to answer.

4. 3. Guess what I saw
 One child goes out and selects one of the many things that he sees. When he
comesback hejust says one sentence about the thing that he saw.
Forexample:
- Thething that I saw was brown
 The rest of the children ask questions tofind out
what hehas in mind.
Forexample:
- Is it thin?
- Is it big?

5. 4. Comparing
 Make sets of similar looking things such as leaves and flowers of different trees,
stones, pieces ofpapercut in different sizesetc.
 Describe one of the things in a set and on the basis of the description the
children guess which oneyou are thinking of.
Forexample:
I am thinking of a leaf that is smooth and long and has
evenedges.
 Soon the children take turns todescribe

6. 5. Analysing a picture
 Divide the class into groups and give a picture to each group with a set of
questions. The group observes the picture and discusses the questions
 Forexamplethe children can beasked to :
- Find things: - What is happening in the house?
- Reason: - Whyis the boysad?
- Project: (Relate tothe picture by placing them in it)
- What is the little girl thinking?
- Predict: - What will the lion do to the mouse?
- Relate: (Findparallels with their ownlives)
- Have you ever beenangrywith anyone?
- What did it feel like and what did you do?

7. 6. Guessing the right picture
 You need a number of books with pictures for this.
 Thechildren arepaired andeach pairis given a book.
 Onechild selects a picture from the book and describes it to the partner.
 Thebook is then given to thepartner. Based on thedescription, thepartnerhas
to find the picture that fits the description.
 Theroles arethen reversed.

8. 7. How did you make that?
 Teach children how to make things with paper, cloth or any other readily
available material. Make elaborate comments on what you are doing as you
demonstrate.
Forexample:
- Fold the paperinto half. Then turn the corners
inwards.
 The children can also make simple things on their own. They come and show
the thing and tell the class how it has been made. Ask them to describe the
process.

9. 8. Acting out
 Choose some common actions that children seeeveryday.
Forexample:
- Sweeping the floor, cutting vegetables, washing
clothes, etc.
 Whisper to each child what action you have chosen for him or her. Then everychild
comesforward and performs the action. Others must guess what the action was.
 Groups of children can docollective action.
 Forolder children whocan read,use slips of paper to tell them what to do

10. 9. Making a story
 Any common experience can be turned into a story. Also, any commonobject
can becomethe starting point of a narration.
 Collect common things like lids, pieces of cloth, leaves, stones, broken bangles
etc. Make piles of five orsix items and distribute among groups of five or six
children. The children talk aboutthe things in the pile and createa story in 15 -
20min.

11. 10. Where do you live?
 Children live in two lines facing each other, one line has tellers, the other has
listeners. Each teller has to explain to the listener the way o reach home.
Listeners can ask any numberof questions to understand better.
Forexample:
Teller: Go straight and then turn left.
Listener: Howfar should I go straight
before turning?
Teller: Go till you reach a park.Then
turn left.

12.  Adapted from the handbook, “The child’s Language And
The Teacher” by Krishna Kumar