Hands-on English current events activity for July, 1998
Note: You are welcome to print, copy and use this activity with your students. However, this material is copyrighted, so please don't re-publish it anywhere without permission.
To the instructor:
Here
is a lively and interesting discussion activity that you can follow
up with a writing exercise. Students at all levels can participate.
This activity first gives the students a chance to voice their
opinions on various urgent topics, in a limited and structured way,
then allows them a chance to pursue a topic in a more thoughtful
manner in writing. We have found that students really enjoy this
activity!
How to do it:
The
students will be working in small groups, so prepare enough copies of
the 'Controversy cards' so that each group will have a set. The cards
should be cut up and perhaps mounted onto cards before class. You'll
also need a timer, and a bell or something noisy to signal the
students. We sometimes use a tape player with a music cassette for
this purpose.
Have
the students sit in groups of 3 or 4. Give each group a set of the
cards and tell them they will be discussing each card in their
groups, but they can only talk for one minute! To begin they should
start with "I agree with this statement because. . ." or, "I disagree
with this statement because. . ." Write these two sentence starters
on the board as a guide for the students.
If
you like, you can do an example together first so the students
understand what to do. Write an example on the board such as "Soccer
is a better sport than baseball," and have a few students agree or
disagree with this orally.
Now
tell the students to start the discussion in their groups by drawing
a card and responding to the statement they see. While they are doing
this you can assist any students who need help with the vocabulary.
When a minute is up, sound your signal and have the students draw the
next card and start a new topic. Continue until they've disussed all
12 cards.
Tip:
If the students are enthusiastically engaged in their discussions,
you can let the time go a little bit longer than a minute.
Follow up with writing:
When
the conversations are finished, have each student select one of the
cards to write about. It's best if they choose their own topic for
this exercise. Give the students 10 or 15 minutes to write, and ask
them to begin with "I agree/disagree with this statement because. .
." just as they did in the discussions.
Once
the students are finished writing, collect all the papers, shuffle
them and then give one to each student, making sure everyone gets
someone else's paper. Ask the students to read the comments the other
student wrote, and respond in writing with "I agree with you
because..." or "I disagree with you because..." When they are done,
the papers should go back to the original authors. If there is enough
time, the students can continue the written discussion further,
exchanging papers back and forth.
A
possible homework assignment (especially for advanced students) is to
have the students write a new essay about the topic they have chosen,
this time incorporating the arguments that came up in the written
discussion with another student.
Why it works:
The
rapid, back-and-forth exchange of ideas, both in the speaking and in
the writing parts of this exercise, brings out a lot of views in a
hurry. This can be very interesting for everybody!
Because
of their limited English, our students don't often get a chance to
discuss such serious issues, but they certainly have opinions and
ideas about them. This activity gives them a forum to do so, and a
chance to develop their thoughts on adult issues in
writing.
Adapting to ABE and Secondary students:
This
would be a wonderful activity for native speakers of English as well.
The discussions will help them generate ideas for their writing. Some
of the topics below might need to be adapted to the interests of your
students, though. Here are some ideas for other topics that might
interest them: Gangs, welfare reform, minimum wage, medical costs,
old age, Social Security, campaign finance reform, quality of the
schools, child care, United Nations, relations with Vietnam. If you
write a controversy card yourself, try to state it in such a way that
there might be reasonable arguments on both sides.
Need more topics?
We
printed another version of this activity in the latest issue of
Hands-on English (July/August 1998). The topics there are
somewhat more general and probably require less background knowledge
to discuss; however they are interesting and really get students
talking!
Another
set of these topics (also of a general nature) appeared in our
July/Aug 1991 issue--Vol. 1, No. 2, page 11.
To
order a subscription, or to get back issues, see our order
form!
Happy teaching!
--The Editor
(There are 12 current events topics here. Make a
set of these for each group of students.
Cut up each set and clip them together. If you like you can mount
them on cards first.)
There will never be peace
in the Middle East.
Priests in the Catholic Church
should be able to marry.
The Iranian government and
the U.S. government should be friends.
Korea's economic problems
will improve in one or two years.
People who smoke should pay
high taxes for cigarettes.
There should be no
death penalty for any crime.
Some day people will live on Mars.
Earthquakes are more dangerous
than hurricanes.
Driving a big car is better
than driving a small car.
India and Pakistan should stop
testing nuclear weapons.
The U.S. should send military troops
to Yugoslavia.
All education should be free.
Editor's
note: I'd be very interested to hear what you and your students
thought of this activity! Thank you! We welcome teaching
suggestions.--Anna Silliman. 
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