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Proverb Communication Activity by Chris Gunn
Materials:
Hard Proverb Crossword (Optional)
Purpose and Audience:
This activity is a retelling activity where students communicate common English proverbs to each other. Every student is given a proverb to communicate to the class. They are also asked to explain what the proverb means and either rephrase their explanation (using in other words) or to give an example (for example).
Class Set-up
There are 15 proverbs in total, so if you have a large class you may need to make more than one copy of each proverb. You may also need to adjust the number of proverbs (and the quiz questions) according to the number of students you have. So for example, if you have 24 students you might want to use 2 sets of 12 proverbs instead of all 15 originals plus 9 extra copies.
Give each student a proverb and tell them to memorize the proverb word for word and to remember the explanation (meaning) of the proverb in their own words. After the students have been given time to memorize the proverbs, take away the proverbs and hand out the activity sheet. Students go around and talk to other students and exchange information on proverbs.
When the students are finished exchanging information, give them five minutes to review their activity sheet. Then, give them the quiz on proverbs. It is important that the students know that they will be given a quiz beforehand. This helps to focus their attentions while doing the activity. I usually have the students mark the quiz themselves by having them exchange quizzes. Then we quickly go over the answers as a class. I personally don't count the scores and tell the students that from the start. I tell them the reason for the quiz is so that they can measure their own communication skills. In other words, the quiz is a self assessment tool.
Finally, the crossword is optional and contains about 45 proverbs. It is pretty hard though.
All materials (c) 2009 Lanternfish ESL