Conversation Strips in the Language Classroom

I must admit that I use a lot of worksheets to supplement English lessons that I teach. Grammar activities, conversation scenarios, reading passages, I have seen plenty and used a variety of printed resources. However, I am definitely wary of wasting paper in this Go Green environment, especially if I print things that I never use but keep in a "just-in-case" folder. Before I go print crazy with the abundant resources on the Web, I am now thinking of ways to reduce paper and in theory, increase more student engagement in the language learning classroom. Instead of looking down at the assigned papers, students will be looking around at each other!

One activity (strategy) that is highly adaptable to fit any class level and lesson theme is the use of conversation strips. You can fit about 25 strips on one piece of paper by creating a Table template; all you have to do is write appropriate statements/questions for the class and cut them out before the next lesson. For more advanced classes, you can even have the students write relevant topics on the strips as a warm up activity! In a listening or conversation class, students can go around and ask each other questions or tell each other quotes from the strips, expecting a detailed response from classmates. In a reading class, you can have students pull out different writing prompts from a fun bag, container, or a silly hat; they will each have to write about the topic they chose for a certain length of time, and to change things up, they can swap papers and read aloud (or edit) each other's work. There is room for lots of variation on how to use conversation strips.

I think that relying less on printable handouts in the classroom and more on student input is definitely one way to improve your teaching skills!