Description

This set of seasonal oral language Task Cards could be done with pupils in many different class groups. The cards are intended to be used as a fun game/task to develop vocabulary and oral language. There are 36 cards in this pack, four per A4 page.

This game could be played with pupils during carpet time or it could be used as a transition activity. Alternatively, it could be used as a discrete Oral Language lesson.

On each card is a Christmas-themed image illustrating something that goes wrong at Christmas time and a description. The purpose of the activity is for the pupils to talk about the Christmas mishap for as long as they can, aiming for at least a minute, which can be quite a long time for some pupils. The more you do this activity, the better pupils become at it. The aim is to develop fluency of thought, speech and delivery. You could aim for 30 seconds when playing the game first and increase the time as the pupils become more proficient.

Pupils should have fun with this oral activity and it is not necessary for them to tell a true story – they need to let their imaginations guide them!

It is suggested that the cards should be printed, cut out and laminated. They should then be put into a box and pupils can pick a card at random. The rule I always used was that if the pupil didn’t like the first card they selected, they may put it back and select a second. However, they must then stick with the second selected card – this makes pupils think twice about putting back a card.

When this activity is started initially, pupils could select their card the day before and prepare their talk for the next day. Remember: this is an oral language activity so pupils must not write out the talk and come into class and read it. As the pupils become more comfortable with the format of the activity, they should be able to do the activity spontaneously with no preparation.

If you think that the cards are too large, you can reset your printer preferences to print out two sheets per A4 page.