Description

This is an oral language activity that can be done with pupils from about first class upwards (unless the teacher reads the topics on the card for the infant classes). On each card is written a Christmas-themed word.

The purpose of the activity is for the pupils to talk about the word 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.

There are 40 cards in this resource. They should be printed, cut out and laminated. They should then be put into a box and pupils pick a card at random.

The rule is that if they don’t like the first card they select, 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.