All students love a competition and especially a board race or running dictation. By giving them a general knowledge question to answer by looking up the information on Google in groups, or a topic specific question related to a news story on a new website, they are engaging with ‘real’ English and up to date written discourse. This activity can by done with computers, tablets or smart phones so it is not limited to the resources provided by the institution.
Skills practised
- Skimming for main ideas
- Scanning for specific information
- Distinguishing between fact and fiction
- Comprehension
- Exposure to new lexis and retrieval of old
- Making deductions and/or inferences
- Interpreting textual clues
If you try this activity, let me know how it goes in the comments!