EVOLVE/speaking/balloondebate

This game is designed to practice speaking and justification skills

Timing – Thirty – forty minutes.

Group – 5-10 students, any age (see how to play) and ability group at pre-intermediate + can play this game.

You need – The Role Cards (below), the Student Voting Slips (below), 10 balloons (more if you are likely to lose some), a hat and a pin.

Setup – Cut out the role cards, fold them and place them into a hat. Set up the classroom in a horseshoe formation if possible.

How to play – Pass the hat around the class asking students to take a role card. Distribute the balloons among the class so that each student has one balloon. You probably don’t need to ask, but get the students to inflate them.

Set the scene:

You are all enjoying a balloon ride over the sea, but disaster strikes, a bird collides with the balloon and tears a hole in it. The balloon is losing air and sinking towards the sea and certain death! The only way to get the balloon to climb is to throw one of your party overboard…

The students must justify in turn why they should remain in the balloon. After each student has made his plea, the group must tear a strip off the Student Voting Slip sheet, fill it in and place it in the hat.

The tutor counts the votes, notes the reason for getting rid of the person with the most votes. Then the tutor circles the class with the pin in hand, the students should hold the balloons up in the air and when the tutor gets to the person with the most votes he must pop their balloon (well away from students who are afraid of balloons but, in my experience, the students who say that are the ones who enjoy this stage of the session most by the time it finishes.)

Repeat the procedure until only one student remains. Students who are ‘dead’ are still allowed to vote.

Role Cards

Teacher

Musician

Soldier

Politician

Journalist

Pregnant
Woman

Student

Religious
Leader

Policeman/
Policewoman

Doctor

Student Voting Slips

We should get rid of the.................. because they are..................
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please choose an option below:

Question Prompts

Have You Ever...? - Would you ever...?

Speaking Activities

The International Phonetic Alphabet - The International Phonetic Alphabet (Presentation) - Ballon Debate - Crimewave! - How Rude! - Speaking Marathon

Free English Vocabulary Lessons Within the vocabulary section of EVOLVE there are lessons based on the academic word list which was compiled in order of frequency by LALS, Victoria University of Wellington. The lessons ensure that the student becomes familiar with the new vocabulary and can really use it in their own text. Also under this section you will find advice on learning and retaining vocabulary and some short cuts to understanding new words using word roots.	Free English Grammar Lessons Grammar is the first part of a language that can cause us confusion. Many natvie speakers don't know the finer points of grammar so it can be a difficult task to try to learn the grammar of another language. Our grammar section takes you through all the main grammar points and offers exercises to check understanding throughout. There are lessons on parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives...) right through to lessons on reported speech and relative clauses at the more advanced levels. Just remember that grammar is a set of rules that have been developed as a guide to the language, the language is not based on the rules.
Free English Reading Lessons The reading section is divided into two main sections, the holiday lesson plan section where you can find lessons based on British festivities for every month of the year, and then there is the current affairs section where new lessons are constantly added. All lessons focus on vocabulary, understanding of a text and a discussion session, which can bring about lively debate in any classroom.	Free English Writing Lessons Our writing advice guides students from the alphabet up. There is advice on spelling rules, punctuation and oration. Another feature of the writing section includes lesson plans based on sentence structure, which can be used in conjunction with the lesson plans on grammar. At the advanced level there is advice on how to fulfil academic writng tasks. Finally there are many IELTS style writing topics to inspire students to write.
Free English Speaking Lessons One of the most vital things to learn in good speech and pronunciation is the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) - armed with this and a good dictionary, students will never mispronounce a word again. To practice speech there are conversation prompts in this section and also featured are some debates and enjoyable exercises to conduct in a group.	Free English Listening Lessons The listening section focuses on our currnet affairs podcasts which are unique to EVOLVE and can be accompanied by the lesson plans that focus on both listening and understanding and also feature elements of vocabulary and grammar to give a well rounded listening session. Apart from this there is advice on listening to lectures and gap fill exercises for famous songs which have been selected to relate to grammar points.
Free English Forum	Free English Games
In the EVOLVE Forum we offer students and teachers the chance to get together. Whether you are an ESL teacher looking for a job, or a confused student looking for some help, the EVOLVE forum can offer you support. It costs nothing to post on the forum and can introduce you to the ESL community at large. Why not share some helpful advice or make new friends in our penpal network?	Games can lighten the tone of an otherwise boring session, as well as having a genuine didactic place as a part of a class. All of the games in this session have been carefully considered and included for their educational merit.

EVOLVE Educational Vocational Objective Learning of Vernacular English

Speaking Balloon Debate

Please choose an option below:

Question Prompts

Speaking Activities