Education Canada College (TESOL Canada)

Conversation Activities.

Learning Modules, Praxis and Development.

Olga Shugurova
August 30, 2011

Toronto, Ontario
From the author: the activities are presented within the cultural methodology with its integrative
and interactive methods for a better learning and more contextual language acquisition.

Conversation Activities: beginnings.

Conversation Activity 1. Introduction.

Objective: in this conversation activity, students participate in dialogues and group works with the
intent to introduce their persons, make friends and communicate about one or two topics which they
have all in common.
• Students learn basic phrases, and learn how to make sentences of introduction
• students learn to listen to each other and respond appropriately
• students make statements about their hobbies, interests, ideas
• students work in pairs and as a group

Level: beginners, intermediate

Number of students: 1-30

Duration: 60 minutes.

Materials: hand out with basic forms and expressions, questions to use and ideas to share

The Material Synopsis may look like this.

-What is your name? My name is Olga.
-My name is....It is nice to meet you.
-Nice to meet you too.
-Where are you from? I am from Ukraine but I live in Toronto. I am Canadian.
-Oh, me too. I am Canadian-Ukrainian. However, I live in Quebec. I am also French.
-Wow. It must be amazing to speak three languages. How do you manage them all?
-I do not manage them. I am just myself all the time. There is a folk saying, “more languages you
speak, more human you become.” I like languages, they help me grow.
-Indeed. I also grow with learning morally and ethically. I begin to listen to others and appreciate
diversity as a living harmony. Sometimes, I think that the world is like a song, and languages are
myriads of songs which help us learn to live in peace.
-Yes, I agree. Peace is much more than a living condition, it is a global necessity.
-Language helps us learn this way: the way of peace and humanitarian understanding.
-Of course, it all nature and we should listen to the world as we are a part of it. Isn't it great to learn and
understand?
-Yes, it is. I am a student and a teacher, and I learn every day.
-What do you study?
-I study interdisciplinary studies, PhD level.
-Amazing, I am going to study at the graduate school too. I have finished my degree in ecology
recently and traveled the world. I learned how to be simple. What do you teach?
-I teach English and storytelling on the native grounds.
-Well thought. It's time for me to prepare for English class.
-It was nice to meet you.
-You too. Have a wonderful day.
Questions to consider:
1) What is your name?
2) Where are you from?
3) Where do you live?
4) What do you do?
5) What are your interests?
6) What are your hobbies?
7) What is the most recent book you have read?

Key words of common interests:

1) peace of the world
2) Nature
3) writing and learning
4) “the more languages you know, the more human you become”
5) folk saying
6) living conditions
7) livelihood

Words and phrases: keep in mind; amazing; indeed; great to hear; how interesting; how nice; beautiful;
well thought; nice to meet you; good to hear from you.

Activity: the teacher asks students to observe the sheet and repeat new words. The teacher asks students
to work in pairs and write down stories they learn from each other. Work in pairs takes about 20
(twenty minutes). Students then seat in circle and organize their notes. The community work follows:
the students tell a little bit about themselves to the circle and share a little bit what they learned from
others. The emphasis here is on “what they have learned from others”.

Synopsis of questions for self-reflections and analysis.

1) What is the common ground between my friend and I?
2) What are the main commonalities and differences?
3) What have I learned from our discussion? What have we learned as a group?
Using the self-reflections sheets, share your ideas with the circle. Circle activity takes 20 minutes and
self reflections take 10 minutes.
Conversation Activity 2. Community.

Goal: to be able to express opinion, start a conversation and participate in a discussion.

Objectives:
• learn basic conversation skills such as expressions of the address, introduction, representation
• learn how to participate in a dialogue
• learn how to be successful in expression of ideas, opinions and impressions
• participate fully in a debate as a group

Duration: 1 hour.
Members: 1-30

Level: Beginners, Intermediate (all levels, in which a complexity of a lesson depends on the hand out
material but the goal and the objectives remain the same)

Materials: hand out with an explanation-idea, opinion, expression, impression, thought, conscious
statements; diagram explaining the possible range of linguistic tools; circle diagram that includes basic
question structures and differences among opinion, conversation, discussion, thought.
See enclosed: diagram and topics.

Activity: the teacher tells students her opinion about politics, for example; then reads a sample from
“metro” about governance; then presents hand outs for an understanding of impression, debate,
discussion and opinion as well as thought. The teacher then asks students about their opinions on
politics as an example, about their impressions; and after that we have a wide range of new words on
the board to choose from and participate in a discussion, and debate, perhaps as a group.
Words are:
noun phrases verbs adjectives
community development participate excellent
literacy skills learn critical
organizational abilities navigate political and cultural
management capacities build environmental and natural
roles and behaviors acquire social and sociological
psychological states resolve influential
living conditions improve patient
knowledge gain effective
understanding involve perfect
perceptions see and know personal
conscious choice have political
political awareness make rapid
democracy express plain
settlement migrate (immigrate) new
Conversation Activity: 3. Shopping.

Goal: to be able to use language for the purposes of understanding retails such as grocery
supermarkets, furniture and design outlets; auto presentation halls and other venues.

Objectives:
• students learn the basic vocabulary related to the goals
• students learn to use the learned grammar skills related to the course materials
• students learn to express enthusiasm, hesitation, decisions
• students learn about public places in regards to the shopping facilities used in daily culture

Duration: 60 minutes

Members: 1-30

Level: beginners, intermediate (levels are appropriately used in relation to the hand out materials, yet,
the structure of the conversation activity remains the same; higher levels attain more vocabulary
practice and more complex expressions and scenario works which involve a lot of thoughts, ideas and
conversation management).

Material: posts with separate sessions such as grocery stores; home hardware; Canadian tire; Toyota
presentation hall. Hand outs with shopping coupons with sales information; hand outs with new words
and expressions. The hand out includes possible answers and questions to the general knowledge
patterns.

Hand outs: Questions and lexicon.

Address:
to me through this window it is transparent decision-maker
to him through this idea it is understood worker
to us it is apparent in question helper

for you

let us discuss
let us learn
let us imagine

verbs:
to say
to acknowledge
to think
to make a statement
sell
speak
Activity: the teacher hands out the materials and writes the new way of language to take meaning; we
discuss the difference between to and for (me) as an example of a proper conversational approach; we
then look at the shopping pamphlets and students make a “fantasy” shopping list: grocery, home
supplies, school supplies and make a note to buy a car. Then in small groups of three or four, depending
on sizes they play these lists and perform a scenario work, enacting such cases as family meals; family
budget cars; community organization with a common area.
The teacher participates and facilitates all the groups, and notes their progress in language. After 15
minutes, students have time on their own (or as a group) to discuss the learned materials.
The teacher collects notes and marks the progress of the individual students.
Integrated Levels within Modules: Conversation.

Conversation Module: expression, representation, learning.

Activity 1. Food.
Goal: to learn food idioms, proper pronunciation of food related words and expression; and acquire a
basic understanding of restaurant menu.
Objectives:
• students learn food idioms
• students understand how to order meals
• students understand how to read recipes and prepare dishes
• students learn how to use learned grammar in the context of every day.
Duration: 60 minutes.
Members: 1-30 students. Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced. Activity Details are discussed below
as synopsis.
Materials: Food handouts and charts with idioms, video with a short food presentation (15 minutes).
Reference Material: Idiom Meaning E-Book.

Activity: The Teacher presents 4 minute video clip about British Food
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeieAdG9NVo). If it is appropriate, this is the day of food when
people bring food for potluck and all celebrate the first conversation activity with a feast, talking about
food. The teacher forms three groups and students choose their groups. Discussion follows with notes
about favorite foods. Each table has a common narrative space presented as a white sheet of paper
where students can take down their notes about cultural dishes, meals and recipes. Three groups will
have a written presentation with illustrations ready on the table. Discussion takes place in 15 minutes.
Students should compose a common product such as a recipe or a story about the culture of food, then
students change tables and rotate. So each group will have a common paper of all members as space for
shared experience and thoughts about food and culture. At the end of 30 minutes, groups present their
findings and recipes as one story to each other.
Idioms to learn:
to grab a bite to eat (i)
it’s on someone (i)
to treat someone (i)
whatever one’s heart desires (i)
to be starving (i)
to be so hungry one could eat a horse (i)
an appetizer (n)
an entree (n)
the house speciality (n)
to be out of this world (i)
to be mouth watering (i)
to start (v)
to be famished (i)
to wash something down (i)
to be tasty (adj)
one’s eyes are bigger than one’s stomach (i)
to skip a meal (i)
leftover
Questions:
1) What is you favorite food?
2) What do you usually eat for dinner?
3) What is your favorite entree?
4) What is your favorite side dish?
5) What is cultural food for you?
6) Where do you usually go out?
7) Do you know how to make breakfast, supper, dinner?
Level: beginners avoid idioms and focus on the names of food presented in the video.
Intermediate take idioms and participate fully.
Advanced include their new words and expressions from the past lessons.

Activity 2. Time and its Expressions: Clock, Calendar, Schedule, Holiday.

Goal: to acquire a “natural” capacity for understanding time expressions in the local cultural meanings,
contexts and places.

Objectives:
• to learn the difference in expressions of time
• Students understand different time modules in relation to the time of the day, month, year
• students learn basic numerical expressions related to 0-10, 10-100, 100-1000 count forms in
relation to time and spatial coordinates
• students manage to tell time of their birth, holidays, vacation plans and budgets
• students acquire basic skills of orientation in the culture of language following clocks, maps,
calendars and other numerical examples for linguistic expressions

Questions:
1) Could you tell me what time is it now?
2) Excuse me, could you tell me when is the next bus to the airport?
3) How many times a day does the train stop at this station?
4) What is the way to the nearest railway station by car?
5) How long does it usually take to drive to Manitoulin Island from Toronto?
6) When are the pow wows in the summer time in the city of Toronto?
7) How often do you take the bus to your school?
8) When is the national holiday in Canada?
9) How often do you celebrate Family Days in Ontario?
10)What is the day of the month for Christmas this year?
11)When is your birthday?
12)When do you go on vacation?
13)When do you usually wake up?
14)Are you a morning person?

Duration: 50 minutes.
Number of students prepared for: 10-20
Level of Students: Advanced.
Materials: Calendar poster, watch, clock with written numbers. Holiday Chart for Canadian
Celebrations.
Teacher makes all the information visible at the front of the class and on each side wall to make sure all
the students have a change to take notes of the clock with numerical values and their written
presentations, holidays with their names, pronunciation and cultural significance (5 minutes)
Activity: Video presentation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3icBxO6Wjz0&feature=related. The
Teacher verbally with intonation explains the chart with numbers 0-10, 10-100, 100-1000 and gives
each student a card with numbers and their pronunciation. The teacher reads out loud and students read
along 0-10, 10-100 as ten, twenty, thirty, forty, etc. Then the teacher reads thousands with examples in
years and historical dates with a particular example of some of the cultural events such as Canada Day.
After a clear explanation of the context of numbers and their usage in daily speech we look at the time
set, and the teacher explains temporal moments such as five o'clock, quarter to five, five to six, etc.
Each student receives their time clocks as a separate hand out. Teacher's presentation takes about 15
minutes.
After students form group of three and choose scenario for their presentations. Scenarios are based on
the questions presented on the board which the teacher introduces at the beginning of the class.
Students choose either formal settings, personal stories about their holidays or birthdays, or
professional discussion about plans and timetables. They take 15 minutes also. During 15 minutes the
teacher goes around the class and listens to their discussions and collaborative work, taking notes for
individual and group assessment. Students should understand application of numerical symbols, signs
and expression in different conversational contexts and be ready to tell stories in relation to those
symbols. Students should express the learning objectives in the practice of conversation to their
particular scenario. In 15 minutes, each group takes 5 minutes to present their scenario as a creative
play before the class. During presentation, class members individually take notes about performances
evaluating their learning development in relation to the learning objectives presented before the class.
Evaluations include adjectives and reflections, using new qualitative words and synonyms such as
excellent, thoughtful, creative, practical, useful, understandable, reasonable, contemplative, easy to
listen to, clear in expression, expressive, contextual, professional, analytical, good, neat, advanced,
vague, unclear, emotional. Students write their comments on special evaluative cards and hand it in at
the end of each presentation. The teacher puts them together on the board for all to see and makes
comments in regards to the group performances. Each student receives the mark based on the group
mark.
Levels: Appropriate Activity.
Beginners: Clock, Canadian Holidays, 0-1000.
Scenarios: Holidays and Celebration including personal birthdays, national, global days and times.
Vacation Plans: family; educational trips; national holidays.
Buying Tickets: train tickets across Canada, bus tickets with all the departure information,
student budget discounts, timetables and future plans.
Beginners use the abovementioned questions in their dialogues.
Intermediate Level includes much more complicated usage of numbers in all their known forms
from
0-1000 in applied contexts for learning and students have a wider range of imaginative scenario to
demonstrate their proficiency in understanding. Some scenarios include but not limited to traveling
plans, budgets and holiday plans; timetable and family vacation plans with prices negotiated in
presentation which can be either a formal business setting of family discussion at home. Students are
encouraged to imagine their scenarios and discuss them in groups to arrive at the clear dialogue among
all its members. Dialogues should have some common topic such as holiday destination, travel plan
and budget consideration; holiday celebration and vacations abroad, etc.
Intermediate level students use questions presented above and add their thoughts to them in a creative
method of cultural learning incorporation.

Activity 3. Sense of Place: library, university, community center.

Goal: to learn and acquire a sense of place and be able to express its meaning in simple words and
sentences.
Objectives:
• students learn about public spaces such as library, community centers and school
• students learn how to speak to representatives of community centers, library personnel, and
other officials at schools and university
• students learn how to approach spatial characteristics and engage in dialogue with unknown
people about places and their needs
Duration: 50 minutes.
Members: 1-30.
Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced.
Materials: Video for beginners http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAoqZ-YK_Ks. Hand out for all
levels with the name of public places, street names, maps and community centers brochures. Teacher
has hand out material for each scenario and a sheet with words and their proper pronunciation.
Activity: The teacher shows a video with vocabulary words for beginners. Other levels receive a
handout. New words are pronounced clearly and students learn their pronunciation as a whole,
repeating in chorus. Then groups of three are formed; and students participate in communication
activities about public places and their scenarios. Groups choose library scenario, community center,
university admission office, streets.
Questions to consider.

Scenario: library.
1) Could you tell me, please, where is the library?
-It is here around the corner. What book are you looking for?
-I do not know yet. I would like to spend some time in the library and look at different books.
-Yes, it is great. There are four levels and each has a set of various subjects. Have fun.
2) How can I find books?
3) What am I looking for?
4) Where are the people to help me?
New words: academic subjects, fiction, publications, learning materials, reading room, study room,
internet sources; research center, copy center, coffee center.
Scenario: community center.
1) What is a community center?
-It is a place where different social services are presented to the public.
-I have never heard of a community center before. Could you tell me more about its operations?
-Yes. Community centers have child care centers, swimming pools, career centers, and other
recreational activities.
-Great. I would like to learn more about the local community center.
-Good luck.
Words: social activities, community, art, classes, lessons, swimming, recreation, sports, day care.
Scenario: university admission office.
-Could you tell me, please, what do I need to know about the admission processes?
-Yes. You need transcripts, reference letters, and a letter of interest. What would you like to study?
-I am interested in socials studies, community, psychology and education.
-Great. Here is a brochure for you to read and learn about each program.
-Where is the main campus?
-Here, you may take a tour and learn more about different programs and faculties on campus.
-I will do that. Thank you.
Using the examples, please think of your scenario and your need in place and how you address this
need. Enact in dialogue and present to class. Each group takes 15 minutes. Group presentations: 10
minutes each. Group discussion of new words and phrases: 10 minutes.

Conversation Activity 4. Time Expression Continues: Seasons, Clock and Story.

Multicultural
Activity-Feather Circle.
Goal: to acquire a basic understanding of seasons, their temporal changes, and the appropriate usage
of grammar (present simple, past simple) in story-telling process.
Objectives:
• students learn names and seasons in northern hemisphere
• students learn to apply simple present and past in general conversation
• students learn to participate collaboratively to tell stories about seasons and their importance in
their daily culture and knowledge

Questions to Consider as Points of thought, reflection and application.

1) How many seasons are in the northern hemisphere and its full year?
2) How often do they change?
3) How many months are in the winter?
4) How many months are in the full year?
5) What is the cultural significance of months in the year?
6) What is you favorite winter holiday?
7) What is your favorite time?
8) What is the most memorable story of your childhood and what's the time of this story in the
year?
9) How often do you re-visit your childhood memories?

Duration: 60 minutes.
Number of students: 1-30. Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced with correlated differences in
appropriation, application and reflection time during the conversation.
Materials: Images of different seasons with names and times; images of activities and phrases to be
used in conversations; images as illustrations of one's story. The teacher may bring a collection of
photographs to make this experience vivid and memorable, presenting photos in various seasons and
their changes as moods, characters, historical events and personal stories. Feather. Markers and Board
to Write down questions and new words. 20 second video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=bhbn1uRoR4o before circle and feather work. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTKl64C1sb4
Activity:
The teacher prepares classroom as one space, organizing visual materials at the central table, seats are
put in circle. Conversation activity will be held as communal work for all the members as one group.
We may all choose our favorite season or its months and name ourselves as April or December. We sit
in circle and the teacher introduces the topic and the objectives of the workshop, asking students if they
agree to these objectives and to participation in the activity. The teacher, then, opens the space to
movement and each student can gather necessary artifacts from the central table to tell his or her story.
At the center we have Sacred Feather (Aboriginal Subjective Participant as Spiritual Guide in
conversation circles). Sacred Feather is like a torch which travels from participant to participant as
though we are all seasons in the movement of years and time. The teacher takes the Feather and tells a
story of seasons, their names and months, shows new words that are presented in color on the table.
The Teacher also explains the significance of the Feather as a Guide for Conversation in the native
cultural heritage, allowing Great Spirit to orient one's sense of time and change. The Teacher explains
that the feather has a will so those who have it should re-tell the story, renew memory or learn from
others about seasons, change and time. This is a listening and verbal activity so no written activity
takes place as we all sit in the circle. Students may also walk to the table to consult the central place
where seasons are gathered. Teacher hands in the Feather and the student should tell a story, answering
any question modality presented on the board with her or his story for time. If they feel some silence,
silence can be respected once, then, the feather continues until the full circle is being made and reaches
students again to reflect on their thoughts in case they have something to share with the group. Students
should answer the questions, share their stories and ask others some of the theme questions presented
below. The teacher participates fully as an equal participant.
Beginners: story can be simple about seasons and favorite months, times and memories of each season
in proverbs or sayings with a set of hand outs.
Intermediate: story about seasons, months, times in relation to their personal feather touch and
questions presented. At this level we note how grammar is being used, tone and emotional knowledge
of language as story-telling process. Some of the basic themes for conversation circles. Each season
has a story is a theme. Childhood memories and the journey of the year. Cosmic time: what is it?
Conversation Activity 5. Personal Story: History, Place, Nature.
Goal: to introduce new words, phrases, present perfect continuous, past perfect continuous in relation
to the student's learning capacities to express their personal stories which include the element of
history, place, nature in general and particular ways.
Objectives:
• students learn the basic structure of present and past perfect continuous
• students learn new words: adjectives, nouns, verbs, adverbs that explain interrelations of
history, place and nature in their formulation of personal stories
• students learn to speak clearly and pronounce stories with emphasis
Duration: 60 minutes.
Number of students: 1-30
Level: Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced with correlated differences in preparation time and usage of
structures.
Material: short story books, poster with new words, grammar structure note on the board.
Activity: the teacher presents new grammar material in relation to conversation. The teacher
organizes
the full circle and presents her story which involves history, place, nature in which interrelations among
them are clearly seen. For example.
Grammar is like history. We communicate time in relation to our understanding. Our understanding is
about the world as ourselves, places and natures in which participation is a language activity. I
learned how to write when I was very little. I remember new words and sentences as images, as places,
as space. In the open notebook, I wrote those names and they told stories. I have been writing stories
since childhood memories. At places where I have never been, stories of others told me about the
history of the Earth. I learned that Earth is a place also, a place in the world which we make as people,
persons, and story-telling animals, perhaps. And this is a question, the question which makes a turn in
the history of human learning. What is this historical turn of Earth as a personal and communal
history of place? Tell us you vision of the world as self, place, nature.
You may use the following words:
community cultural story
memory heritage
distance relationship
learn
know wisdom
participate
history
legend
epos
childhood
country
mountains
lakes
oceans
rivers
streams
meadows
fields
flowers
interrelations
air
water
fire
space
Phrases
When I was little, I thought.....
As for me....I....
History has taught me that....
I have been learning since....
I have been traveling since....
From my travels, I know...
Questions to consider:
1) how do you remember?
2) What is history?
3) Why is English becoming world language?
4) What are the cultural stories?
5) What is memory for you?
We all sit in the circle with a table at the front. Teacher invites others to share their stories. It is an open
communication activity where language is seen and performed as a cultural history of memory in place,
evolving in the present. Language is cultural and thus, we bring personal stories to understand each
other better as equal participants in the language community. It may take 50 minutes.
For Beginners, students have time to prepare before presenting, whereas intermediate and advanced
level students tell their stories in a natural way as conversation.

Conversation Activity 6. Family: Household, Celebration, Gathering.

Intent: to become familiar with appropriate usage of words, phrases and idioms with grammar
structure (there is/there are) and related questions that help to tell a story about family members and the
structure of a household.
Objectives
• students learn how to introduce their family member
• students learn how to tell a story of relationships which are in the family
• students learn to tell others about professions of the family members
• students learn to tell others about their family holidays and how they celebrate their time in the
household or outdoors
Duration: 60 minutes.
Members: 1-30. Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced.
Materials: Picture at the front of the Class with Family Members and their Household activity
before
tv, at the dinner table, in the park, at the cottage, in the garden presented as comic story. Handout with
new words.
Activity: the Teacher Explains the Image at the front and reads with the students new words, terms
and
sentences (15 minutes). Then students take 10 minutes to write or sketch their comics stories. We then
form groups of three and students share their comic stories in conversations. The teacher follows each
group and evaluates their application of new words and sentences. The teacher explains how to make
comics to tell a story about family members in which sentences such as “my mother is in the garden”,
“my father is at the table”, “my brother is watching TV” …make general statements about usually
activities in the present of each family member, showing their roles in the household and concluding
with an image of family celebration and what it looks like. Students present to each other their comics
and construct a conversation about the culture of a family and household.
Questions include:
1) How many members are in your family? (immediate family; extended family)
2) What do you usually do as a family on the weekend?
3) What do you usually do as a family in the evening?
4) Are there family activities that have become a culture of your family such as family gatherings,
art circles, poetry experience, story-telling adventures, camping?
5) When do you usually go camping if you do at all?
6) What is the favorite family holiday?
7) Do you have a family garden?
8) How do you organize dinner and breakfast?
9) What is community for you and your family?
10)
Conversation Activity 7. Literature and Context for Story-telling: Family Module
Continues.
Intent: to help students understand language as a cultural phenomena and enrich their imagination
with
literature in which language is a story process of historical learning.
Objectives:
• introduce to the students comics sheet with the Biblical story of Abraham and Sarah and their
family move
• students understand the historical story about family and the spiritual guidance
• students demonstrate their understanding of the text as communicative space
• students respond to the historical questions in thoughtful discussions using the preliminary
instructions for grammar
In reference to Cirafesi, Wally. English in Action Storyteller: stories to help you learn English.
Colorado Springs: Dawson Media, 2004.
Material: Book Presentation and Its Comics with Questions. Larger Image presented on the board
with
the new key words and idioms. Hand outs.
Key words:
make a living to become successful to feel happy
make a new life to enrich change
turning point to follow
promised land migrate keep in touch
changing culture in family customs, traditions, values gather up
family re-union intrinsic and acquired values happily married
feel like strangers estranged, marginalized

Members: 1-30. Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced. Appropriate Level for Discussion correlates with
the applicable questions, story remains.

Duration: 60 minutes.

Activity: Communal learning. Students gather in circle. Story is being read out loud. New words are
being discussed in their linguistic and cultural contents. After the reading, all express their opinions
about the story. The teacher listens carefully to the individual responses and notes how articulate they
are. After individual opinions, questions are being asked to guide students in reflective contemplation
about the story-telling process and the nature of its subject matter.

Questions as narrated from the book include:

1) What does it mean to feel like strangers?
2) What does it mean to “make a new life”?
3) How do main heroes become successful in the story?
4) What does it mean to become successful?
5) What is family in this story?
6) When do we feel at home?
7) Why do people travel, move and migrate?
Students are encouraged to ask their questions throughout the conversation activity.
For Beginners it is the same story and the teacher expects simple answers. For intermediate and
advanced levels the teacher expects strong contextual and relational comments that include analysis,
opinions, and synthesis of the learning materials.
Conversation Activity 8. Politics: How to Express Opinion.
Goal: to learn and understand the meaning of one's opinion and politics as the culture of daily
conversation activity.
Objectives
• students listen to the video from Agenda with Steve Paikin and learn the subject, theme and the
critical questions presented (15 minutes)
• students make notes about Steve's presentation
• students learn to form qualitative questions
• students understand the conversation activity as debate and discussion
• students learn to respect diversity of opinions
Material: Computer and Projector to set up Video Presentation. Hand outs with a set of critical
questions.
Duration: 60 minutes.
Members: 1-30. Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced. Video “Agenda: Environment, Media and
Conservative Government”. Beginners learn “raw speech” and learn to understand the context of
meaning. All other levels use the prepared scenarios and participate fully.
Activity: the teacher introduces key notions and words and explains the meaning of politics as
democracy in expressions, and cultural stories, as an open space for public participation. Language here
is a tool and discourse which helps students understand how to formulate their ideas and opinions in
proper grammar and sentences. Teacher forms groups of three for discussion. All watch the video and
make notes. The purpose here to understand raw speech and meaning presented. Then the teacher asks
to use the presented earlier key notions and questions to discuss the meaning of the presented material
in groups of three. Video takes 15 minutes. Teacher's presentation: 15 minutes. Group work: 15
minutes. Groups present to the class their key points of their discussion. Teacher collects all of the
notes and puts them together on the board.
Activity 9. Expressing Regrets: past mistakes, history and knowledge.
Goal: to understand and realize past mistakes and learn how to express the learned meaning, to
become
more efficient in using (should have, should have not, past participle and if...what if) grammar to
change the past in the context of the present learning.
Objectives:
• students learn how to use should have/should have not in context
• students learn how to avoid mistakes
• students learn the meaning of history in language
• students use reflective modes of thought in analysis of the past contents
Duration: 50 minutes.
Members: 1-30.
Levels: Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced.
Material: the teacher presents should have/should have not on the board as conscious awareness of the
past. The teacher presents a story about Canadian history for students to participate. The story is about
“Native-Colonial Encounter and Wilderness” in a poetic song made by Indigenous people
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuIWp_TV5bs
Questions to consider:
1) What should have settlers done in their cultural understanding of other spaces and cultures?
2) What should have the native people done to keep their rights and obligations to the land?
3) What would Canada have become in a different scenario of history as communal place where
there was no war, no disease, no misunderstanding?
4) How could we build history anew in a mutual harmony: people, cultures, land?
5) What would Aboriginal culture have been if colonial settlers did not incorporate their living
lands as crown territories?
6) What would the nature have been if we did not build civilizations?
7) Can you imagine peace of/in the world? What is it? Describe your vision, please.
Key words:
sustainability harmony
treasure abundance
values greed
intrinsic the important difference
natural tectonic plates
innate intervention
acquired the sacred trust
fully aware sacred responsibilities
hold peace
“tell her all you have done to take power back
tell her all you have done to heal” from the video.
Activity: The Teacher shows the video, and presents key words. Then, discussion follows as a group
we all discuss history and regrets as awareness and consciousness raising.
Activity 10. Nature and Society.
Goal: to understand the natural flow of language and free expression as feeling for the world.
Objectives
• students learn to open their minds and feel the flow of consciousness described by the
psychologist of pedagogy Bucke (1901) that helps them in their language acquisition
• students participate in free flow of language
• students open their hearts and write a short presentation for others about the world and us
Duration: 60 minutes.
Members: 1-30
Levels: beginners, intermediate, advanced.
Materials: no materials to hand out as it is going to be a free flow presentation for the world as we
know it.
Activity: the teacher tells the students about the flow of consciousness and helps students to feel and
experience it by letting go off the mind as such. The teacher helps students to locate their perceptions
and awareness of the heart as cosmic, and feel the sacred presence. Within this state, the teacher asks
students to write anything they feel and allow any time for it. Once she feels as they are done with their
poetics, each student has their space at the front or in the circle to tell the poetics of free flow for the
world, and this is how we begin future in the present, changing axis of consciousness to a much more
profound experience of language as natural with the deep feeling for the world, others and ourselves as
true participants and being.
There are no questions but the poetics.
The teacher may collect all the poetics. On the class web-page or facebook we can post the poetics of
the world and make it as participatory space for others to follow in their true expressions of the heart.