Intensive Question Practice
secondary and adult
Mario Rinvolucri
Level: post-beginner to lower intermediate
Preparation: Select a simple, intriguing newspaper item.
Pick 3-4 semi-key words from it.
In class:
- put the 3-4 key words on the board. Tell the students they come from a story
and they can get the story from you by asking you YES/NO questions.
( This rules out WH questions)
- If , after a first flow of questions, the students get stuck, give them a small clue
and ask each person to write two questions.
Following the writing phase, take questions from the students who have not yet asked anything.
Example:
Three Coins in a Fountain
Early each morning , six days a week, Roberto Cercelletta would collect the coins from the Trevi Fountain in Rome and take them home. On a good day he netted
over 1000 dollars.
At dawn, last Tuesday, the Police were waiting for the coin thief. They arrested him and accused him of stealing public money.
Cercelletta said " I have no right to take the money from the water, but I have been doing this for 34 years!"
Semi-key words
tourists
water -------------------------dollars
arrest
Acknowledgement: the above exercise is a development of the Puzzle Story activity from Christine Frank's Challenge to Think, OUP, 1983.