Humanising Language Teaching
Year 5; Issue 3; May 03

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

Acknowledgement: the above exercise is a development of the Puzzle Story activity from Christine Frank's Challenge to Think, OUP, 1983.