WhatisaRolePlay?Aroleplayisaconversationaboutaspecificsituationthatstudentscreateandperformfortheclass.WhyShouldYouUseRolePlays?ARolePlayisagreatwaytohaveyourstudentspracticetheirvocabularyinamorenaturalway.RolePlaystestyourstudent’swriting,creativethinking,criticalthinking,speaking,andlisteningskills.WhileRolePlaystestsomanydifferentthingstheyarestillfunforstudents.RoleplaysforcestudentstousetheirEnglishknowledgeinmanydifferentsituations.Youcandoaroleplayactivityforpracticallyanylesson.RolePlaysallowyourstudentstopracticeandreviewnewvocabularywords.Plannedvs.ImpromptuRolePlaysPlanned:Studentsaregivenaveryspecificsituation.Studentshavetimetoprepareabasicoutlineoftheirperformance.Morestructured.Studentsaregivenachoiceofhowtoaddressanddeveloptheirconversation.Studentsareallowedtochoosetheirrole.Impromptu:Studentsaregivenverybasicinformation.Studentsmust“thinkontheirtoes”.Studentsarenotgiventimetopreparetheirperformance.Forcesstudentstothinkandspeakveryquickly.Studentsareassignedaspecificrole.HowtoplanyourRolePlay:Studentsshouldwriteoutjustabasicoutlineofwhattheyaregoingtosay.NOTEVERYWORDTHEYPLANONSAYING!Allstudentsinagroupmustspeakintheroleplay.StudentswatchingtheroleplayMUSTremainsilentandlistentotheperformancebeinggiven.Iftheyaren’tlisteningthentheyaren’ttestingtheirlisteningskillsandaremissingoutonlearningorpracticingmore.Agoodwayforyoutotestyourstudents’listeningafteraroleplayistoaskyourstudentswhathappened.TimeforReview!PlannedRolePlayDemonstration:Roles:Traveler(Mr.Leo),Thief(Mr.Joel),andPoliceOfficer(Mr.Warren)Situation:Athiefiscaughttryingtostealfromatraveleronhisvacation.YourTurn!WorkinginasmallgroupyouwillprepareaperformancebasedupontheRolePlaysituationgiventoyou.ALLPEOPLEinyourgroupmustspeak.Youwillthenperformyoursituationfortheclass.ImpromptuRolePlays:WithImpromptuRolePlaysyourstudentshavenotimetodiscussorplanouttheirperformance.Youcanhaveyourclasssuggestsomepeople,places,andsituationstobeusedintheroleplays.Whataresomepeople,places,andsituationsthatcanbeused?ImpromptuRolePlayDemonstration:YourTurn!LessonsandsituationswhereyoucanuseRolePlayactivities:ExamplesfromthisTraining:Week1:1.Schedules:Youwanttoasksomeoneonadate,butyouarebothverybusy.2.TheBody/Health:Youdon’tfeelwellsoyougotothedoctorsoffice.3.Travel:Yourluggageislostandyoumustfindit.4.Restaurants:Youareatarestaurantwithyourwifeandthetablenexttoyouhasascreamingchild.Week2:1.ExpressingOpinions:Youandafrienddisagreeaboutwheretogoonvacation.2.TellingaStory:Youareaprincesswhoiscursedtolooklikeaswan.Youandyourfriendslookforawaytobreakthecurse.3.MultipleIntelligences:Youareastudent.Youandyourfriendsalllearndifferently.Explainthistoyourteacher.4.Directions:Yourwifeisinlaborandyougetlostonthewaytothehospital.Askfordirections.WhataresomemorelessonsthatyoucanuseRolePlayactivitiesinyourclassfor?
