Here's a communicative lesson plan which Gianfranco Conti shared with me recently. It's a listening/speaking/writing information gap task called Detectives and Informants. It could work from about Y9 up, depending on the class. This is how it works.
Write
five short paragraphs, each of which provides some (but not all) information
about someone. When combined the five paragraphs describe that person. Include
personal information, likes and dislikes, pastimes, favourite school subjects, family
and friends. Hand out a copy of each paragraph to five students (‘informants’) in
the class. To the remaining students (‘detectives’) hand out the same set of
questions to ask, e.g. What is her name?
Does she have brothers and sisters? What are her favourite hobbies? What’s her
favourite subject? Make sure the questions correspond to the information
contained in the five paragraphs.
Explain
that detectives have to find all the information they can about the subject and
that they can ask the five informants. The detectives should keep a careful note
of the answers. You could supply a grid for this purpose.
Having
placed the five informants strategically around the room, allow the remainder
to move around, asking them questions. Groups are bound to form around each
informant. This is fine, as long as everyone is listening. Students take notes,
preferably in L2. Make sure the detectives aren't just copying from the informants' written texts!
Finally, elicit
information from the detectives, writing up language on the board which
students can copy. This can be the basis of a written composition.
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