DICTATIONS CAN BE FUN

Do your pupils like dictations at the lesson? For most teachers it's a synonym with 'old-fashioned' and 'boring'. I believe most students would make a dull face if you tell them you are going to have a dictation at the lesson today. But what if these dictations are fun and have elements of a game. Let's try to make an interesting activity out of a simple dictation.

First, why dictation is a good way to practice? It's a great tool to work on accuracy, not mentioning the skills of listening, writing and even communication. Let's see how you can transform this activity to make it combine all these elements.

A traditional dictation is teacher-centred. Why not make it student-to-student and let your pupils work in pairs. It will release tention and let them feel some freedom. There are 4 types of dictations below based on the principle student-to-student. I hope you will like them.

1. Running dictation

The text is on the board. Students make a line. One person from the line is a writer and can't see the text. The rest of the students in the line have to run to the board, memorize one sentence from the card, run back to the writer and repeat the sentence so that the writer could write it. You set the time for your students or the activity lasts until one team is done. Then you check if all is correct.

2. Shouting dictation

The idea is that your students make too lines at the opposite sides of the classroom and have to shout the text to their partner who is supposed to put it down. Make sure the texts are split or differ a little bit. No doubt, it may become too noisy if the whole class takes part in the activity, so it could be reasonable to make at least 4-5 teams, so that not all of your pupils speak at a time.

3. Whispering chain dictation

If you try to avoid any kind of noise in your classroom, this type of dictation would be most suitable for you. Students make a line or several lines if it is a whole class and whisper the sentneces. The last student has to write down what he/she has heard. Then they rotate positions. The last student comes to the front of the line and whispers first.

4. Back-to-back dictation

This type of dictation is good for pair-work. Students sit with their backs to each other and dictate. When they can't see each other, it removes body language and lip reading. By the way, it's excellent for telephoning practice.

You'll find other interesting activities you can do at the lesson GAMES AT THE LESSON

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