Hallelujah!

After being given free reign over my 2-7 class I am trying to think of interesting activities every week for them to use their imagination and use the English they know.

When trying to think of a good idea I think about what I did at school and sometimes it pays off. So, this week class 2-7 have been preparing for “The Great Balloon Debate.”

The concept is very simple – there are five of you in a hot air balloon that has just started sinking. You must have a debate and decide which person to throw overboard so the others can survive.

I gave everyone a character with good and bad points and put them in groups of four. They had to write a short speech saying why they should stay and then write about why the other people in the balloon should be thrown out.

Today was presentation day and after the speeches the class had to vote who went overboard. Here is the highlight of my day:

One of my favourite students was playing the character of Jim; a 92 year old fisherman in poor health. Sensing he might get thrown overboard (as the three girls in his group were strong characters) he made up a story about he had been married to each of the girls and they had all cheated on him and left him.

I thought it was an absolute stroke of genius and the class loved it. See! Just when you start thinking these kids have no interest and don’t want to try anything, one of them pulls that out of the bag!