Reported speech

The intention of this activity is to use the reported speech in a practical, meaningful and communicative way.

After having introduced the topic and the rules, show them this video and have them report three or four things the characters say. For example: She asked him if he was ok. 

As this movie segment shows, this grammar point is ideal for gossiping! Elicit some gambits people use before presenting fresh information, such as: I shouldn't be saying this, but...You won't believe this...Don't tell anyone, but I heard...

Tell your students that you have some juicy information about the people in the class and that you will share it with them. So as to avoid hurting students' feelings, make sure they understand this is a silly activity meant to be funny. Students should go around the class spreading this data and reporting  the facts they collect from others (Teacher should explicitly instruct students to use this structure and monitor that it is included and correctly used during the production stage.

You will use something like this and complete it with the students names:

§  Has another name. §  Inherited a lot of money recently. §  Hates the teacher.		§  Hates people who gossip. §  Always wanted to be a ballet dancer. §  Is dating a person from the class.
§  Doesn’t like anybody in the class. §  Has never studied for a test this year. §  Is a fan of collecting doll.		§  Is a secret agent working undercover. §  Usually lies to get what she wants. §  Loves gambling.
§  Owes money to some dangerous people.  §  Will become the lead singer of a famous American band. §  Hates the teacher		§  Is plannig to rob a bank. §  Used to appear in very bad t.v. ads. §  Is planning to cheat on the last test.
§  Will run for president in the next elections. §  Won the lottery last week. §  Has another name		§  Has a boyfriend who is much older than her. §  Would like to be a ballet dancer. §  Hates her classmates.

 

 Then you will cut it and give one to each of the students, checking that they don't get their own.

As a follow up and/ or for homework, they will report information that they have gathered. They will record it and embed it to the class' moodle page or share it by mail. They will use Vocaroo, which is a very simple website that doesn't require any software installation.