Maria Asunción

Activity: Neighbours
Level: Batx
Short description:
  1. Make groups of three students, and give each group the photocopy.
  2. Tell them they are Erasmus students (in Barcelona / Lleida / Edinburgh) and that the flat they have to rent is in that building. 6 flats are already rented, so they have to decide which one of the six left will suit them best.
  3. They will have to discuss in their group about the pros and cons of each flat and reach an agreement.
  4. Each group will report later to the rest of the class which one they will rent and why.
As a follow up activity there could be a debate about the different points of views on the problems that such a varied neighbourhood may have. This will make them reflect on their own tolerance.
Objectives:
  1. Accepting people regardless their race, religion, sexual orientation, etc
  2. Accept the decisions taken in a group
  3. Using English as a vehicular language
  4. Practise the language of agreement / disagreement
  5. Making deductions and hypothesis

Assessment:
The activity will be evaluated in both the collaboration in the group work and in the oral performance. Besides, there will be an auto evaluation sheet.
Link:

Add your comments:

Lluís Miquel Bennàssar

I like this activity because there’s an idea of empathy, of putting yourself in somebody else’s shoes. I think there could be another follow-up activity, besides the debate, which could be writing a paragraph about their experience abroad and explain what stand they take on it.


Núria

It is an activity that usually works in Batx.

Thank you for sharing this, M. Asunción. I wanted to ask you about your experience using rubrics or observation sheets to assess oral work. I like them but I find them very difficutl to use unless they are extremely simple, because I get a bit confused with all the fuss in the class. Does that happen to you, too? I have not found a solution for that, I am afraid...


Sònia

Great speaking activity for higher levels and absolutely suitable for BTX.
Debates on every-day issues are always engaging and motivating. However, I also feel a bit helpless when trying to assess my students' performance in this kind of activities. I've tried different rubrics and observation sheets but it seems I can't find the one which best suits my needs. Still working on that...


Glòria

I think this activity is fantastic and I consider it could be a CLIL activity because you can use it in your Ètica, Valors or Tutoria lessons in which English is """"only"""" the language to work many different things not related with language.

M Ascension
Here you have a rubric. I know they are not the best way to assess sts but the good thing is that you can modify it to your own necessitites and they prove to be quite objective. Sts must know it beforehand, of course.


Lluís Miquel

It’s difficult to assess group work. Usually what I do is to monitor the groups and take down notes on interesting ideas or language, or mistakes they keep making. At the end of the activity I give students feedback on the notes I have taken down.
One way to asses this from a formative point of view is to ask students to incorporate the feedback on the group work activity into the learning diaries.


Maria Ascensión’s rubric is the first of its kind that I’ve ever seen and that tries to assess group work. It’s a very interesting effort.
Thank you very much, María Ascensión, for sharing it with us.