The Circle Game

Prep Time: 2-5 minutes

Materials: flip chart paper, markers, tape

Prep: gather the materials and decide on a topic

Procedure:

1.  Assign students to work in groups of four or five.
2.  Explain that students will have jobs to do. The leader says, “Speak English, please,” and “What do you think?”  There is also a writer. The taper will put the group’s paper on the wall when it is done. The presenter will tell the class what the group wrote.
3.  Groups choose who will do what job.
4.  Pass out the flip chart paper and markers.
5.  Write an example on the board as you tell the writers that it is their turn.  Draw a large circle.  Draw three lines across the inside of the circle. Draw one line coming out from the circle for each person in the group.
6. Tell the students the topic. For example, they can write three things in the middle of the circle that are the same for all of the students (or in common) and one different (or unique) thing about each student on the outside of the circle.
7.  Students discuss their ideas and the writer writes them inside and outside the circle.
8.  When they are ready, invite the tapers to put up the flip chart paper on the walls.
9.  Call on presenters one at a time to share what the groups wrote. 

Variations:

Beginning level topics: things we can do/things we can’t do; things we like/things we don’t like; vocabulary for male relatives/vocabulary for female relatives; furniture in the living room/furniture in the kitchen

Intermediate level topics: illnesses to treat at home/illnesses that require a clinic visit; advantages of owning a car/disadvantages of owning a car; healthy foods/unhealthy foods; qualities that help you get a job/qualities that can get you fired

Advanced level topics: facts from the article/opinions from the article; advantages of owning your home/disadvantages of owning your home; qualities of a good speech/qualities of a poor speech