MINGLE ACTIVITY

This is a well-know MINGLE ACTIVITY. I did it in the 5th grade with the topic of HAVE GOT. The aim is to practice orally and gain fluency in asking questions and giving short answers.

The teacher draws a simple table on the board which students copy and add their own friends' names and items. Each student takes his/her notebook and a pen and goes around the classroom to ask some children the question HAVE YOU GOT...? They also answer to their friends with YES, I HAVE or NO, I HAVEN'T. They mark each positive answer with + or √ and each negative answer with x or -. When they all finish, they prepare the oral report for the class: Marija has got... Marija hasn't got...

This is an old classic, which I find refreshing among all the technology. Students have the possibility to add a personal touch writing the list of items. They also like mingling and strolling around the classroom.

My classess have 25 students on average, so this is easy to implement. If your classess are larger, you can do this as a pair activity or tell the students to stroll around the classroom and when you say Stop! they sit on the nearest chair and ask the student who is next to them. This adds the element of surprise, which they like, but does not interfere with their concentration.

Besides this topic, you can do this with almost any other grammatical or vocabulary topic: Did you...? Have you ever…? Do you like…?

This is also a nice activity if you are suddenly told to step in instead of your colleague and you have nothing prepared in advance. Without pen and paper, it is even more fun, because they can practice their memory as well.

This works well with any age of students.

Enjoy!

Maja Hadzic