I love to speed date in the classroom, because it's both intimate and anonymous! It's very intimate because of the closeness of two people talking, yet also quite anonymous as you're only talking to each other for a short period of time. There's just something about getting students to sit face to face with one person and focus all their attention on them. I use this teaching strategy for short lesson moments ranging from 10 to 20 minutes. I move the desks so that they're in long rows and students each face another student. I'll get them to move one seat to the right each time I ring a bell. Below I'll explain 5 ways that have worked for me and that were fun!
1. Meet my Classmates
Create sheets with fun things to know about people: hobbies, pets, family, friends, home, etc. Put one sheet in between each pair. Have them discuss the word on the sheet. Possibly include questions on the sheets; for example, "What are your hobbies? Do you play any sports? Do you play in instrument?"
2. Discussing Literary Elements
Create 6 sheets with literary elements on there: Setting, Characters, Themes, Plot, Title, and Conflict (and more if you think they could be important) and add some questions to discuss. Put one sheet in between each pair. Have them discuss how each literary element has been important in the novel you're reading.
3. Practice Speeches or Presentations
Get students to each practice a speech or presentation they have to give soon on each other. The listening party provides feedback, and the other way around, and they'll do this a few more times to get more feedback fast and in a (relatively) comfortable setting.
4. Gap Fill Exercise
Make sure one party always has information the other party needs. Students must ask each other questions to find out what they need to know. Can be used for listening practice.
5. Play a Character
Have each student play a character (give them information about him/her) and get students to find out about these characters. The characters could come from a novel you're studying, they could be telling a story the other party needs to uncover, or they can be used to practice asking questions.
Try this for yourself an see how you like it!
Click below to get the sheets I made for #2 !
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