It’s important for our students to practice statements of reported speech. In this Grammar and Beyond post, Amy Tate offers a lively and novel way to make that happen in the classroom.
After students have reviewed the concepts of reported speech (tense and pronoun changes in particular), engage them in this fun and personalized activity:
1. Generate questions
Ask students to write their name and 3 questions in the first section of this activity grid handout. There should be a mix of questions that are appropriate for any of their classmates to answer. There should also be 1 each of past, present, and future tense, and the words should be clear and legible.
2. Crumple and throw!
After writing the questions, tell students to crumple up their papers and toss them across the room to another student. Some may be reluctant at first, but soon they will get into the spirit.
Now, students write their answers in the second section. The teacher should circulate to point out any grammar mistakes.
Then, students crumple and throw the paper once more. Make sure they get a paper without their name on it. Now, it’s their job to report on the speech of their classmates in the third section.
The activity in practice
Here’s an example question and answer:
Tomas’ question: What did you do last night?
Renee’s answer: I played video games with my roommates.
Lin’s reported speech: Tomas asked Renee what she had done last night. She said that she had played video games with her roommates.
Thanks to Alice Savage for the idea!