At the TCI Maine conference, Mira Canion shared a great activity that I am calling PQA Walk and Talk. Here is how it works:
- Type Personalized questions in the target language and print one per box. The questions can be related to a novel that you are reading or to certain structures that you have targeted. Here are the questions that I typed up for the first three chapters of Tumba.
- Give each student a question. Make sure that the questions are comprehensible.
- Explain these directions to your class either in the TL or in English: “In a moment, the whole class will stand up. You will ask your question to your classmates. Your goal is to ask every single person in this room. Ask the question in the TL and answer in the TL as best as possible. When you are done getting your answer, raise your hand and find another student with their hand up. Remember a few answers.”
- The whole class stands up and does the activity. You can roam around listening to the questions and answers. I try to find the most interesting answers for the post-discussion.
- After the activity is done (around 5 minutes or until you notice that most people are done) lead a discussion in the TL. My discussion went like this: “Who wants to share their question and some answers?” A student shares their question and an answer. Let’s say it is ‘Do you have a cruel friend?’ and the student says Cole. I asked: “Who said “..Cole…?” I then ask that student “Oh, you have a cruel friend. Is s/he cruel because s/he is not nice?” And you can continue the CI conversation.
- This activity can be done before reading a chapter in a novel or it can be done after a chapter. It is a great kinesthetic activity and a novel way to do PQA.
[…] PQA walk & talk: Give each student a question. The goal is for the students to ask their question to every student in the class and record some of the answers. After students are done asking their questions, choose some students to share their question and some answers they received. Then continue the PQA conversation 9. […]