Try this simple exercise

In the previous post promised a lesson, so here we go! It's a slightly condensed version to keep the email from stretching a mile. This exercise is excellent for beginners through intermediate, but I also use it as the basis for building exercises for more advanced students.

Step 1. Ask your students to write down 3-5 sentences saying what they are wearing. For beginners, model your sentences on the board. For example:

I am wearing a green shirt.

I am wearing brown shoes.

I am wearing a metal watch.

Step 2. Walk around the class to check their writing. You’ll probably catch some article errors, which is an error we're trying to elicit. Show that student where to add an “a” or an “an”. We’re assessing where the students are in every aspect while they're getting meaningful practice connecting speaking to their lives.

Step 3. Demonstrate the speaking exercise with a student by asking them the question and then also with them asking you.  Make sure to always use complete sentences. For example:

You:  Jean, what are you wearing?

Jean: I am wearing a black baseball hat. I am wearing black pants. I am wearing a white shirt.

Write what the student says on the board in third person.  Jean is wearing a black baseball hat, etc.

Step 4. Partner up the class and have them interview each other based on what they wrote. One group looks like this:

 Luis: What are you wearing?

Agnes: I am wearing a gray shirt. I am wearing sandals. I am wearing black jeans.

 Luis writes in his notebook:   Agnes is wearing a gray shirt. She is wearing sandals. She is wearing black jeans.

After one partner asks, the other partner does the same. 

Step 5. Switch partners.  Let's say Luis’s new partner is Ramona.  Now the students need to ask “What is she/he wearing?” You’re going to elicit some errors with word order, specifically “What he is wearing?” and “What she is wearing?”. That’s normal, and that’s the purpose of monitored practice.  (Higher level students will also make that word order error.)

Ramona: Who was your partner?

Luis: My partner was Agnes.

Ramona: What is she wearing?

Luis: She is wearing a gray shirt. She is wearing sandals. She is wearing black jeans.

Luis: Who was your partner?

Ramona: My partner was Marek.

Luis: What is he wearing?

Ramona: He is wearing a red jacket. He is wearing basketball shoes. He is wearing blue pants.

Step 6. Switch partners again. Students need multiple repetitions, so you can do this a few more times. After the first few rounds, ask them to do it without reading.

If they want to describe another clothing item, you can help them with it or they can look it up.  Those are the words they are more likely to remember because they are connecting the vocabulary to their lives.

Here's a tip that might surprise you. You don't need to introduce the grammar term present continuous or present progressive, nor do you need to explicitly teach it. Just try diving in with the exercise. Yes, you can throw the past tense was in there without a lesson. It's contextualized and it will become natural sooner than you might have predicted.

This exercise is just a brief look at a Language Sport-style speaking exercise. I teach the series of progressions that I do with it that consistently build language accuracy and speaking confidence. These are easy-to-coach progressions that you can build on within a few days to have beginning students speaking with a mix of present, past, future, and present continuous all within the same conversation.  It's important to note that the exercise here isn’t a one-off activity; it needs to be repeated, especially the day after you introduce it.  New day, new partners! 

And that's just touching the surface of what you can do!