I teach a class of 9 year-olds in China and I stumbled on an idea that I want to share with others and see what they think. I put an animal data set together telling the name of the animal, what continent it is found on, what it eats, how long it lives, and how many hours it sleeps. Every student gets the same data sheet but they each get a different animal on the data sheet. Then they just fill in the cloze for their animal. A picture of the animal goes on the other side of the paper--toward the audience. A sample report is given for guidance and structure. I have the students practice with each other in pairs or triads and then video the final result. I think it gives young kids confidence in making a very small report in front of the class and practice in speaking aloud. Using the video, I can talk about pronunciation, eye contact, standing still, holding the paper below their mouths, etc. BTW, I didn �t find all the data easily, so I made up the missing parts. Google is not accessible in China.

 

I did the same thing with countries and got the same good results, with students improving in their delivery.

 

I �ll also post this Data Sheet in the Printables section. 

 

Animal Data Sheet

Animal	How many years does this animal usually live?	How many hours does this animal usually sleep?	What does this animal usually eat?	Where does this animal normally live?
Elephant	75	4	Fruit, leaves, grass	Africa and Asia
Dolphin	50	10	Fish	All the oceans
Eagle	20-30	7	Mice and other small animals, fish	All over the world
Panda	20	18	Bamboo leaves	China
Kangaroo	10		Grass	Australia
Dog	10	16	Meat	All over the world
Snake	18	10	Rats, mice, bugs	All over the world
Giraffe	20	4	Leaves	Africa
Lions	20	11	Meat	Africa
Crocodile	70	7	fish, small animals	Mostly in Africa, Australia
Human	75	7	Fruits, meat, vegetables	All over the world

My animal is the human. It lives all over the world and eats fruits, meats, and vegetables. Humans live for about 75 years and sleep for about 7 to 9 hours a day.

My animal is the _______________________________. It lives in __________________________ and

eats ____________________________________________________________.

_________________________live for about _____________ years and sleep for about ________hours a

day.

 

Cheers! 

AB 

That is great.

 

Probably a good activity for my 2nd-year middle school students in Japan, who, by the way, do the same things your students do when presenting (move around, look at the floor, hold paper in front of their faces etc).

 

It �s a good activity. 

That �s an excellent idea! And it can be adapted to other things.

Thank you so much for sharing!