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TitleTaking on different perspectives: Where should we vacation?
SourceCASLS Activity of the Week
Body

This activity has students reading the same reading from two different perspectives and highlighting key information that would be relevant to each perspective. Then, they give a speech to convince their family where to take a family trip, catering their information to each member’s interests. After watching the speeches, students write a list of pros and cons from the perspective of the different family members.

Objectives: Students will be able to...

  • read an article from two different perspectives, highlighting relevant information based on that perspective
  • present a persuasive argument in a speech based on the likes and dislikes of the audience
  • listen to other student speeches from the different perspectives, listing the pros and cons as presented in the speech

Modes: Interpretive Reading, Presentational Speaking, Interpretive Listening

Materials neededHandout, Reading, Answer key

Procedure:

1.Introduce the topic, perhaps by saying you’re thinking about traveling somewhere so you are doing some research about the place and the things you can do there. Then mention that you friend is going too, but you have different interests, so you are interested in doing different things while you are there. Give students the handout.

2. Pass out (or have students read online) the reading, “Top 10 Reasons to Visit Portland, Oregon.” What any one person finds interesting will vary based on their interests. Have the students imagine first they are vegan hikers who want to visit Portland. As they read, they should highlight the things that would be interesting to this person.

3.Once they’ve read and highlighted, then have them go back and re-read the article from the perspective of a hipster who doesn’t like addictive substances (like alcohol and caffeine). They should highlight the things that would be interesting to this person in a different color than the one before.

4.Afterwards, let students check their work with the answer key. Discuss the answers as a class as needed.

5.Next students will pretend they live in Kansas with their family and they want to take a family trip to Portland. Students need to persuade their family to go to Portland. Taking in mind the different likes and dislikes of the members of their imaginary family on the handout, they need to prepare the speech they will give to persuade them. They can use the handout to help them prepare.

6.After students have recorded their speech, they should post it on a class discussion forum or somewhere where other students can watch them. Each student must watch 5 different speeches from the perspective of the different members of the family and post a list of pros and cons as if they were that family member (for example, maybe the first video the student pretends to be the sister, then the next video the student pretends to be the brother, etc.) 

7.Look at some of videos and pros and cons posted with the whole class and discuss together if they were persuasive enough to convince the family to go to Portland for vacation. Address any language, structure, or register topics that arise.

Publishdate2017-04-24 02:15:01