2018 Runner-up for English-Language Award from the English-Speaking Union
Only the Best Intentions is an English language textbook that teaches spoken communication skills through the performance of an engaging and compelling one-act play.
Whether it''s reader''s theater, an in-class performance, or a full production, putting on a play is the ultimate group project.
And drama is a powerful tool for learning spoken communication skills! Students take on acting skills like using body language, gesture, intonation, and other non-verbal cues to communicate better. They are exposed to natural language in a realistic setting. And they are motivated and engaged!
A range of activities prepare students to perform as they practice language skills:
- Background readings on topics raised by the play: the history of competitive video games, the life of professional video game players, and managing modern life with screens.
- An original one-act play written for ELLs about a young woman who breaks off her engagement when she finds out her fiancé wants to be a professional video game player. But what''s more important? Family, stability, keeping promises, or helping someone follow their dreams?
- Pragmatics lesson on raising problems and resolving conflicts
- Pronunciation activities, including sentence stress to show contrast and practice linking sounds.
- Scaffolding to prepare students to produce a play including
- Lessons on attentive listening
- Guided questions to analyze the play
- Ideas for auditioning, learning a part, and marking scripts for emotional content to improve line readings.
- Tips for staging a play
- Post-Performance Activities, including a talkback, a mini-debate, writing a new scene or even a sequel or mining the play for useful language
- An optional assignment to interview families about screen time
- Assessment rubrics and an answer key
Your students will look forward to class with this innovative resource that utilizes drama in language teaching! The play''s the thing!