Explain it to me! A1+ 3

Objective & content

A mediation pair activity in two rounds. In each round, one pupil holds a document and the other holds a task that needs only part of it. In round 1, Student A has bus times and Student B must choose a bus to the zoo on Saturday: leave home at 8:50, a 10-minute walk to the stop, and be there by 10:00. In round 2, Student B has the school café menu and Student A must choose lunch for a friend: no meat, no tomatoes, a small one, an orange juice and £2.50. The pupil with the document must not show it or read it all out: they explain only what their partner needs, and the partner decides. By the end, pupils can pick out useful information and pass it on simply.

Pedagogical guide

Mediation means passing on information to someone who hasn't seen it. Here the gap is not a missing word but a choice: each document holds more than the partner needs, so the explainer has to listen to the task and select. Each page has the rule, a box of four phrases for explaining (It's ..., There's one with ..., That one is no good, because ... and This one is good for you!) and questions to help the pupil who asks. The language is times, food and prices. Each task has one best answer, so pairs can check themselves. Page 3 is the teacher page: the idea, four steps, the language and the key with the reasons.

Suggested procedure

One activity of about 25 minutes.

1. (3 min) Set up the pairs: copy page 1 (Student A) for half the class and page 2 (Student B) for the other half, and put pupils in A + B pairs, face to face. Nobody shows their page. Read the rule and the phrases box with the class.
2. (8 min) Round 1: B reads the task and asks; A explains from the bus times. B writes the bus number and the times.
3. (8 min) Round 2: A reads the task and asks; B explains from the café menu. A writes the food, the size and the price.
4. (6 min) Pairs swap pages and check, then tell the class: "We chose ... because ...". Check with the key on page 3.

Adaptations

[S] When a pupil is stuck, they may point to the right line of the document once.

[A] After choosing, B explains the plan to a third pupil who hasn't heard anything.

Materials & prerequisites

Print infogap.pdf: page 1 for Student A and page 2 for Student B, one copy per pupil; page 3 is the teacher page. Pupils need a pencil. They should already know numbers, prices and times, and simple questions with "Is it ...?" and "How much ...?". It goes well after work on transport, telling the time or food, and with the other sheets of the "Explain it to me!" set.