Just a minute!

Objective & content

By the end, B1- pupils can talk for one minute about a familiar topic, organising what they say with linkers such as The first thing to say is ..., Another thing is ..., For example, ... and That's why .... The bank is 15 projectable slides: a how-to slide with the rules and an example, then 14 topic cards (the best day of your life, your dream job, a holiday you'll never forget, your town in twenty years...), each with a picture, three questions to help and the three rules: one minute, don't stop, don't repeat.

Pedagogical guide

Use it as a five-minute warm-up for speaking fluency. The topics are about pupils' own lives, so everyone has something to say, and the three questions give them a plan when they run out of ideas. The picture only shows the topic: pupils talk about their own day, job or holiday. The rules push pupils to keep going rather than to be perfect, and the class's job (remember one thing or ask one question) keeps listeners active. The cards are interchangeable: one or two speakers per lesson.

Suggested procedure

1. (1 min) Show one card. The speaker reads the three questions and thinks for thirty seconds.
2. (1 min) The speaker talks for one minute while a classmate watches the clock.
3. (2 min) The class says one thing they remember, or asks one question. Then a second speaker takes the same card or a new one.

Adaptations

• [S] Pupils talk for thirty seconds, in pairs, with the three questions as a plan.
• [A] Play it as a game: a classmate says Stop! when the speaker stops or repeats, and takes over the topic for the rest of the minute.

Materials & prerequisites

A projector or screen and a clock; the bank is a 16:9 PDF, one slide per page, with no printing needed. Assumes the past simple, the present perfect for experience and would for wishes.