60. Talking over Plans
Reading edition
Why couldn't the class plan a spring festival? It might be held on a Friday afternoon. Every pupil could invite his parents and friends. The festival would be one way of showing how glad you and your classmates are that spring has come.
Oral Exercise. 1. Make a plan for a spring festival.[68] Then stand before the class and tell the other pupils what your plan is. The following questions may help you to make a plan that your classmates will enjoy carrying out:
1. Shall the festival be held in the schoolroom or outdoors?
2. Shall you decorate the room with spring flowers?
3. Shall the festival begin with a march by the pupils?
4. Do you know a suitable story that could be played by a group of pupils?
5. Could some suitable poems be recited?
6. Would it be a good plan to have each pupil play that he is a spring flower or a bird and make a riddle about himself for the visitors to guess?
7. How shall visitors be invited? Shall each pupil write a letter inviting somebody and mail it in the United States Post Office?
2. It would be fun to have you and a classmate talk the spring festival over on the class telephone. Of course this is only a make-believe telephone, but two pupils can talk to each other over it just as well as if it were real. Tell your classmate at the other end of the telephone what you think of the spring-festival plan. Ask him questions about it. He will ask you questions.
3. Use the class telephone to invite persons to the spring festival. Different classmates of yours will play that they are Mr. Brown and Mrs. Brown and others whom you wish to invite. Tell them about the spring festival. Tell them why the class will have it, and what it is to be like. Then invite them to come.
Group Exercise. The class of course hears these telephone conversations. After each one the class should talk about it with the following questions[69] in mind:
1. Did the speakers telephone in clear, pleasant voices that could easily be heard?
2. Were the speakers polite to each other?
3. Did the speakers make any mistakes in English? Did they pronounce any words incorrectly?
4. Did the speakers say bright things that every one likes to hear?
5. Can you think of anything the speakers might have said to make the telephone talk more interesting?