Fast Food Role Play

This role-playing exercise requires two students. Ask for volunteers or select from the class. One
student will act as the manager of a fast food restaurant. The other will act as a student looking for a
part-time job. The restaurant has advertised a part-time vacancy, so the student has come for an
interview. The two should try to develop a lively yet formal conversation of the job duties,
employee benefits, and the student’s qualifications and experience before the manager reaches
his/her decision. Some useful supplementary vocabulary includes: wages, salary, personality,
official duties, and position in a job.
Guessing Game
Using vocabulary the students have learned recently, prepare some cards with one word written on
them. During class, select one of the cards without showing the students what is written on it. The
students will try to figure out what the word is by asking questions, which you will answer. They
may only ask “yes-no” or “choice type” questions such as: is it something you can eat? Is it made out
of paper? Is it a thing or a person? Is it an animal? Can it move? Is it something we can use? The
students can guess what is written on the card whenever they think they have enough information.
Anyone who guesses right wins a piece of candy or another reward provided by you. Then go to the
next card.
Company Employees Role Play
This role-playing exercise requires four students who will act as employees who work in the same
company. Ask for volunteers or select from the class. Person A joined the company just two weeks
ago. He/she has an MBA and takes work very seriously. Person B is an average employee who is fed
up with the job after working there for ten years. Person C is an easy going person who has been
working there for four years. The fourth student will act as the director of the office, Person D. A is
working hard to finish a report due today but can’t concentrate because B and C are talking and
laughing loudly. A asks them to keep the noise down and tells them to act more professionally in the
workplace. This causes B to begin arguing with A while C tries to calm the situation. The director
will walk in during the heated argument. Each student should think about what they would say and
act in his or her role. Some useful supplementary vocabulary includes: Master of Business
Administration, be cocky, be serious, quarrel, and lecture somebody for wrongdoing.
Piece Together a Narrative
Copy each sentence below on a card, and give each student one or two cards in random order. The
students must memorize the sentence on their card(s) and then hand the cards back to you. The
students take turns to recite their sentence(s) to the class. After all students have spoken, the whole
class must work out the correct sentence order to make the completed narrative.
 Everyone says exercise is good for your health,
 but I really don’t like doing exercise.
 No matter if it’s basketball or football,
 all types of ball sports are just running around a field.
 Think about it, after every time you run and jump, don’t you feel hot and thirsty?!
 I also don’t understand why so many people like watching sports games.
 Besides, does it really matter who wins and who loses!
 There’s also swimming.
 Of course, you won’t get hot from swimming,
 but as soon as you’re not careful then you could swallow water.
 The conditions aren’t good and you could die!
 Perhaps it’s only dancing that’s good.
 You can listen to a good song and dance at the same time;
 If you want to go fast then go fast,
 if you want to go slow then go slow,
 it’s so much better!
Shorten or lengthen the narrative according to the number of students you have in your class.
Celebrity Name Game
Before class, prepare cards with names of well-known celebrities on them, one per student. The
names should be easily recognizable to the students. Give each student a card and ask them to
describe the person on his/her card to the class. Ask the students to add humor to their description
by using the celebrity’s mannerisms. Their description may begin with statements such as: I’m male
and over 6 feet tall. I have blonde hair. I recently married a famous singer. The rest of the class will
guess the person’s identity. Split the class into two teams to add some healthy competition. Some
useful supplementary vocabulary includes: bald, belly, blonde-haired and blue eyed, and wear
glasses.
Renting a House Role Play 1
This role-playing exercise requires two students. Ask for volunteers or select from the class. One
student will act as someone looking for a house to rent. The other will act as the landlord of the
house. The renter is currently looking around the house and is discussing the house with the
landlord. Give them two minutes to prepare some of the things they would talk about such as rent,
water costs, electricity costs, telephone costs, Internet costs, rules of the house, nearby amenities,
etc.
Connecting Words Game
Rearrange the desks or make space so that the students are sitting in a circle. You will start the
game by saying a word and then ask a student to form a new word which is connected to the
previous word, for example “lesson” and the next student can say “class” then “student” and so on.
This can be used for any new vocabulary that the class has just learned. To make it more difficult,
you can use a two-word phrase instead.
You can hand out a penalty to any student who fails to provide a new word and stops the flow. For
example, the student has to give a short summary of his/her hometown to the class. The summary
should include the following information: Where is it? How big is it? How many people are there?
What is the most famous thing in their hometown? What is the scenery like?
Time Management
Group Activity: Time Riddle
 This is an introductory activity to be done before the time management chapter.   Put students into
groups to solve this riddle.  You may offer a prize for the group that finds the answer first.
 
What is the longest and yet the shortest thing in the world?
The swiftest and yet the slowest, the most divisible and the most extended,
The least valued and the most regretted, without which nothing can be done,
Which devours everything, however small, and yet opens the life and spirit,
To every object, however great?
 Answer: TIME
Directions for My Lifetime Goals: Brainstorming Activity 
Use the exercise My Lifetime Goals: Brainstorming Activity to begin this activity.    Introduce the
topic of brainstorming and use it to brainstorm lifetime goals as a classroom activity. The rules of
brainstorming are as follows: 
1.      Set a time limit.
2.      Set a goal, target or quota of items to be generated.
3.      Write down any idea that comes to mind.
4.      Do not censure yourself or others.  (Don’t judge the ideas; just write them down.)
5.      After the brainstorming, pick out the best ideas.  If all your ideas are best, you have not
given yourself the freedom to write everything that comes to mind.  
Use this outline for the brainstorming session:
1.      Have students spend 3-5 minutes brainstorming answers for the question, “What are
my lifetime goals.”  Challenge students to come up with 10 answers in the 3-5 minutes. 
Then give about 1-2 minutes for students to underline or highlight their best answers.
Ask for volunteers to share their most important goal. 
 2.      Continue with the second question, “What would I like to accomplish in the next five
years?” Ask students to think about their educational goals during this time.  Challenge
students to come up with 10 answers in 3-5 minutes.  Then give time to underline or
highlight the best answers.
3.      Continue with the third question in the same manner, “What goals would I like to
accomplish in the next year?  What are some steps you can begin now to accomplish
your lifetime goals?   Highlight or underline the best answers. 
 Discuss long range, intermediate and short-term goals reflected in the different questions asked
above.  
Students then take this brainstorming list as raw material for completing My Lifetime Goals. 
Students can complete this last step in class or as a homework assignment. 
 Evaluate the most important goal using the Successful Goal Setting handout.  Handouts for the goal
setting exercise are located at the end of the chapter in the printed text.
 Using Comedy in the Classroom
 Many comedy skits have to do with people in a hurry or frustrated because of lack of time.   These
can be used as an introduction to the topic of time management.  One of my favorite time
management comedy routines is from the television show, “I Love Lucy”.  There is an episode that
deals with Lucy always being late.  Her husband Ricky decides to put her on a time schedule.  He
invites the boss to dinner to show off how efficiently Lucy learns to manage her time and follow the
schedule.  The result is a comedy dinner scene that keeps people laughing.  Here are some possible
questions for discussion:
 1.  Is time management about restriction and control?  When Ricky tries to control Lucy, she rebels.
2.  Whose idea was the schedule?  It was not Lucy’s idea, so it just didn’t work.  The beginning of
time management is setting personal goals.
3.  What were the problems with Lucy’s schedule?
4.  How differently were women treated at this time in history?
 Think, Pair, Share: Avoiding Procrastination
 Have students think about this situation for 30 seconds: 
You have a term paper due next week, but you are procrastinating getting started on this
project.  How can you motivate yourself to get started? 
Ask students turn to the student next to them and ask the above question.  After about one minute,
ask students to share their best ideas with the class as a whole.  Instructors can also walk around
the room and listen for good ideas and ask students to share them. 
 Group Activity: Top Ten List
 Break students into small groups and have them brainstorm their “Top Ten Reasons for Using
Time Management.”  Encourage students to use their creativity and sense of humor in developing
the list.  Life would be absurd without time management.  Yet everyone uses time poorly at some
time and the results can be funny and still remind students of some of the consequences of not
managing their time.  As a variation, have groups brainstorm the “Top Ten Consequences of
Procrastination.” 
 Demonstration 1: Priorities
To introduce the topic of priorities, bring several balloons to class.  In advance, ask for a volunteer
to stand in front of the classroom.  Toss one balloon to the student and ask him/her to keep it in the
air.  This balloon represents college.  Toss in a second balloon. This one represents social life.  The
student must keep both balloons in the air.  Toss in a third balloon.  This represents work.  Students
struggle to keep all balloons in the air.  Soon the balloons start falling to the ground.  How do you
handle these priorities? 
 

Demonstration 2: Priorities
 
The following is a kinesthetic exercise to illustrate the use of priorities in time management.  You
will need a jar, golf balls to fill the jar, medium size beads and small beads.  Here are the steps:
1. This jar represents your life.
 
2. These golf balls represent your "A" priorities.  Remember that "A" priorities are those that
are related to your lifetime goals.  Put golf balls into the jar as you mention some possible
"A" priorities:
 College degree
 Career
 Family
 Health
 Your favorite passions 
3. Fill the jar with golf balls and ask the class if the jar is full.  It is full.  
4. These red beads represent your "B" priorities.  These are items that are important and you
have to do them.    Add the red beads, shaking the jar so that they fill in the spaces.  As you
are filling the jar with red beads, give some examples of "B" activities:
 Getting out of bed
 Getting dressed
 Driving to work or school
 Buying groceries
 Going shopping
 Putting gas in the car 
5. These small multicolored beads represent your "C" priorities.  These are things that you
could postpone until tomorrow with no harmful effect.  As you are adding these small
beads, mention some "C" activities:
 Watching TV
 Cleaning the house
 Washing the car
 Playing computer games 
6.  Ask the class if the golf balls would fit if the beads were added first.  They would not fit. 
This illustrates the importance of doing the important things first and then fitting in other
activities as you have time.  If you fill your life with "B" and "C" activities, some of the "A"
activities will get left out. 
 This exercise can also be done with golf balls, pebbles, sand and water, but the result is messy!  
Group Discussion:  What can I do without?  
Divide the class into groups to brainstorm the question, “What Can I Do Without?”  For example,
socializing, talking on the cell phone or playing videos could be reduced.  Of course, we are having
this discussion to find more time to accomplish lifetime goals.  Have each group share their ideas
with the class.
1. Me Too!
First student gives a fact about themselves—I love basketball, I have two sisters, etc. If that
statement or fact is true about another student, they stand up and say “Me too!” They can also stay
seated, but simply raise their hand and say “Me too!” 
2. Park Bench
Two chairs are placed together to resemble park bench. Two students volunteer—or are selected—
to act out “what happened” in a fictional news story. They are given one minute to prepare a scene
where they discuss the “event” without every actually saying what happened. After given time
period (1-5 minutes), peers guess “what happened,” but they must give up all four important
details: Who, What, Where, and When, e.g.:
What: College Basketball game
Who: Kentucky and Kansas
When: Early April
Where: New Orleans

3. Fact or Fiction
In circle, first student offers two facts and one piece of fiction about themselves. Others raise hand
or are called on to identify which were facts, and which were fiction. The correct guesser goes next.
Play is completed when all students have gone.
4. Green Door
Leader chooses a topic, but keeps it quiet, only saying that “You can bring a ____ through the green
door.” Students are then forced to deduce the topic by asking if other things can be brought through
the green door as well, e.g., “Can I bring a _____ through the green door?”
Leader can only reply yes or no. When topic is identified, topic resets. Topics can be content related,
such as parts of speech, colors, geometric figures, historical figures, etc.
5. One Minute Talk
Students are chosen to give 60 second talks on anything, from self-selected topics they are
passionate about, have specific expertise in, etc., to topics given from teacher.
6. Count to Ten
All students stand in circle. First student says “1,” or “1,2.” The next student picks up where that
student left off, and can say a maximum number of 2 numbers. The movement continues clockwise
until it gets to 10, where that student has to sit, and the game starts back over at 1 at the next
student. Note that there can be no pausing or silent counting—any pauses or indications the
student is counting/calculating forces them to sit. Also, pouting or talking during counting results in
elimination from future rounds. The big idea is to count strategically so that you can keep from
saying “10.”
7. I Never
Students form circle. First student says something they’ve never done. Each student that has done
the thing the other student has not steps briefly into the center. The game continues until every
person has stated something they’ve done.
8. Magic Ball
Students form circle. First student is “given” imaginary magic ball. Student sculpts imaginary ball
into new shape, handing it to person to their right. Activity is silent. Any talking/noise results in
student sitting. After game, guessing may be done to predict what “sculpture” was.
9. Silent Line
Students are given a criteria, and must silently put themselves in a line as quickly as possible, to
meet a goal, compete against other classes, or receive some reward (free reading time, no
homework, etc.) The criteria can simple (birthdays), or slightly more complicated (alphabetical
order of college or career ambition).
10. Inside-Outside Circle
Students form a circle within a circle with (ideally) equal number of students in both circles. Inside
circle members pair with outside circle members. Activity leader (usually teacher, but can be a
student) presents a topic, prompt, or question. Partners share for 10 seconds (or less), leader asks
inside circle to move clockwise a certain number of spaces to collaborate with new partners
directly across from them. This is usually content focuses, and helps spur quick discussion on
content related topics, or even current events.