Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Task
Distribute Bingo cards among your students. There are 12 different ones in the set so depending on the class size,
some students might end up using the same card. In this case, make sure they won’t sit next to each other.
Each student has 7 different reporting verbs on their card. They need to listen to the sentences read by the teacher and
cross out the verb which corresponds with the sentence; example: “What time is it?” –> I ASKED what time it was;
the reporting verb is ASK. The first one to cross out all seven verbs says bingo and wins. You should keep track of the
sentences you have read by crossing them out on your teacher’s board. You might follow the order of the sentences or
read them randomly.
The follow-up activity involves students selecting 5 sentences you have read (you might distribute the teacher’s handout or display it on the board) and writing them using
reported speech; example: “Sorry I’m late” –> She apologised for being late.
Another variation: students work in pairs. One person reads a sentence (“Sorry I’m late”) and the other transforms it using reported speech (Maria apologised for being
late). Students take turns to work through all 16 sentences.
If you wish to assign some reported speech homework, there is a gap fill activity to be downloaded below.
Personal Experience
Reported speech has been one of the most challenging grammar points I have been dealing with in my upper-intermediate / First Certificate courses, and I have been
looking for a more playful way of revising what we had already practised using traditional exercises. Using a simple and familiar game format to revise a pretty complex
grammar point was an entertaining way to conclude yet another lesson focusing in reported speech, injected some fun into the classroom and lightened the mood. Pair work
that followed was a good opportunity for students to practice speaking and using grammar in a slightly more natural way. I have been using it at the end of class, but it
could just as well serve as a nice warmer.
Materials