In my classes I have learners practice their listening and speaking in every lesson. Usually I have them do this by providing them with a speaking prompt that meets a very specific list of criteria:
1. The prompt must be simple and must require the learners to use the target vocabulary or grammar.
2. The prompt must give the learners a specific task to perform.
3. The task should involve each learner listening to and understanding what the previous learner said, and saying something for the next learner.
4. The task should be as gamified as possible.
5. The task must require the learner to provide information known only to themselves.
In my experience, learners find these tasks quite enjoyable and helpful.
In the hopes of helping other educators, here is the list of speaking tasks that I currently use in my Elementary Spanish 1 and 2 courses. I would love to get feedback on my current tasks and / or more ideas for new tasks. (Note: These tasks are set up to be used in my current courses, and thus are very much based on the content from the textbook that we are currently using at NSU. Nevertheless, they should provide some good ideas no matter that grammar and vocabulary you are covering.)
Vocabulary tasks:
Greetings: You are a group of new friends getting to know each other for the first time. Greet the person before you and answer their question, then ask a question for the person after you.
Example:
Places: Guess which place the person before you was talking about. Choose a place and say at least three sentences describing it.
Example:
Descriptions: Guess the movie character from the person before you. Then use at least four sentences to describe a movie character.
Example:
Foods: Answer one question from the person before you. Talk about what you normally eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Ask at least two follow-up questions for the person after you.
Example:
Family: Answer at least one question from the person before you. Describe at least four members of your family. Ask at least two follow-up questions for the person after you.
Example:
Home: Answer at least one question from the person before you. Describe your current residence using at least 4 sentences. Ask at least two follow-up questions for the person after you.
Example:
Clothing: Guess who the person is the person before you was talking about. Then say at least five sentences describing the clothing of a famous person or character.
Example:
Sports: Answer the question from the person before you. Describe what happened during one of your favorite sports-related memories. Ask at least one follow-up question for the person after you.
Example:
Holidays: Try to guess which holiday the person before you was talking about. Say at least four sentences describing your favorite holiday.
Example:
Jobs: Guess what job the person before you was talking about. Say at least four sentences in which you talk about a job / profession.
Example:
Food: Answer a question from the person before you. Talk about what you ate yesterday and ask a follow-up question for the person after you.
Example:
Grammar Tasks:
Adjectives: Guess which movie character the person before you was describing. Say at least four sentences describing a famous movie character.
Example:
Prepositions: Guess which item the person before you was talking about. Position the camera so that several items are visible. Say at least three sentences using prepositions to talk about the location of one of the items.
Example:
Numbers 0 - 99: Guess which items went with which price for the person before you. Identify the prices of three items you have with you.
Example:
Telling Time: Talk with each other about your different schedules.
Example:
Questions: Answer at least two of the questions from the person before you. Ask at least three questions using different question words.
Example:
Estar for feelings and locations: Try to guess where the friend of the person before you is located. Say where you are and how you are feeling and how your friend is feeling.
Example:
Conjugation of regular -ar verbs: Answer the question from the person before you. Say at least three sentences talking about the habits of people in your life. Ask two follow-up questions for the person after you.
Example:
Conjugation of regular -er and -ir verbs: Answer the questions from the person before you. Ask at least two yes/no questions for the person after you.
Example:
Articles: (Live) Talk about how you do things.
Example:
Gender and Number Agreement: Answer the question from the person before you. Describe your car and spouse (or ideal spouse if you don't have one.) Ask a follow-up question for the person after you.
Example:
Ser + adjectives: Answer the question before you. Describe at least three people in your life and ask a follow-up question for the person after you.
Example:
Ser vs. estar: Answer the question from the person before you. Show a picture of someone in your life. Describe them, talk about where they are in this picture and how they are feeling. Ask a follow-up question for the person after you.
Example:
Possessives: Answer the question from the person before you. Describe some of your possessions and contrast them with the possessions of someone else in your life. Ask a follow-up question for the person after you.
Example:
Gustar: (Live) Ask about each other's likes and dislikes.
Example:
Ir and Ir + a + inf: Answer the question from the person before you. Describe your plans for today after you finish working on this class. Ask a follow-up question for the person after you.
Example:
Por vs. para: You are a group of friends who run into each other at the store and you are all carrying gifts. Ask about each other's gifts and answer the question for the person after you.
Example:
-Go verbs: Answer the question from the person before you. Describe at least three things you do using the verbs from this section. Ask at least one follow-up question for the person after you.
Example:
Numbers 100 - 2,000,000: A rich relative has died and given you $500,000. Say at lest three things you are going to do with specific amounts of that money. Ask a follow-up question for the person after you. Answer the question from the person before you.
Example:
Saber vs. conocer: (Live) Compare what you know with what other's in your group know.
Example:
Tener + que + inf: Use the target structure to say what people in the previous person's life have to do to fix their problems. Identify at least three problems that people in your life have.
Example:
Stem changers: Talk about at least 2 or 3 people using verbs in this section. Ask at least one follow-up question. Answer the question from the person before you.
Example:
Reflexives: Answer the follow-up question from the person before you. Say at least three or four things the people in your life do as far as their daily habits go. Ask at least one follow-up question for the person after you.
Example:
Reciprocals: Answer the question from the person before you. Talk about at least two things that people in your life do to each other. Ask at least one follow-up question for the person after you.
Example:
Hace + time + que + V: (Live) Talk about how long you have and have not been doing stuff.
Example:
Present progressive: Answer the question from the person before you. Say at least one thing you are doing right now and one thing you are not doing right now. Ask the person after you whether they are doing something right now or not.
Example:
Tener feeling expressions: Answer the question from the person before you. Talk about how you feel in specific situations using the target expressions. Ask a follow-up question for the person after you.
Example:
Direct Object Pronouns: Answer the follow-up questions using direct object pronouns. Talk about two chores you do to an object. Ask two follow-up questions using direct object pronouns.
Example:
Demonstratives: Talk about how much you like / don't like something that is close to you vs. one that is far away from you. Ask and answer a follow-up question.
Example:
Adverbs: (Live) Compare and contrast how you do different activities using adverbs.
Example:
Ser vs. estar: Show a picture of someone. Describe them as they normally are and talk about how they are in this picture and where they are in the picture. Ask and answer a follow-up question.
Example:
Indirect Object Pronouns: Talk about the things you exchange with people. Ask who gives what to whom and answer the question from the person before you.
Example:
Gustar-type verbs: Describe a person using gustar-type verbs. Try to guess the person the person before you is describing.
Example:
The Preterit: Talk about your last Christmas or other recent event using the preterit. Ask and answer a follow-up question.
Example:
The Preterit of ir and ser: (Live) Talk about the last time you went on a fun outing.
Example:
The Preterit of Reflexives: Talk about the last time you did certain things. Ask and answer a follow-up question.
Example:
The Preterit of -er / -ir verbs whose stem ends in a vowel: Talk about the last time you participated in a sport. Ask and answer a follow-up question.
Example:
The Preterit of Stem-Changers: Describe the general narrative of a famous movie character. Guess who the person before you is talkingn about.
Example:
Post-prepositional Pronouns: Talk about the last time you went on a date. Be sure to use prepositions followed by pronouns. Ask and answer a question.
Example:
Irregular Preterits: (Live) Talk about your most recent or favorite trip.
Example:
The Imperfect: Describe what your favorite holiday was like as a child. Ask and answer a question.
Example:
Preterit vs. Imperfect: Tell a very memorable story from your childhood. Be sure to include background and foreground information. Ask and answer a follow-up question.
Example:
Comparisons of Inequality: Compare your current life with your ideal life. Ask and answer a follow-up question.
Example:
Comparisons of Equality: Compare your current life with that of someone else you know. Ask and answer a follow-up question.
Example:
Extremes and superlatives: Talk about the extremes in your High School experience.
Example:
Preterit vs. Imperfect: Tell a story of you and your best friend. Ask and answer questions.
Example:
Direct Object Pronouns and Indirect Object Pronouns: Talk about the last time that someone did something really nice for you or that you did something really nice for someone else. Ask and answer a question.
Example:
Double Object Pronouns: Talk about your last day at work. Ask and answer a question.
Example:
Formal Commands: You are in a support group. Talk about your problems and give advice to each other using formal commands.
Example:
Impersonal Se: Share your opinions about the best places to do things in your town. Ask and answer questions.
Example:
The Present Perfect: Talk about things you have and have not done this semester. Ask and answer questions.
Example:
Using participles as adjectives: Describe some of the things in your room using participles as adjectives. Ask and answer questions.
Example:
Informal Commands: Use informal commands to give each other device on how to live healthier.
Example:
