Preadolescents and adolescents need a safe forum for discussing issues that confront them in their daily lives. A language activity that offers them this opportunity also provides opportunities for them to use their oral/signed and written language to communicate their thoughts and feelings to others.
1. Write a “What if…” question on a card stating an issue relevant to the students. For example, “What if someone at school offered you pot?” Later the students can write their own “What if…” questions about issues they want to discuss.
2. Students write their responses anonymously on a card and put them in a box.
3. Pull a response out of the box, read it, and have the students discuss their thoughts regarding the response.
4. Continue in the same manner for all of the responses.
Variation: List all of the student responses on a paper and give to each student. Students select the responses that they think are the best and explain why.
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