Running Dictation Warmer

This activity is a classic warmer for the EFL / ESL classroom. It can be adapted to teach all kinds of grammar and vocabulary and really forces students to listen carefully and

focus on the language.

1. Place a short text at the front of the room (or outside the classroom if possible). The text should include the target grammar or vocabulary and should be at least 3 sentences long. For larger classes have a couple of copies in different places to avoid collisions!

2. Put students into pairs. Divide each pair into a runner and a writer. The runners are only allowed to read and speak, the writers are only allowed to write.

3. The runners must read the text and memorise as much as they can, then run back to their writer partner who writes it down. The runners go back and forth until the whole text has been written down.

4. The winning team is the first to write a copy of the text that is exactly the same as the one at the front of the room. When a pair tells you they have finished check what they've written. if it's not exactly the same tell them to keep going.

5. Once the game is over you can use the text the students have written to focus on the grammar, vocabulary etc.

Variation: If space allows, you can place several different sentences in different places around the room. For example quotations or conversation questions. The runners race to tell the writers all of the sentences.

Variation 2: Use incorrect sentences or a paragraph with errors in it. Students race to copy them down and then in the next stage work together to correct them.

Remember to make the text large enough for the runners to read but not so large that it can be read from where the writers are sitting.