Author: Adrian Tennant | Published on 1 August 2022
Read what a teacher says about this activity:
My learners are all the same age and come from the same place. Be someone else lets them use their imagination. They can practise asking routine questions without knowing what the answers will be.
Stage 1: Prepare
Put a chair at the front of the class opposite the learners.
Say: ‘Can I have a volunteer to come and sit in the chair?’ Point to the chair.
Stage 2: Introduce
Say to the learner sitting in the chair: ‘I will ask you four questions. Please answer truthfully.’
Ask:
‘What’s your name?’
‘How old are you?’
‘Where are you from?’
‘What’s your job? / What do you do?’
Elicit answers.
Stage 3: Model
Now say: ‘I’m going to ask you the same four questions but this time use your imagination and give completely different answers.’
Ask the four questions again. Encourage the learner to use their imagination.
Now turn to the other learners and say: ‘This is <the name the learner gave the second time>. Ask them some questions.’ Encourage learners to use their imagination.
Stage 4: Discuss in groups
Put the learners in small groups and get them to play ‘Be someone else’ each taking turns to be a different person.
Stage 5: Share with the whole class
After the activity, ask: ‘Were there any really interesting or funny answers?’
This activity is really useful when your learners are the same age, come from the same place and, particularly, when they know each other well. Once learners understand, they can use their imagination and say anything they want, and they will really enjoy it.