About this activity
Twelve lines of dialogue with a question attached: I can't believe you did that — how does the speaker feel? Sure, I guess that's fine — how do they really feel? Fine. Whatever. I told you so — what is the speaker doing? Several of these mean the opposite of what they say, which is the point: the words are not where the meaning is.
How to use it in a session
Say the line aloud with the tone, because half of these are unreadable on the page. Sure, I guess that's fine is agreement in text and reluctance in speech, and the student needs to hear the difference before they can name it. Ask what else the speaker might say next, which is a better check than naming the emotion — a student who says they'd probably leave has understood. Ten minutes covers the set.
What to listen for
Listen for literal readings. A student who says the speaker feels fine about Sure, I guess that's fine is reading the words and not the tone, which is the specific difficulty this board addresses. Watch I told you so, which asks what the speaker is doing rather than feeling — that shift from emotion to intent is harder and is where pragmatic reasoning lives.
Carrying it home
Television is full of this and it is easier than real life because you can pause it. Asking what someone really meant, after a line, takes seconds and works with any programme.
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- Second through fifth, and it stays useful with older students working on inference and social communication.
- Do I need an account?
- No, all twelve lines play free in the browser.
- Should I read these aloud or let the student read them?
- Read them aloud, at least the first time. Tone is doing most of the work in this set, and a student reading silently loses the very information the question is about.