Tag Archives: speaking

How to Generate a Speaking Board in Seconds.

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Oh, I am so excited to share this with you!Today, I’m going to show you how to create a personalized, professional-looking board game in literally one step using Gemini’s Nano Banana 2. Easy and Free.

Click to See Explanatory Video on Youtube (in Spanish)

Step 1: Let Gemini Build the Content

Go to  Gemini- which is Google’s primary AI assistant- and register for free. Then, ask Gemini to generate the questions you are going to use. For my B2 students working on “Sport” vocabulary, I need short, punchy questions that will actually fit inside a game square.

Prompt Example: “Generate 20 short conversation questions (max 10 words) about sport for B2 English  adult students.”
IMPORTANT: To make sure everything remains readable, we need to keep our questions short and sweet so they fit perfectly inside those game squares

Step 2: Creating the Board Game

We are going to use Gemini’s image generation tool (the famous Nano Banana) to build the entire board—questions and all—in one go.

  • In Gemini, go to Tools,
  • Select Create Image, and if you want the highest quality, don’t forget to
  • Select  Pro (you get 3 of these a day on the free plan!).

Prompt:

Create a printable board game with a winding path of [20] squares. (Board game race style) in English about Sports. Each of the squares will contain one of the questions generated above. Scrupulously respect the spelling of the questions without changing any letters. The questions cannot be repeated in the game. Include a ‘Start’ square at the beginning and a ‘Finish’ square at the end.  All squares are connected to each other in sequence. The squares are not numbered. Colorful design. Put each of these questions in a square and respect the spelling without changing any letters. Title it ‘SPORTS’ and under the title  ‘Created by www.cristinacabal.com‘. Everything must be in English.  [Hand-drawn sketch] style.”

Important: Sometimes, and especially if your questions are too long , there could be some minor spelling errors. Remember that we are using a machine here. If this is the case and you don’t  want to generate the speaking board again, there is something you can do to fix these errors. Go to Canva, upload the image, click on Edit and Grab text to modify it.

And now, the most important thing: HOW TO PLAY.

Put students in groups of three and handthem a standard small die and three individual counters. They roll the small die to navigate the board. When they land on a square, that student has to speak about the topic for exactly three minutes.

Enter “The Grammar Dictator”

Three minutes of fluency practice is fantastic, but I want to push their grammatical limits.  Wanna add to the fun? Use a giant foam dice  to dictate how they must answer the square they selected.

How? You simply assign a grammar rule to each number on the die and write it on the board

  • Roll a 3? They have to build their 3-minute argument  including the connector of contrast Despite

  • Roll a 4? They need to include  a perfect modal.

Speed-Chatting and Perfect Modals: Drama Queens/Kings and Judgmental Friends

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When you’re looking for a speaking activity that gets everyone talking, speed-chatting is a fantastic option. On this occasion, to work with perfect modals. Yes, in this activity we will have translation, grammar, speaking and lots of interaction.

Cards with Problems.  Spanish_English Translation

Step-by-step setup
Choose and Translate: Hang the “Laundry Line of Problems”

The teacher hangs problem cards written in [Spanish] on a clothesline around the classroom—little everyday disasters students might relate to.

Students stand up, walk around, and choose one problem that catches their attention. Then they sit down and translate the problem into English. The teacher circulates and helps if needed.

Revising the grammar and exemplifying

The key language focus is perfect modals for giving advice about the past.

Students should try to use:

  • should have + past participle
  • could have + past participle

Example of a potential interaction:

  • Drama Queen/Kings: “Oh no! I stayed up all night watching Netflix and I missed my final exam this morning!” Judgmental Friend: You should have set five alarms!” or “You shouldn’t have started a new series last night!”
  • Drama Queen/Kings: “I missed the bus by ten seconds. I stayed talking at the school gate for too long” . Judgmental Friend : “You should have looked at your watch!”

Because students repeat the interaction several times, these structures start to stick naturally.

Assign the roles

Now divide the class into two equal groups:

  • Group A: “Drama Queens/Kings” – their job is to present the problem dramatically.
  • Group B: “Judgmental Friends” – they listen and give advice.

Speed-chatting begins

Students form two facing lines or circles.

  • Drama Queens/Kings explain their problem.
  • Judgmental Friends react and give advice using the target structures.

Rotate every 1–2 minutes

After each mini-conversation (about 45 seconds) , the teacher rings a bell and students move to a new partner.

Reverse the roles

Once everyone has given advice, students switch roles.

  • Drama Queens/Kings become Judgmental Friends.
  • Judgmental Friends now present their own problems.

And just like that, the room quickly fills with advice, laughter, and dramatic stories. Students practice the  grammar again and again in a natural, communicative way, and everyone has the chance to speak with several different classmates..

Sometimes the best speaking activities are the simplest ones: a bit of movement, a bit of drama, and lots of chances to talk.

 

 

Lesson Plan: Technology. Using Gallery Walks to Bring B2 Tech Vocabulary to Life.

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This gallery walk feels like all the interaction we want in our classrooms — but in one dynamic activity. A strong mix of movement, discussion, and reflection runs throughout. And the atmosphere? Energetic, student-led, and genuinely engaging. Pair it with carefully designed posters and open-ended questions, and you get one of those lessons where students don’t just complete a task… they learn together as they move, talk, and reflect.

Yes, the unit in the textbook is about technology. And no — I don’t hate textbooks. I actually think they’re useful. They give structure. They give students that quiet moment to sit, process, reflect. And honestly? Sometimes we all need that calm, focused time.

But here’s the thing. Textbooks don’t move. My students do.

They need energy. They need interaction. They need to stand up, look at each other, disagree, laugh, negotiate meaning. And that’s where this activity comes in.

The Gallery Walk: Technology Reshaping Life

I designed a series of posters (inspired by the idea of how technology reshapes different areas of life) focusing on:

  • Entertainment
  • Travelling
  • Family Life
  • Work
  • Education
  • Shopping
  • Dating

Each poster shows a powerful “Before vs. Now” visual contrast. Old world. Digital world. Analog vs. hyper-connected.

What’s on Each Poster?

Every poster includes:

  1. A visual comparison (before and after technology)
  2. Useful vocabulary (so students feel supported, not lost)
  3. Thought-provoking discussion questions

PDF Download the posters

Technology reshaping Life de cristina.cabal

How the Gallery Walk Works
  • Students stand up. Maximum groups of 3. They choose a poster. They discuss the images. They read and use the vocabulary. They answer the questions.

And this time, I don’t control the timing. They decide when they’ve talked enough and move to another poster when they feel ready.

Why? Because some posters spark quick reactions. Others? Deep debate. Sometimes they disagree and stay longer. Sometimes they laugh and move on.

Where AI Comes In

Could I have created these posters without AI? Yes. Would it have taken me three times longer? Also yes.

AI helped me:

  • Generate tailored vocabulary lists
  • Create  discussion questions
  • Adapt complexity to my students’ level
  • Design cohesive visual contrasts

But here’s the key: AI didn’t replace a classic strategy. It enhanced it. Gallery walks have been around forever. They work. Movement + collaboration + visible thinking = engagement.

Now we just have better tools to build them.

“If the City Could Talk…” 3 Beautiful Ideas to Talk about City Life

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So here come three super practical ideas to get students talking about city life in a way that feels real, relevant, and totally adaptable to wherever your learners are. In my case, that city is Avilés — the place most of my students actually move through every single day.

ACTIVITY 1. If the City Could Talk

Wait… what if the city could talk? That’s exactly where this activity begins.

Students talk using a speed-chatting format where everyday city objects suddenly have a voice. A  fountain. A Monument. One by one, these objects “speak” and ask students questions about city life. Students have to really understand the questions before they can respond.

(Note: if you are wondering. Yes. AI Generated. And it is so much fun!)

ACTIVITY 2. The “Buzz & Swap” Gallery Walk

 Prep time. You can print my posters here, but let me tell you they personalised for my own context.

  1. Stick 6–8 sheets of paper around the classroom walls. On each one, write a debate-style question connected to city life.(And yes — I use Avilés because it’s their city, but you can swap this for any local context in seconds.) For example:
  • Should the city center be 100% pedestrian?
  • Are holiday rentals becoming a real problem for locals and students?
  • Is the presence of large factories like ArcelorMittal a blessing for the economy or a curse for the city’s future environment?
  • Would Avilés benefit from becoming a completely car-free city? What are the pros and cons?
  • If you were the Mayor of Avilés, what would be the very first thing you would change to improve quality of life?
  • Is the city center becoming too focused on tourists (gentrification) rather than on the needs of local residents?
  •  Has The Niemeyer Center been a failure in terms of bringing real wealth to the average citizen?

2. How it works
Put students in groups of three. Each group stands in front of a poster containing a question. They’ve got 3-4 minutes to discuss the question on the poster.

3. The Upgrade: Here’s where we level it up: at each rotation, they must use a different  connector: on the other hand, therefore, additonally, …etc which you will write on the board after each rotation and before they start talking.

ACTIVITY 3. The “Human Spectrum”. Two lines. (Agree ↔ Disagree)

 Prep time
Put a sign that says “Strongly Agree” on one side of the room and “Strongly Disagree” on the other.

 How it works
Throw out a bold, slightly controversial statement about Avilés. these are some of the statements I am going to use.

  • The pollution from the local industry is a small price to pay for the jobs it provides
  • Avilés is a “retirement home” city; there is literally nothing exciting for people under 30.
  • The city council should ban all cars from the city center, regardless of the impact on local shops.
  • The Niemeyer Center has been a failure in terms of bringing real wealth to the average citizen.
  • Avilésians are too resistant to change, which is why the city isn’t growing as fast as Gijón.
  • Traditional festivals like El Bollo are outdated and should be completely modernized to attract international crowds.
  • The “modernization” of Sabugo has made it a place only for the wealthy, destroying its working-class soul.
  • It is better to stop industrial activity entirely for the sake of the environment, even if the local economy collapses.
  1. Students have to physically position themselves somewhere along the imaginary line between the two signs, depending on how strongly they feel.
  2. Now, pair up students sharing the same opinion and ask them to talk about reasons that support their opinion.
  3. Pick two students from opposite ends. They each have about 1 minute to defend their position.
  4. Ring a bell. If someone has heard a convincing argument from the other side, they can move and change sides after the bell rings.

Although, on this occasion, the questions are heavily personalised, I hope you can get some inspiration.

Speaking and Writing: Let’s Get these Personality Adjectives Moving

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Gallery walks must be one of my favourite dynamics. If we add speaking and writing, we have the whole package.

This activity takes something as simple as learning personality adjectives and turns it into an engaging speaking and writing task. The goal is for my students not just to memorize words like arrogant, generous, or shy—but to use them to express opinions and challenge ideas.

So in a nutshell, these are the steps to follow.

Materials: Posters (use mine if you wish), Functional language, Blue-tack or cello-tape, Optional post-it notes

  • REVISING: We start by revising personality adjectives. It’s the vocabulary we’re working on, so students already have a clear focus.

  • POSTERS. Posters with controversial statements, all using personality adjectives, are up on the walls. These are the ones I have used for this activity. You are welcome to use them.

  • Round 1. Gallery Walking. Students walk around the room in pairs or threes, reading the controversial statements and discussing whether they agree or disagree with each statement. You might want to write on the board some functional language to express opinion.(link to photocopy above)

  • Round 2: Write it down. Back at their seats, each student, individually, chooses one statement they agree or disagree with and writes about 70–90 words explaining why they agree or disagree — encourage them to use personality adjectives in their writing. They then stick it next to the poster.

  • First side note: ask them to use their best handwriting. You know what I am talking about, don’t you? Sometimes reading students’ handwriting is like trying to decode ancient hieroglyphics!
  • Second side note: yes, after this first round, you should walk around reading what they have written   and correcting mistakes. I am afraid this is our job, too.

  • Round 3: Writing. React and respond. Students go around again, this time reading their classmates’ post-its. Then, they add a response—agreeing or disagreeing with their peer’s opinion, explaining why. Note: a couple of sentences would be enough this time.

Note: For Round 3, I give my students post-it notes in different colours. It never hurts to add a bit of colour to life.