[bread_baker]

Here are some things about speaking activities. One kind of controlled speaking activity is a dialog. The students receive a script, and that is what they practice. I use dialogs this way very often. My students may get 3 or 4 different dialogs in a week, never more than one per class meeting. You might research the Golden Gate Bridge (I am sure you will find information on the internet). Then you could write a dialog in which two people discuss the bridge. I believe that students should start with simpler dialogs and gradually move up to ones that are longer and longer, and more and more complex. I like to limit the grammar structures in a dialog to not more than two (one is better), and only use grammar structures that the students know. At the other end of the spectrum are free speaking activities that have no script. An example: you give the students a topic to discuss (but no questions - they must think of their own).