Generating Topics - Students 2

by Jerome Cohen

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Student Activity Sheet A

Directions: Use the list of objects below to identify the category.

Vegetables Toys Shapes Transportation Colors Sports

1. peas, broccoli, carrots, spinach, brussel sprouts, celery

2. blocks, action figures, dolls, playdough, cars, puzzles

3. triangle, circle, trapezoid, rectangle, hexagon

4. bike, airplane, boat, truck, train, bus, taxi

5. red, blue, green, orange, pink, purple, yellow

6. football, softball, tennis, hockey, baseball, basketball

Student Activity Sheet B

Directions: Study the comic strips below. Next, circle the answers that show the characters generating a topic.

Student Activity Sheet C

Directions: Think about the script read/played for the class and complete the questions below.

1. Who are the characters in this script?

2. Where did Chris go on vacation?

3. What was the topic Chris and Darren discussed?

4. How do you think Darren felt when Chris would not respond to his question?

Student Activity Sheet D

Directions: In the scripts below, circle in purple two nouns that name a person and one noun that names a place. Circle in red two verbs.

Remember:

A noun names a person, place, thing, or idea.

A verb names describe an action, a state, or an occurrence.

Example of an appropriate script for generating topics:
Darren: Hi Chris. Did you have a nice trip?
Chris: Yes, I did! I went to a theme park. Do you like theme parks?
Darren: No, I like other vacation spots.
Chris: What kinds of other vacation spots do you like?
Darren: I like going to the beach because I like the sand and water.

Example of an inappropriate script for generating topics:
Darren: Hi Chris, how are you?
Chris: Fine. Did you know I like pizza?
Darren: Would you like to play a game?
Chris: I like eating pizza for lunch everyday.

Student Topic Checkout

Directions: Complete the following questions.

1. What is a topic?

2. Why is it important to generate a variety of topics during a conversation?

3. How do people feel when you talk about the same topic over and over again?

4. Is it important to ask a question based on what your conversation partner said? Why or why not?