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This activity starts with a short introduction, in which the teacher asks the students if they have a dream job and if they would like to tell the group about it. After the introduction, students choose a card which is faced down. (See here for sample cards.) These contain different jobs. Once they know what the job means (they can ask if they are not sure), they are then asked to think of a single pose or movement that encapsulates what this job, in their opinion, is about. After about a minute of consideration, everyone who feels confident in their pose or movement is asked to act it out in front of their classmates. While they are acting it out, it is important for the other students to observe what their classmate is doing and not shout out what their classmate is doing. Instead, those watching should wait until their classmate has finished, as they are only allowed to guess once the teacher asks them "What is he/she doing?" or "What job is does he/she acting outhave?"

Depending on the time left, teachers could follow up this activity with another group activity, in which every group member is asked to act out the pose resembling the job they liked the most at the same time. This might help less outgoing students to also take part in this dramatic activity. 

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Time: 3 minutes for the beginning explanation and then . Then leave as much time as needed for the main activity. This is necessary because the number of students who feel comfortable could vary greatly between the various groups and different grades.

Learning objectives

General: With this teaching activity, teachers aim to help students understand what tasks are required by different jobs, including their dream jobs.  It aids the ability to describe these tasks. If they lack certain vocabulary, they also have the opportunity to learn the names of certain jobs in English and how to describe them. "Describing" here refers to two ways of depicting an activity: Using their bodies to express their thoughts and verbally expressing what a job entails.

Vocabulary: Every student is supposed should to learn the vocabulary for 5-10 job descriptions by looking at the cards and the performance of their fellow students' performances. Furthermore, they learn verbs related to the actions, e.g. "cooking" or "performing".

Grammar: Most of the time, the students are required to use the progressive tense, though the tenses used may vary if necessary.

Instructions to set up the activity

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If students decide to ask questions, it is important to respect these and help as much as possible, . This is true even if they talk in their first language to you or their fellow students - this actually shows that they are interested and want to take part.Do not interrupt the students, even if they are rambling about different jobs in English – this is them showing interest in the topic

If students show a lot of enthusiasm and use it in a beneficial way, use that positive energy. Don't cut the activity off.

Follow-up questions such as "How do you know Johannes is a baker?" can encourage more careful observation and more purposeful acting.