Informational Practice (with Listening Component)
Informational Practice (with Listening Component)
During the speaking test, students will be asked to listen to an informational passage. This passage can be historical or STEM-related, so it is important to practice SAP beforehand and encourage students to take notes while listening. Afterwards, they will need to answer questions about what they heard.
For listening practice, I highly recommend visiting the Practice Audio and Video page (Link).
For note-taking, I recommend having students use the SAP structure to organize their notes on an index card during practice. This gives them a familiar scaffold to fall back on when the real test arrives.
After playing a video or audio passage in class, use the questions below to give students structured speaking practice. These are modeled after the types of questions students will encounter on the ELPAC.
What was the passage mainly about? Use at least two details in your answer.
In your own words, describe what happened in the passage from beginning to end.
What are the two or three most important things you learned from the passage?
What is the main idea of the passage?
What details did the speaker give to support the main idea?
What was one fact or piece of information that stood out to you? Why?
What caused ___ to happen in the passage?
What were the effects of ___?
According to the passage, what happens when ___?
Describe the steps or stages explained in the passage. What happened first, next, and last?
How did ___ change over time, according to the passage?
The speaker used the word ___. What do you think that word means based on what you heard?
How did the speaker describe ___? What words did they use?
Based on what you heard, why do you think ___ happened?
The passage did not directly say ___, but what do you think the author believes about this topic?
Do you agree with the information in the passage? Why or why not?
Why do you think this passage was written or created? What is the author trying to tell you?
What is the most important thing the author wants you to understand?
Does anything in this passage remind you of something you have learned before or experienced yourself? Explain.
What question would you ask the speaker if you could? Why?