Activity
What's My Line?
Subject
English Language Arts (2005), Native Language Arts, Languages Other Than English, Career Development and Occupational Studies
Grade Levels
Intermediate, 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade
Assessment
- Teacher assesses written and spoken language.
- Teacher evaluates classroom participation.
Author
Adapted from Nassau BOCES, Activities That Work
Duration
1—2 weeks
Description
Objectives:
- Students will research a career.
- Students will write and answer questions about a job, using a foreign language they are studying.
Activity:
- Teacher explains the major idea of the 1950s-1960s television show “What's My Line?” (Students sit on a panel and ask questions of the “guest” to determine the job of that person. The questions can only be “yes” or “no” questions. On the basis of the answers to the questions, the students guess the occupation of the guest.)
- Students select a job in which they are interested and research that job.
- Students write five questions about a job that will help them determine what kind of job it is. These questions are to be written in the foreign language that the students are studying.
- Using their research, students prepare answers to possible questions in the foreign language they are studying.
- Students take turns serving on the panel and being the guest. The questions are both asked and answered in the foreign language.
Materials/Resources
- Computer with Internet access
- Career sites (e.g., www.nycareerzone.org)
- Career resources
- Foreign language dictionary
Comments/Modifications
- Students can design a pamphlet about the selected job/career, with all writing in the foreign language.
- Activity could be completed in English.
Source
Adapted from Nassau BOCES, Activities That Work. Found as “What's My Line?” In Career Development and Occupational Studies (CDOS) Resource Guide with Core Curriculum. New York State Department of Education, 123.
