Who Said It? is a simple activity, really, and it's excellent to use after any story or reading that has multiple characters–whether or not the text contains a large amount of dialogue. Who Said It? reviews the story, offers repeated exposure to the linguistic features in the text, and makes it easy to practice the art of inference. Here's how:
Who Said It? in a nutshell:
Simply put, this game centers on sharing quotes or possible quotes with students, taken from a story or other text. For each quote, students have to say which character said or would have said the quote: mind-boggling, I know!
Different formats for Who Said It?
There are many different ways with which you can provide students with quotes. Here are some of the most common formats that I use:
Read & Discuss
Project the quotes on the board and have students tell you who said what (orally, by holding up pre-made cards with character's names on them, writing the answer on small white boards, walking to an assigned corner of the room that corresponds with a given character, etc.)
Listen & Discuss
Instead of projecting the quotes for students to read along with you, just say them aloud! Students can respond using the same methods listed under 'Read & Discuss', but now this becomes a listening activity!
Gallery Walk
Post the quotes around the room using the big, single-page forms (write the question number on the blank), or you could just write out the quotes. No need to be fancy! Get more Gallery Walk ideas here!
Communicative Who Said It?
Write out quotes using the small bubbles, six-per-page speech bubbles, and pass out one to each students--duplicates are okay!! Students read the quote to their classmates, and classmates write down the quote number and who said it on a separate sheet of paper. You could do this with Quiz-Quiz-Trade!
Silent Mingle
Tape numbered quotes on students' backs and have students walk around the room, reading each others' backs and writing down answers. This is a SILENT way to play (that gives the illusion of being communicative) for those days that you need a few moments of quiet!
Fact Check
Make this a true/false activity AND give students repeated exposure to other linguistic structures by prefacing each quote with "So-and-so said, "...."". This way, you get in reps of the word "said" (or "would have said"), as well. Students can respond in any of the manners listed under "Read & Discuss".
For example: True or false? Brandon said that he wanted a small dog.
To Whom Was it Said?
Add another layer to the activity by requiring students to also identify to whom each quote was said!
More Reading Activities
I love using low-prep and no-prep reading activities! Here are some more that are just as easy as Who Said It:
