Four Corners
The teacher reads a statement and students have to decide if they strongly disagree, somewhat disagree, somewhat agree, or strongly agree. Each corner of the room is reserved for one of the four possibilities. After students hear the statement, they must go to the corner of the room that corresponds with how they feel about the issue. The teacher then asks students to explain their opinions.
More difficult version: Students in the strongly agree corner debate the students in the strongly disagree corner.
Categories
The teacher chooses a category that is relevant to what the class is studying. For a business English class, the teacher might pick “positive adjectives for people,” or “company slogans.” Students go around in a circle and have to name something in that category. If a student can’t think of something in five seconds, he is out of the game. The game continues until only one person remains.
How Long Can You Talk About…..?
The teacher gives a student a topic that she must talk about without pausing (e.g. “a mistake I’ve learned from,” “someone I look up to,” “a project I’m working on,” “time management,” etc.). The teacher uses a timer and the student tries to talk as long as possible without stopping. This activity can be done in small groups to maximize student talking time.
Would you Rather…?
This is a simple warm up with little preparation. The teacher writes “would you rather” questions on the board and students discuss them in groups. Students explain their answers and then think of their own “would you rather” questions to discuss with their group.
20 Questions
This is a classic game that works well with beginners. One person thinks of something and the other students ask yes/no questions to try to guess what it is. Students can ask a maximum of 20 questions.
More difficult version: Students can only ask certain types of question (questions in the simple past, for example).
More Exercises…