Would you rather talk all period or have your students do the talking?
I’m always trying to invent new ways to get my students talking. Many English Language Learners are reluctant to speak because they have an accent or they think people will make fun of them. One of the ways to get my students more comfortable speaking is by having them engage in a fun activity with a small group.
I usually use my “Would You Rather” cards for warm ups, but last year during COVID remote learning I tried something new. I created a group project.
I began by using a card in my normal way. You can see how I displayed it to my students in the screenshot below:
You will notice that I have my students write their response before sharing. I call these warm-up exercises “Think, Write, Pair-Share.” In this way, students are given important thinking time, writing practice, and speaking practice. Win! Win! Win!
After the pair-share, I opened up the discussion to the whole class. Students listened to each others’ ideas and got the opportunity for some back and forth discussion.
After practicing with several other cards, I placed students into small groups. The students were tasked with creating their own Would you Rather questions. The following is an image sample of the task:
After groups brainstormed, they chose their best question. Each group then created a slide displaying the question and appropriate images. Students decorated their slide to their liking. Groups shared their slide with the class and conducted a discussion of the question.
Following is a sample screenshot from one of my beginner level ESL groups:
My students really enjoyed this group project. Every group member, from newcomer to intermediate level ELL was able to participate and feel successful!
