Find something in Common

Find Something in Common Conversation Activity

This is a speaking and listening activity for intermediate-advanced level students, which requires no materials and takes 10 to 20 minutes.

Procedure:

1. Students stand up, with a pencil and paper

2. They talk to other students  to find something in common by asking  questions. Some kinds of questions that work really are things like, “Have you ever _____ (been abroad)?”, “Are you _____ (an only child)?” or, “Do you _____ (have a sister)?”

3. Once they find something in common, they write that down, along with the person's name.

4. Students find a new partner and continue until they've talked to everybody in the class (hopefully).

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5 Successful ESL Speaking Activities

2 Truths and a Lie ESL Speaking Activity

ESL Speaking Activity

Skills: Writing/listening/speaking

Time: 20-30 minutes

Level: Intermediate to Advanced

Materials Required: Nothing

Play in groups of 4-6 in a bigger class, or with everyone in a small class. My rule is that if you allow minimal or no follow-up questions, it takes around 3-4 minutes per student. However, if you allow questions, it takes about 6-7 minutes per student. It’s a good activity to use “always, usually, sometimes, never” or “can, can’t” or “I’ve.” Students write three sentences, one of which is false. They share their sentences and the other students guess the false one. Higher level classes can ask three questions, or question the person for a pre-determined amount of time to discover the false one. A correct guess gets one point. Each student gets a turn to play.

Procedure:

1. Write three sentences on the board about yourself, two which are true and one of them is not.

2. Students do the same thing.

3. Read your sentences and those students can ask three questions (or have two minutes, etc.) to ask questions.

4. Each student in the group must choose for themselves which sentence is false. Reveal the answer and whoever guessed correctly gets a point.

5. The students play in small groups, making sure that each person gets a chance to share their three statements. You can help move the activity along by acting as a time-keeper by giving each student's turn a specific time limit.

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