I usually start off the lessons by doing some small talk activity in pairs about a trivial topic related to the grammar that I will be introducing.
♢【ｓｍａｌｌ ｔａｌｋ】
♢𝗧𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰:
𝗤: 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿? 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗴𝘀?
𝗔: 𝗗𝗼𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲...
You can find the example in the powerpoint:
I start off by showing a picture of my dog and a random cat (students find it funny how I badmouth the cats but I just do it for the mood of the lesson and to enrouage them to debate with me haha). I personally (as you can see) prefer dogs so I will say something like this.
𝘿𝙤𝙜𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙨, 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚:
- 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝘀
- 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝘀
- 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸
- etc..
Note: If your students level is not high you can simplify the points which I like to do sometimes too.
𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝘃𝗲𝗿.
- 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗲
- 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗹𝘆
- 𝗲𝘁𝗰.. (𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀)
This is just to give off my point across and they can see some example points they can use. Ask the JTE and maybe 1-2 students what they prefer and why to show the whole class and they get the idea. After this, we can do it in pairs;
𝗜𝗻 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗿𝘀:
Students talk about their preference in pairs by asking and answering the next question:
𝗤: 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿? 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗴𝘀?
𝗔: 𝗗𝗼𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲...
1- They do Janken/ Rock, scissors, paper. to choose first speaker.
2- Winner Asks. Loser Answers.
3- Give them 1 minute.
4- Switch. Now, Loser asks. Winner answer.
5. You can do 2 rounds if you'd like so they can listen to another friend's opinion. (Optional).
Note: Encourage them to use their own ideas if they can and not only copy your examples.
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♢【Fｒｕｉｔ ｂａｓｋｅｔ】
Maybe you know how to play this game but here goes a brief explanation. (Find the questions for the game in the powerpoint.)
1- Students all sit down with their chairs in a circle in the center of the classroom.
2- I use the JTE as the first player to stand in the center of the circle.
3- The JTE will answer a question, if the players agree with the JTE's answer they have to move to another chair. If they don't agree with the JTE's answer they stay in the same seat.
4- If a player couldn't find a new seat he/she now stands in the center of the circle and answer the question.
5- Repeat cycle with next questions.
𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲:
AET: 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿. 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗗𝗼𝗴𝘀?
JTE answer : 𝗱𝗼𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝘀
Students who agree find a new seat. Students who don't agree stay in the same seat. A new student stands in the center and answer the next question.
𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞: If no one agrees, then the same student in the center has to answer the next question. If you notice that students are not moving seats so they don't have to stand in the center tell EVERYONE to find a new seat.