Discussion Question Slides Bank
Access this series of over 50 discussion questions in slides format to add more speaking opportunities to your ESL class.
Category: Discussion
Three Steps to Better Pronunciation
This is a great activity to help English learners improve their pronunciation of English sentences by paying attention to phrases and stressed words.
Position Posters Debate
The art of argument isn’t always easy to master, especially when you’re doing it in another language. This poster position debate is a fun and engaging way to scaffold this skills whether the end goal is an essay or an oral debate.
Oral Fluency Assignment
Helping students recognize and correct error patterns in their own speech can be a challenge. This assignment helps students gain an awareness of their own speech patterns by transcribing their own speech and then analyzing it.
Fantastical Stories: Past Tense Fun
“How can grammatical knowledge be transferred to oral fluency?” I don’t have all the answers, but this past tense activity will certainly get students chatting.
Conversation Class: Wonders of the World Slides
In my last post, I shared conversation class material on the theme of travel and survival. In this post, you can access material for a conversation class centered around world wonders. This topic is always fun because it’s perfect for an activity that asks students to share information about some significant place in their own country.
Conversation Class: Travel and Survival Slides
These ESL conversation class lesson plans (including beautifully designed slides and handouts) on travel and survival are sure to get your adult ESL learners engaged and learning.
Conversation Class: Art Vocabulary and Discussion Slides
These slides include among other things discussion questions, vocabulary introduction using pictures, phrases for reacting to art, and an activity where students discuss their thoughts about a particular work of art.
Cities Around the World
This resource consists of 64 pictures from cities around the world. Each picture has the city name and country on it. These pictures can be used to complement lessons on travel, vacations, cities, climate, culture, world geography, architecture, and more.
Comparison Photos
Check out these picture bank pages that include 4 pictures of the same category per page. These are great for activities that practice comparative adjectives.
Conversation Hour: Stereotypes
Use this sequence of activities to give students a chance to think about stereotypes, how they affect us, and what we can do to counter them. Whether you lead a conversation hour or are looking for an activity to do in your class, these activities are relevant and can help give students a chance to share their experiences and learn about the experiences of others.
Community Building Unit: Student Packet
Need some fresh ideas for your first week routine? Check out this community building unit to help get your class off to a great start.
Favorite Holiday Discussion
At my school, we recently started holding a conversation hour to give language learners listening/speaking practice. For the first week, our theme was holidays. For one part of the event, we did this activity designed to get people talking about their favorite holidays. It sparked a lot of discussion and gave people a chance to learn about holidays from different places.
Portraits
Pictures are essential in the language classroom. They’re interesting, they spark discussion, they provide a purpose for tasks, and they relate to people. They can be used in so many different ways. Having a bank of pictures on hand is as essential to a language teacher as a painter having a paintbrush.
Which One – Ask and Switch
This activity consists of 20 pages, each with four pictures of a particular category. On the top is written a question using which. For example, “Which hat do you like best?” This handout is great for various discussion activities to get students chatting and practicing the superlative.
Book Materials to Improve Comprehension Strategies and Expand English Vocabulary
Adding a full length book to your ESL curriculum can be great way to add authentic and engaging material to your class. Check out this article get all you need to use the book I Have a Dream by Margaret Davidson in your class. I used it in my low intermediate class with adult learners and it went really well.
Health Vocabulary Activities and Role Play
These vocabulary cards, talking charts, and slides will transform your lesson on illness and remedies into a dynamic and exciting interactive class.
How Much / How Many Bingo Activity Sequence
. For the bingo activity, students will walk around asking how much / many of each item other students have. The key is, they can’t write down a person’s name unless the other person has the same amount of that item. It makes the activity last longer and promotes more practice of the target structure.
Some and Any Grocery Shopping Activity
Use these food vocabulary cards and shopping lists to have your students participate in a fun and interactive grocery shopping activity to practice using some and any.
Things in My House – To Have Practice
This handout will help students practice the verb “have” to talk about things they have in their house.
Stick Figure Speaking Exercise
Some activities are very specific while others are quite versatile. The stick figure activity is one of my favorite speaking activities because it can be used for so many things at all levels. I’ve used it in my low-beginning – intermediate ESL courses, as well as my composition courses with native speakers.
Color Cards Discussion
Whether it’s a discussion about a book students are reading in class or a first week community building activity, these cards are great.
Picture Collage
I love using pictures in my classes. They can be interesting, engaging, and also give students a starting place for talking. One great way to use pictures in your classroom is to use a picture collage.
Things In Common
This activity is a staple of my first-week routine. Students spend time discussing in groups trying to find things they all have in common. It’s a great way to start the semester on a note of connection.