Home | Comprehensive ESL English Discussion Topics
Here's one of the nine reusable chapters in this book. There is an extensive resource section (show below) to help in reusing this lesson model many times.
4. Using Follow-Up Questions
This lesson helps the students ask an initial question to prompt more questioning. The topics are simple to engage familiarity and confidence. The hardest part is how to keep the conversation going.
Objectives
1. Understanding and employing proper question forms.
2. Knowing when and how to ask follow-up questions.
Things to Do
1. Choose a topic from the Resources section.
2. Write six related keywords to use in comprehension.
3. Find blank dice to write the words 5W and H (who, what, where, why, when, and how).
4. Create a worksheet with 8 to 12 options for a word and a sentence.
Lesson
Warm-up and Objective
Explain to students how to use follow-up questions.
Introduce the primary lesson theme that was selected during the planning process.
Review the 5W and H list in brief (who, what, where, why, when, and how).
Mention the lesson's end objective, which is for the students to expand their vocabulary and apply the correct question structures.
Exploration and Comprehension
To evaluate understanding, introduce the six terms and go through each one by one.
Ask students to create inquiries using the question type, such as, "who": "Who are you? With whom did you eat breakfast today?"
Pose a query on a well-known subject, such as students' daily schedules.
Guided Student Practical
The later questions are then made with help from the students' initial replies. For instance, "What was the most recent movie/film you watched?"
Ask the student about the movie or the film, which performance they appreciated the best, or which other performances they thought were strong to provide further reinforcement.
Students are encouraged to speak freely in this class. The class does not have to keep to the first category if the discussion goes well.
Keep the dialog from becoming too random because this might be confusing.
The approach is like an icebreaker, but the lesson aims to teach students a wider range of unfamiliar words than a more strictly scheduled encounter would.
Do not accept the students' incorrect answers. Create a correct response instead to fix the errors. Try asking the class if they might see a problem with the sentence.
Student Presentation and Evaluation
Write words on the board and fix mistakes as students speak.
This creates a welcoming environment for introducing ideas that could be more complicated than what the students are already aware of.
Students can offer an answer that does not fit with the subject.
Here, it could be required to conduct some prior work to evaluate the comprehension levels of the students.
Review and Assess
Take control of the lesson and be prepared to get the conversation back on track if it deviates too far from the initial subject.
The question might not be answered by everyone. But after the class, asking the students again could elicit a distinctive reaction.
Following some time for students to converse and expand their vocabulary, a fresh list of words should appear on the board.
Change the pace of the lesson toward the conclusion by having students create sentences using the terms.
Activity - Dice Game
To start, roll the dice between students, who must create questions depending on the dice's number.
The student finishes their question and hands the dice to someone else, who rolls it for their issue.
Continue passing the dice until all the students have had a chance to try or the questions have proven the students' comprehension.
Follow-up Resources
Here are some simple questions using the words (5W and H). They are divided into groups below.
Who (People)
Do you have any friends who eat healthy foods?
Do you know anyone who enjoys playing computer games?
Who do you like that none of your friends do?
Who was the victim of an apple falling on his head?
Since last week, who have you spoken to in English?
Who in your family enjoys reading?
Who was the most recent person you spoke with today?
Who are you going to see later today?
Who would you spend a fun night out with?
What (Something)
What do you have planned for the year?
What are you up to this weekend?
What did you do to celebrate Mother's/ Father's Day?
What did you have for breakfast and/or lunch?
What did you do over the weekend?
What are your thoughts on current events?
What have you been up to lately?
What is your preferred pizza topping?
What was the most recent film or movie you saw?
What was your most memorable birthday?
What do you want to do this summer?
Where (Places)
Where can I learn more about visiting Paris?
Where can I get a delicious burger?
Where do you go for cheap shopping?
What city does your best friend live in?
Where have you been recently?
What is a lovely place to visit?
Where can I find the nearest library?
In your home, where is the refrigerator?
Where do you see yourself in 5, 10, or 20 years?
Where do you want to go on holiday/vacation?
Why (Reasons)
Why are the pizzas round?
Why are politicians so distrustful?
Why are there no ghosts during the day?
Why are you so tired?
Why can we not stay awake forever?
What causes us to become ill?
Why do you think the weather has been so bad recently?
Why did you travel to other countries?
What causes addiction?
What makes your best friend so special?
When (Time)
When was the last time you won something?
What time do you go to bed?
When do you intend to watch your next film/movie?
What time do you study?
When is it appropriate to be angry?
When was the last time you rode a bike?
When was the last time you went out to eat?
When were you at your happiest?
When will you be wealthy?
When do you want to eat dinner?
When do we need to take the trash/rubbish out?
How (Method)
How do you get around here?
How are you doing lately?
How likely is it that it will rain today?
How long have you been taking English classes?
How many hours do you spend cleaning each week?
How often do you eat fast food?
How did you spend your evening/weekend?
How good are you at sports?
How would you describe how to study effectively?
What would you think if schools banned smartphones?