Activity: Dicey Questions

Here is a very simple activity that is very useful to have in your toolbox as a no materials (save a die) and no preparation required…

Aims: Question and answer forms, targeted vocabulary recycling.

Skills: Speaking and listening

Materials: Set of dice for learners – or, if you have internet and a large enough screen, why not try a virtual die. Here is one link for an online die.

Level: All but the most early beginngers.

Preparation time: None

Procedure

1. Give the learners a series of six wh- question words:
   1. who
   2. what
   3. where
   4. when
   5. why
   6. how
2. Model the activity by rolling the die and choosing the question word that is indicated by the die, for example: 1=who.
3. Make a question: “who is the person who (…).”
4. Learners answer the modelled question.

Variations

• T. can ask learners the questions (T → L). Other variations include: L → T and L → L, depending on the focus of your lesson.
• Use pictures or a text (audio, visual, internet) to give ideas for questions, or to make the topic area more restricted. One example of a restricted topic successfully used by Kristina Smith (Pearson Longman) in a recent presentation at IEU was “getting to know me”.
• Instead of giving question word, provide targeted lexical items that must be use in the question.

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