Quick Guide
- Keywords: Warm up, Speaking, Google Forms
- Learner English level: All levels
- Learner maturity: University
- Preparation: Less than 30 minutes
- Activity time: 10 minutes
- Materials: online survey, such as Google Forms, classroom PC, projector, student devices
The goal of this warm up activity is to get the students speaking in English from the beginning of the class and to allow the students to get to know more about each other and the teacher. This activity is designed to be the first activity that the students do each class. It is best to do this activity regularly so that the students can start the class with an enjoyable and predictable activity. Students can enjoy interacting with each other by discussing different easy and personal questions each class.
Preparation
Step 1: Create a Google Form (Appendix A) or other online survey using a question such as “What is your hobby?” or “Who is your favorite person in your family?” See Appendix B for more example questions.
Step 2: Share the link with students by putting it into the LMS or sharing it on the projector in class.
Step 3: Repeat Steps 1 and 2 for each question you plan to use in the semester.
Procedure
Step 1: Show the students the question for today on the projector. Have the students repeat the question two times. Tell the students your answer to the question.
Step 2: Have students open the survey on their devices.
Step 3: Tell the students to ask three other students the question and to write the students` names and answers into the survey form.
Step 4: Show the results page of the survey on the projector so that the students can see how many have finished the activity in real time. If using Google Forms, this is the “Form Edit” page. See Appendix A for an example. Check on and support students who seem to be taking a long time.
Step 5: After all the students have finished, show the results page and read the answers aloud. See Appendix A for an example. The teacher can read all of the answers or just the most interesting ones. Then briefly discuss the answers with the class.
Variations
Due to the online nature of this activity, you can edit the question at the last minute. For example, if it is a very rainy day, you can change the question to “Did you bring your umbrella today?” It is funny when a student answers “no.” If there was an interesting news story or sporting event, you can change the question to ask about that. For example, you can ask “Did you hear about….?” or “How do you feel about……?”
If you have a very motivated class, you can change the number of students that the students have to talk to from three to five students. This will encourage the students to stand up as the students will not be able to interact with five other students otherwise.
You can make Step 5 more interesting by preparing some jokes. For example, for the question “Who is your favorite person in your family?” you could pretend to be offended when none of the students choose “father” for the answer and say “Please love your father!”
Conclusion
This is a quick and easy warm-up activity that gets the students ready for more difficult activities later in the class. It also increases their familiarity with the teacher and their fellow students.
Appendices
The appendices are available below:
