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.
Lesson 4 of 9
Follow-Up Questions
This lesson helps the students ask an initial question to prompt questions. 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.
Choose a topic from resources at the end of this lesson. For example, "People: Who have you talked to in English since last week?"
Write six keywords related to the question to check comprehension.
Encourage a more structured response from students by creating a worksheet with 8 to 12 options for a word and a sentence.
Lesson
1 Warm-up and Objective
Introduce the use of follow-up questions to students.
Introduce the main topic of the lesson chosen in the preparation work.
Briefly go over the 5W and H list (who, what, where, why, when, how).
Talk about the lesson's final goal: students will build up new vocabulary and use proper question forms.
2 Exploration and Comprehension
Introduce the six words and go through each one to check comprehension.
Ask students to make questions using the chosen question type; for example, who: Who are you? Who did you eat breakfast with this morning?
Ask a question on a familiar topic, for example, students' daily routines.
3 Guided Student Practical
The students' initial responses then help to make the follow-up questions. For example, "What was the last film/movie you watched?" A reply could then be, "The last film/movie I watched was Fast and Furious."
Provide further reinforcement by asking what the student thought about the film/movie, which they enjoyed the most, or which other performances they liked.
This lesson encourages students to talk freely. If the conversation goes well, the class does not need to stick to the first category.
However, avoid allowing the conversation to become too random, as this can be confusing.
The method is like an icebreaker, but the lesson intends students to pick up a greater variety of new words than in a more formally structured experience.
Do not accept incorrect or straightforward responses from students. Instead, put the correct mistakes by creating a proper answer.
4 Student Presentation and Evaluation
While students talk, write words on the board, and correct any errors.
In this way, there is a comfortable environment for introducing concepts that might be more complex than what the students might know.
Students might give a response that does not complement the topic.
Here, it may be necessary to do some preliminary work to check students' level of understanding.
5 Review and Assess
Take charge of the lesson and be ready to channel the discussion in a specific direction if it has strayed too far from the original topic.
Not everybody might answer the question. However, by the end of the session, asking students again might prompt a unique response.
After students have spent some time chatting and building their vocabulary, a new vocabulary list should form on the board.
Towards the end of the session, change the flow and ask students to write sentences using the words.
6 Bonus Activity - Dice Game
Some classroom items, such as dice, are cheap and easy to get and enhance games. Try to get blank dice to write the 5W and H words.
To start, roll the dice between students, who must create questions depending on the dice's throw.
After completing their question, the student gives the dice to someone else, who then rolls it for their problem.
Keep passing the dice until the students have had many tries or the questions given have shown their understanding.
Resources
Below are simple questions using who, what, where, why, when, and how (5W and H, listed below with examples). I have made sections below with the grouped categories.
Who (People)
Who do you know anyone who eats healthy food?
Who do you know anyone who likes computer games?
Who do you like that your friends don't like?
Who had an apple fall on his head?
Who have you talked to in English since last week?
Who enjoys reading in your family?
Who was the last person you talked to today?
Who will you be seeing later today?
Who would you go out with for a fun time?
What (Something)
What are your plans for this weekend?
What are you doing this weekend?
What did you do for Mother's Day?
What did you eat for breakfast/lunch?
What did you get up to at the weekend?
What do you think about current events?
What have you been doing?
What is your favourite/favorite pizza topping?
What was the last film/movie you watched?
What was your most memorable birthday?
What would you like to do in the summer?
Where (Places)
Where can I find information about visiting Paris/New York?
Where can you buy a great burger?
Where do you go for cheap shopping?
Where does your best friend live?
Where have you been recently?
Where is a beautiful place to visit?
Where is the nearest library?
Where is the refrigerator in your house?
Where will you be in 5, 10, or 20 years?
Where would you like to go on holiday?
Why (Reasons)
Why are the pizzas round?
Why are politicians untrustworthy?
Why are there no ghosts in the daytime?
Why are you so sleepy?
Why can't we stay awake forever?
Why do we get sick?
Why do you think the weather has been so bad recently?
Why have you visited other countries?
Why is addiction a problem?
Why is your best friend so special to you?
When (Time)
When did you last win something?
When do you go to sleep?
When do you plan to watch a film/movie next?
When do you study?
When is it okay to be angry?
When was the last time you rode a bike?
When was the last time you went to a restaurant?
When were you happiest?
When will you be rich?
When would you prefer to eat dinner?
When do we need to take the trash/rubbish out?
How (Method)
How do you travel here?
How have you been recently?
How likely is it to rain today?
How long have you been studying English?
How much cleaning do you do a week?
How often do you eat fast food?
How was your evening/weekend?
How well can you play sports?
How would you explain how to study well?
How would you feel if schools banned smartphones?
