Why? Because!
This writing and speaking activity usually produces some unexpected laughs! Students quickly write some “why” questions and answers on slips of paper. I let them know that their questions and answers don’t have to match or make sense. They then take turns choosing random questions and answers to read aloud, producing some surprising results!
Why is the sky blue?
Because I’m so cute!
I use this activity as a quick warmer to get students ready to write and to build confidence for standing in front of the class. You can thematically apply your lesson’s content as guiding categories to direct students’ questions and responses.
Preparation
You will need to cut some small slips of paper for students to use to write on. For classes of 6-12 students, I ask them to write 3 questions and answers each.
I usually will use spare desks or chairs at the front of the classroom to put their folded questions and answers on. I leave a gap between them for students to stand in while choosing questions and answers to read aloud to the class. This is a great chance to encourage students to practice varying their tone to enhance their comedic delivery!
The Google Slides Presentation
This activity has very minimal instructions due to its simplicity and that I use this activity with more advanced students, generally around B2 level. I often verbally encourage students to be creative or funny when writing their responses. I purposely use this as a “cold-open” without telling students what they will do after writing to try to make the delivery more interesting.
The Google Slides Presentation includes teacher notes, image attributions, basic instructions with timers, and additional timer resources.
To edit this Google Slideshow, you must copy the slides into your own presentation. To get the most out of this activity, you should tailor the number of questions to your number of students.
