Teaching English

Lately, I have been doing many exercises in divergent thinking.  Although it looks like a fancy term, it simply encourages learners to express the same message in various forms.  For example, take a second and consider all the possible variations of this utterance:

Did you sleep well?

In your next class, ask your learners to brainstorm on alternative utterances in groups.  Think about a question or statement that you normally hear immediately after getting up in the morning.

Did you sleep well last night?
Did you have a good sleep?
How was last night?
I hope you slept well.
Are you rested?

You may even introduce short, casual utterances like:
Sleep well?
Good night?
Another sleepless night?

Once you have a few starters on the board, learners can circulate and conduct mini-dialogues.

Since it expands linguistic possibilities, I find that divergent thinking is great for building confidence and motivation.

Here are a few questions to ask your class.
Did you catch the game last night? 
Did you see ____________ last night?
What did you see on TV last night?
What did you think of it?
How was it?
Did you like it?

Partners can easily talk about something they saw on TV.   Once they've practised in pairs, they can survey the entire class and record results on the board.

Jim's Korea contains short cartoons depicting my life in South Korea.  I hope you enjoy this blog.  

Have you ever noticed someone else's shoes?  If not, try developing this dialogue with the class.  Pairs can then expand using their own ideas.

A:  Nice shoes.
B:  Thanks.
A:  Where'd you get them?
B: