Marmara Elt/EFL Resources

People love to create top ten lists. This technique can be very effective in sharing ideas and creating a lively classroom. You might want to introduce some core verbs and nouns related to the topic.

it has often asked my ESL students to create, in groups, their top ten tips for:
- staying healthy and happy?
- making and keeping friends?
- avoiding boredom and finding satisfaction?
- getting good grades?
- learning English?
- traveling to a new city/country?

It’s easy to implement this fun, engaging discussion technique.

Break students into groups of 3-4. Give them 20 minutes to come up their top ten tips on a given topic. Ask them to provide at least one reason and/or example for each answer.

Pass out different colors of chalk for each group. Have students write their answers on the board.

The instructor goes through the list, asking questions – both soft and hard, and engages student groups.

Finally, after the instructor lead discussion, the entire class votes on the top ten tips.

This flexible, communicative activity can be constantly used to create engaging, lively classroom conversations.
Ask more. Know more. Share more.
By Eric Roth
Visit Compelling Coversations

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