November 8, 2008

Play some RPGs!

Role playing is an excellent way to get students talking about real-life scenarios. You'll need to prepare cards with scenarios written on them - for example, buying a car at a Toyota dealer, looking for an apt, shopping at Valley fair, ordering food, ordering coffee at Starbucks. Then, the group can act out the situation together.


If you have a mixed level group, you can have the advanced students do more of the talking - for example, they can be a store clerk and the others can be customers.

How to play the "Statements of Opinion" game.

1. Write various statements of opinion on small strips of paper. For example: Dogs are better than cats. The rich should pay more taxes.
2. Have one participant read the statement and respond to it.
3. Have a discussion with pros/cons - or even a debate.

For more statements of opinion, check out this list at our Google Docs account.

How to play the "What If??" game.

This game requires some work and preparation but it can be a lot of fun and generate some heated discussions.

1. Participants pick out “what if” questions from a question jar. I print my questions and cut them into strips and curl them up in the jar. For example:
What would you do if you won the lottery? What would you do if you found a $100 bill in a library book you borrowed?
2. Each participant can also add their thoughts.
3. After answering the questions, participants can come up with their own “what if” questions and ask other participants.

For more "what if" questions check out this list; you'll need to edit out questions that won't work for your group.

How to play Liar! Liar!

This is a simple game but is best with participants that know each other fairly well; it's not as successful as as an ice-breaker.

1. Participants say three things about themselves; one of these statements should be a lie.
2. The others guess which one the lie is.
3. The participant that guesses correctly wins the game.