(I thought it might be helpful to readers and myself if I described some of my favorite activities from time to time. See all my ESL Activity Corner posts here.)

One activity I’ve had enormous success with as a first-day ice-breaker was Conversation Jenga.

(Photo credit: “The Jenga” by Ed Garcia on Flickr)

In Conversation Jenga, you write a different number on each block in a Jenga set. As students take out a block, they look at its number as they place it on top. Then they read and answer a corresponding question.

The purpose is to get students who don’t know each other comfortable talking to each other. In this activity they have somewhere to look, something to do, a shared experience, and lots to talk about. Many thanks to my mentor for pointing me toward this activity!

Process:

• Have one Jenga set per 8ish students.
• Write or tape a different number 1-54 onto each block in each Jenga set.
• Write numbered questions 1-54 (or use my examples below) you’d like your students to discuss.
• Model how to play Jenga. Then model how and when to answer which question.
• I had each student read the question and answer it. I did not ask everyone to answer each question – it would have taken too long. Spontaneous conversation did arise around some of the questions, which was great!
• Give the students the list of conversation questions.
• Have students separate into groups of no more than about eight.
• Let them know how much time there is, and encourage them to play again if time allows!
• Note: I did not model how to re-set or put away a Jenga tower, which was an oversight on my part. However, I thought that the resulting group problem solving and authentic conversation turned out to be super valuable.

Example Questions:

Here are the questions I handed out to my Conversation Partners class. It was the first day so I had never met them yet, but I knew that my ESL students and my native English speaker volunteers would be playing together so clarification would be readily available. I also knew that generally speaking, the ESL students would be international students and community college students of typical college age.

If you have a different group (and you probably do), definitely switch up the questions! Consider English level, age, presumed disposable income level, and presumed openness to being silly.

I would change a lot of the questions if I had a different group, but this is a starting point!

1. List all the cities/countries you’ve ever lived in.
2. What did you have for breakfast today?
3. What’s your favorite time of day? Why?
4. What’s your favorite time of year? Why?
5. What classes are you taking this semester?
6. Tell us about one of your good friends.
7. Tell us about someone in your family.
8. What are two of your hobbies?
9. Name your 3 favorite phone game apps.
10. Name your 3 favorite phone apps for staying organized.
11. What do you like to do on weekends?
12. What do you enjoy reading?
13. What do you enjoy watching?
14. What do you enjoy listening to?
15. What do you enjoy writing?
16. What do you enjoy chatting about?
17. What are your favorite ways to exercise?
18. Where are your favorite places to visit here in Maryland?
19. Where do you hang out on campus?
20. What are 3 cool things you know how to do?
21. What is the funniest thing that’s happened to you in school?
22. What’s your favorite snack?
23. Do you prefer houses or apartments? Explain.
24. Do you prefer big cars or small cars? Explain.
25. Is picking out clothes in the morning fun, horrible, or not an issue? Explain.
26. Do you prefer to eat in or eat out? Explain.
27. Do you do homework right away or at the last minute? Explain.
28. Do you prefer sandwiches or wraps? Explain.
29. Do you prefer chocolate or vanilla? Explain.
30. Would you rather visit Hawaii or Alaska? Explain.
31. Would you rather canoe or water ski? Explain.
32. Would you rather go to a comedy club or a dance club? Explain.
33. When it comes to money, are you more of a saver or a spender? Explain.
34. Do you prefer to have just a few friends, or as many as possible? Explain.
35. Are you messy or neat? Explain.
36. What’s your favorite book?
37. What’s your favorite song?
38. Would you rather visit a museum or a garden? Explain.
39. Do you think children at restaurants are adorable or annoying? Explain.
40. Do you prefer hot tea or iced tea? Explain.
41. What’s your favorite animal? Why?
42. Do you prefer winter or summer? Explain.
43. Do you prefer spring or fall? Explain.
44. Do you love hand sanitizer or hate it? Explain.
45. Do you enjoy exercising? Explain.
46. What do you think of baseball? Explain.
47. What do you think of soccer? Explain.
48. Do you enjoy going to big cities, or do you avoid them? Explain.
49. Do you think earthworms are cute or disgusting? Explain.
50. Do you think snakes are great or scary? Explain.
51. How do you feel about hunting? Is it a traditional skill or a cruel hobby? Explain.
52. Which type of skiing is better: downhill or cross country? Explain.
53. Do you love roller coasters or hate them? Explain.
54. How do you feel about math? Explain.

Other Content Possibilities:

I think this could be very flexible – the Jenga bit is just a fun way to randomize which student gets which little assignment.

• Grammar: convert one of the listed sentences into today’s grammar point, or fix the intentional error in the listed sentence
• Vocabulary: each listed sentence could be a clue pointing to one of the unit’s vocabulary words.
• Academic writing: identify whether the sentence is a thesis, topic sentence, hook, conclusion, transition, etc.

Related Posts:

• Two Truths and a Lie  (zero-prep)
• Dictation Relay (zero-prep)
• Building Blocks (minimal prep)
• Syllabus Activities

You’re reading Activity Corner: Conversation Jenga, originally posted at LearningToTeachEnglish.com.