This activity words well when your students need to improve fluency. Here they will be able to present information, but also must answer quickly and creatively to questions. It works for all levels of students except for low beginners.

Step One: Distribute one question to each student. The questions have been prepared beforehand, or may be taken from the following sources:

Each student will answer the question twice - one truth and one lie. So the following question would generate two statements:

Q: What is your favorite sport?
A: (truth): My favorite sport is baseball.
A: (lie) My favorite sport is basketball.

Allow students five minutes to prepare their answers. Equally important, the five minutes should be used to anticipate follow-up questions and imagine appropriate answers. Notes may be taken during this time.

Step Two: Place students in pairs or groups up to four. Student A reads the question aloud from his card/list, and then provides the two statements.

Step Three: Other students have three to five minutes to ask follow-up questions in order to determine which statement was the lie. Here the previous preparation and note taking proves important.

Step Four: After the allotted time, the other students vote which of the two statements was the truth and which the lie.

Step Five: Student A announces which of the two sentences was the truth. Based on in interest in the real answer, the students in the group may spend a few minutes asking additional questions.

Step Six: Repeat the previous steps for student B, then student C, and so on.

If you like this idea, then why not get more? Visit Heads Up English and join the weekly tips newsletter for free. In addition to weekly ideas, you'll also immediately receive:

100 question cards for lower-level students
100 question cards for upper-level students
A resource guide with teaching activities to be used in conjunction with the question cards

Good luck in the classroom!

Chris Cotter
Heads Up English