I mentioned elsewhere that icebreakers are a good way to warm up a class. Brand new classes, even with more experienced students, can suffer from shyness or lack of familiarity with their classmates. On top of that, less experienced students struggle with a lack of language. They also often struggle to switch to their “English brain”.
Icebreakers can be a great way to help students overcome the lack of language and switch to their “English brain.”
One icebreaker that I often use in my classes (including my established classes) are conversation starter cards. And conversation starter question cards are something you can make pretty easily; over the years I’ve made different sets, so I thought I’d share some with you all to use in your own classrooms.
Conversation Starter Question Cards
Here’s a few of the cards in the set:
As you can tell from the sample image, these are not difficult questions. And they’re not supposed to be. Any icebreaker should have a low barrier for entry. Does that mean these particular cards are for everyone?
Not quite; the 40 questions on these cards are largely targeting CEFR level A2, with a few A1 and some B1 cards thrown in to the mix to accommodate mixed-level classes. So, these cards should be good for most “false beginner” to lower-intermediate students.
How To Use These Cards in Class
The idea of these cards is that they are conversation starters; the goal is for students to ask / answer the questions on a card as a jumping off point. Then, through the use of longer answers and follow-up questions, building gradually into a conversation.
Admittedly, early on these could often be more of an interview than a true conversation. But, conversation is a skill. Like any skill, you have to work on it.
So, we start slow. Have students take a card and ask it to another student as pair work, or to a group or, if the class is small, the whole class. If they don’t naturally extend the conversation at first, that’s OK. You model it by asking follow up questions on your turn (or maybe during students’ turns). Some students will naturally start to mimic you and begin asking follow-up questions.
If they don’t, then during the next time you use it, make it more explicit that they will ask follow-up questions. And, of course, continue to model it.
Gradually, over time, the students will become used to expanding more and more, so that, hopefully, that one card can lead to a short discussion.
How To Print Out These Cards
Here are the cards:
A few notes about these cards to help you print them out well.
You’ll probably want to use card stock (about 180gsm), as plain copy paper may be a bit thin. If you’re only planning on using them once then plain copy paper is fine, but I print them on card stock and laminate them so they’ll last for years.
The PDF is set up at A4 size, not Letter size. You should be able to fit the page to print on letter-size paper, though.
However, the fronts and backs are set up to print on microperforated Japanese business card stock (10 to a page) since that’s what I have. Japanese business cards are sized 91mm long and 55mm high, which are a little different from US and, I believe, UK business card sizes.
So, if you print them on standard card stock, you should be fine; you’ll just have to cut them out manually. If you print them on Letter-sized paper, or on A4 paper sized for different cards, bits could get chopped off.
If there’s enough demand, I might remake these in other formats (or possibly offer pre-made versions for sale), but that’s for the future.
As with other free resources on this site, you are free to use them for your own classroom. I do ask that you do not link directly to the the files, upload them elsewhere, or share them directly with anyone; please link to this page instead.