basic | ESL Conversation Lessons

Are you a procrastinator or a planner?

Are you a procrastinator or a planner? That is the question. Personally I am a planner. I get a sense of what needs to be done, break it down into task and plan it out so that I can do it before the deadline. I think that is largely due to the fact that being dyslexic, I need time to review. But that is certainly not true for everyone. In fact, Miles Bess exposes that up to 95% of people consider themselves to be procrastinators. That’s huge! I had no idea.

So let’s talk about this…

Pre discussion

Do you wait t’ill the late minute to do things or do you plan ahead?
What benefits do you get out of being one or the other?

The Video: PBS Above the Noise: Can Procrastination Be a Good Thing?

Questions

Why do you think so many people procrastinate?
What are the pros and cons of procrastination?
What famous people or documents were made last minute?
Can you explain ‘task-driven’ and ‘deadline driven’
What are some of your procrastination ‘go-to’s’ (e.g. video games, eating, shopping, etc.)
What advice would you give the procrastinator?
What advice would you give the planner?

Hope you have fun with this lesson…

If you had only one vacation destination, where would it be?

What is it about this place that keeps you interested?

If you were the tour guide, what places, restaurants, shows, historical sites would you recommend?

Who would you take with you?

How is the food there?

How are the people?

What picture speaks to you?

In my opinion, photography is one of the most important inventions of the last century. The ability to record our past, slices of life, memories. Its impact on history and culture is so vast, it goes way beyond our little discussion circle.

ESL with pictures is probably one of my most powerful lessons. It doesn’t matter what level you students are at, a picture is bound to conjure some vocabulary

National Geographic is one of my “go to’s” when it comes to esl picture prompts. So many of their pictures give me pause. Either because of their beauty or what they tell.

Let’s dive right into this lesson and visit National Geographic’s Photo of the Day Archive…

Let the students pick a photo that they find interesting.
Have them describe it
Have the other student do a Power Listing exercise and ask the speaker at least one question or provide one comment about what was said.
You could also do a Q&A exercise where the student pick a picture in their minds and the others ask questions to try to discover which picture it is.

Let me know how it goes…