Questions to note down things about

Activity type: this is a free writing activity in which students note down their first thoughts to questions.

Level: Pre-Intermediate and above


Teacher's notes:

1. Tell the students that they are going to do a writing activity in which they are going to note down whatever comes to their minds.
   
2. Tell them to get a piece of paper ready. Read out the questions below and ask the students to note down whatever they want to when they hear the questions below. You might want to read out the sample answers below to prompt them or you may want to read your own answers to them.
   
   

   QUESTIONS: What is love? What is sadness? What makes you feel really, really good? What makes you laugh? What makes you smile?

   Example answers: A feeling of never wanting to let someone go. A scary feeling. Scared that they might want to let you go. A cloud that you cannot get out from under. Sunny days on the beach. My sister My cat

3. Then tell the students to show their partner’s their answers and to explain them. For example, the answer to number three might be, ‘the sun makes me feel warm and alive, the water is aquamarine and I just feel like staying in it all day.’
   What makes you smile?
   
4. Once they have done this and you have monitored, ask them to look at their notes and to write down full sentences explaining why they wrote down the notes that they did. You may want to provide them with the sample answer below to help to prompt them or to provide them with your own answers.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   SAMPLE ANSWER:
   
   
   I am scared of being in love because it means that I am not in control. The person might leave and I know that I will feel alone. It also makes means that I want to be with the person all of the time holding them. I never want them to go, not even to go to work!
   
   Sadness is a word I hate. You sometimes don’t know why you are sad but you can almost see the grey cloud that is hanging over you, that won’t let you escape.
   
   The sun makes me feel warm and alive; the water is aquamarine and I just feel like staying in it all day. I love feeling the waves over my head and the feeling of sand sifting through my toes.
   
   My sister makes me laugh. Her laugh is infectious. When she starts to giggle, no matter how silly the joke is, you have to laugh at her giggles.
   
   My cat makes me smile when she lazes around in the sun on her back. She looks like a queen stretching out in her domain. Her favorite thing is beef cat food and a sun drenched carpet.
   
   
   
5. Allow the students plenty of time to do this activity. You may want to set it for homework.
   
6. If the students do the activity in class, allow them to read what they have written to their partners. Collect the work in.
   
7. As a follow up activity, you might want to cover the vocabulary sheet below in which students learn a lexical set of emotions.
   
8. Hand out the sheet below and tell the students to try to guess the meaning of the lexical items by using the sentences i.e. to guess meaning from context. Tell them to work in pairs.
   
9. When they have done this, go over the answers. Highlight the pronunciation of the words. Make sure that the students repeat the words alone and in sentences.
   
10. Put the words into practice by asking the students to discuss whether they have ever felt those emotions or not.