"Let's talk about your weekend" gets tired fast. Below are 15 activities that produce sustained student talk — with the level they suit, materials you need, and what to listen for.
For absolute beginners (A1)
1. Show-and-tell from their room
Prompt: "Pick up 3 things near you. Tell me what they are." Builds basic vocabulary and "this is a..." pattern.
Follow-up: Ask which is their favourite, and why (introduces "because").
2. The 3-picture story
Materials: Three random photos on shared screen.
Prompt: "Look at these pictures. Tell me a story with all three." Even at A1, students can produce 3–4 sentences this way.
3. Yes/No about me
Prompt: Student asks you 5 yes/no questions to learn about you. Drills question formation in a meaningful context.
For elementary (A2)
4. Two truths and a lie
Classic for a reason. Student says three things about themselves; you guess which is the lie. Then swap. Use past simple as the target.
5. The "what's missing?" game
Show an image with 6 objects. Cover one. "What's missing?" Vocabulary review + question forms + uncertainty language ("I think it's...").
6. Plan a perfect weekend
Prompt: "You have $200 and a free weekend. What will you do?" Drives future forms and personal preference language.
For intermediate (B1)
7. Would you rather...
Prompt: "Would you rather be invisible or be able to fly? Why?" Pick more sophisticated dilemmas for B2+: "Would you rather work 4 days a week for 20% less pay, or 5 days for full pay?" Triggers conditional + opinion language.
8. The desert island
Prompt: "You're stranded on a desert island. You can have 3 items. Choose them and defend your choice." Mature version: "Choose 5 books, 3 people to talk to (alive or dead), and 1 luxury."
9. Story dice
Materials: Online story-dice generator (free ones exist) showing 9 picture symbols.
Prompt: "Roll. Tell a 90-second story using all 9 images, in order." Tight constraint forces creative use of language.
10. Speed-dating roles
Setup: Give student a role card (a 78-year-old retired pilot; a 22-year-old chef; a stressed-out CEO). They are this person. You interview them for 4 minutes. Switch roles.
For upper-intermediate (B2)
11. The ethical dilemma
Prompt: "You find a wallet with $500 cash and an ID. The owner lives a 30-minute walk away. The shops are about to close and you need groceries. What do you do?" Drives modals, hedging, conditional reasoning.
12. Design a startup
Prompt: "You have 10 minutes to design a startup that solves a real problem from your daily life. Pitch it to me — name, problem, solution, who'd pay." Targets vocabulary around business, persuasion, hypothetical futures.
13. The 5-minute debate
Prompt: "Take the position that homework should be banned. I'll argue against you. 5 minutes. Then we swap." Drives counter-argument, concession ("That's a fair point, but..."), and structured speaking.
For advanced (C1+)
14. The hot take
Prompt: "Give me one strong opinion about your industry / city / country that most people would disagree with. Defend it." Tests precision, register, hedging, persuasion.
15. The interview challenge
Setup: Pretend they're being interviewed for a job they actually want. You're a tough interviewer. After, you switch — they interview you for your job.
Hits register, formal language, on-the-spot fluency. Save 10 minutes at the end for feedback on specific phrases.
Group adaptations
Most of the above work in pairs in breakout rooms. For groups of 4–6:
- Activities 4, 7, 11, 13 work well as full-group discussion.
- Activities 2, 3, 5, 8 — pair up in breakout rooms for 5 minutes, then 5-minute share-back.
- Always have a Plan B activity ready — if a topic isn't landing, pivot fast.
Listening notes (silent error log)
Keep a doc open while they talk. Note:
- Repeated errors (especially the same one in different sentences — that's their interlanguage at work).
- Vocabulary they reach for and don't quite get (paraphrase circles).
- Words they use awkwardly (collocation issues).
Spend the last 5 minutes addressing 2–3 of these. Don't address all of them — overwhelm kills future fluency attempts.
How to choose the right activity for a lesson
The 15 activities above all work, but not equally for every situation. Here's the framework experienced teachers use to pick on the fly:
By energy level
- Student arrives tired or low-energy: Start with show-and-tell (#1), 3-picture story (#2), or yes/no about you (#3). Low-pressure, lets them warm up.
- Student arrives buzzing: Channel it. Speed-dating roles (#10), the 5-minute debate (#13), or design a startup (#12).
- Mid-lesson dip: Switch to story dice (#9) or would you rather (#7) — both reset attention without forcing complex production.
By time available
- 5–10 minutes left: Two truths and a lie (#4), what's missing (#5), or hot take (#14). Short, clean closing energy.
- 15–20 minutes: Plan a perfect weekend (#6), interview challenge (#15), or any role-play.
- Full 30+ minute production block: The ethical dilemma (#11), design a startup (#12), or build a chained role-play across multiple scenarios.
By teaching goal
- Building fluency (speed of production): Speed-dating roles, transformation games, the 30-second story.
- Building accuracy (correct grammar/structure): Two truths and a lie (forces past simple), would you rather (conditionals), build the question.
- Building vocabulary range: Story dice, show-and-tell, the desert island.
- Building confidence: Yes/no about me (#3), structured role-plays with sentence starters, anything where they "win".
Adapting activities for online vs in-person
Most of these activities started life in classroom teaching. The online versions need three adjustments:
- Add a screen-share visual to every activity. Online attention drops without something to look at. A simple Google Slide with the prompt written out is enough.
- Shorten everything by 20–30%. Online lessons fatigue faster. A 15-minute classroom activity becomes a 10–12-minute online one.
- Add explicit "now you" cues. In a classroom, students can read social signals. Online, you have to say "OK, your turn — go" or they wait.
Three activities that don't translate online
For completeness — these classroom favourites don't work well online, and trying to force them creates frustration:
- Mingles ("walk around and ask 5 people...") — there's no room to walk around. In breakout rooms, you lose the chaotic energy that makes the activity work.
- Physical board games and card games — the camera angle and shared object problem is exhausting. Digital adaptations exist but rarely match the original.
- Tactile activities ("pass the object") — obvious, but worth noting. Replace with on-screen drag-and-drop equivalents.
Common pitfalls when running conversation lessons
- Doing all the work. If you're talking more than 40% of the time, the student isn't getting enough production practice. Bite your tongue more.
- Asking abstract questions to weak students. "What do you think about climate change?" is a B2+ question. Use concrete prompts ("Tell me about your last holiday") at lower levels.
- Correcting every error. Students stop talking. Pick 2–3 patterns per lesson; ignore the rest.
- Using the same 3 activities every week. Students get bored faster than you'd expect. Rotate at least 8–10 across a month.
- Skipping the silent error log. The 2 minutes you spend noting recurring errors is the highest-leverage 2 minutes of your lesson. Don't skip.
FAQs
How many activities should I plan per lesson?
For a 60-minute lesson with 1 student: plan 4 activities, expect to do 3. For kids' lessons: plan 8–10 short activities. Always have one extra in your pocket — students vary day to day.
What if a student refuses to do an activity?
Don't fight it. Ask "what would feel better?" and pivot. Often the issue is the format (role-play feels exposing) more than the topic. Save the activity for a future lesson when comfort is higher.
Do these work in groups of 3–5?
Most do. Activities 4, 7, 11, 13 are particularly good for groups. Use breakout rooms for pair work where possible — 5 minutes of pair practice gives every student more talk time than 15 minutes of whole-group discussion.
How do I get students to give longer answers?
Ask "why?" and "how?" and "what's an example?" relentlessly. Many students give two-word answers because they don't know they're expected to elaborate. Once you've trained them, they extend automatically.