A few weeks ago, I agreed to tutor the grown kids of a manager at my company. Althought I’ve never tutored adults in English, things have worked out well. Mostly, they are assigned to present speeches and I take notes and give feedback.
I like to start our sessions with a warm up activity, but I’m running out of ideas.
I’ve used the “Story Chain” where one person starts a story, “One day, Mary was walking on the street.” Each person around the table must add one sentance to the story. Last person whose turn it is when I call, “times up” (usually 5 minutes) has to get up and sing a song. This last bit is important. It keeps things zippy since no one “wants” to sing here (even though everyone we know in Taiwan actually likes to sing – – go figure!)
I also used “20 Questions” a couple of times. But this can drag on a long time. I’m always surprised how many people don’t (want to) understand what “Yes or no question only” means.
Both of these games/warm-ups worked well for these students – in their early 20s, good people, no major hangups.
Can you share some of your ideas that have worked? These need to be 10 to 15 mins. in length for 5 to 10 students.