Sit Down!

Level: Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced.

Skills: speaking.

Topic: grammar.

Materials: none.

Time: 10 to 15 minutes.

Sit Down! works best as a warmer with beginners. However, it may also be used as a fun activity for reinforcement and review of a specific grammar point, especially when the class isn't in the mood for a worksheet. Note that ideal class size ranges between eight and fifteen students.

Students arrange chairs into a large circle. There should be one less chair than the number of students in the activity. If there are ten students, for example, then there are only nine chairs.

Select one student random to stand in the middle of the circle. As this is the first round of the activity, it's often best to choose a stronger student. This ensures that the activity starts smoothly. All the other students sit down.

The student in the middle asks a question. The question should be a closed question. All students who answer "yes" to the question must stand and quickly change seats. The student who asked the question similarly rushes to sit down. Some sample questions include:

Question: Do you have a pet?
Question: Did you eat breakfast?
Question: Do you like English?
 

The student who couldn't sit down now asks a closed question, thus repeating the process above The rounds may continue until the teacher stops the activity.

Variation: 

Here any student who answers "no" stands up and changes seats. This variation may be used in conjunction with the above positive answers. After several rounds, switch to this variation. You can also solely run this variation, which tends to produce interesting and creative questions after several rounds.