Speaking Pairwork 13: Stem Sentences

Click here for ‘The Basic Method for Speaking Pairwork’

Write on the board 5 stem sentences i.e. sentence beginnings. They could be anything, for example:

I like to _ _ _ _
My mother never _ _ _ _
Last week I saw  _ _ _ _
I think my country  _ _ _ _
My bathroom is  _ _ _ _

As an example, ask students individually to complete each sentence and then ask follow-up questions. If they say ‘ I like to play computer games’ ask them ‘What games?’ ‘How many hours a day?’ etc

Get every student to write 5 stem sentences of their own. When they’re finished check the sentences to make sure they are correct so far and can be completed by any other student, then get them to speak in pairs. They simply read out their stem, listen to how the other student completes it, and ask follow-up questions.