question cards

This is a nice and easy way to practice questions and answers. I write down some words in cards (about 20). Then I distribute one card per student (or place them on the table, and the students pick one), and they have to form a question with the words and ask their classmates. After all of the students have asked, I distribute more cards, and so on. For example, for a begginer group the cards can contain words like "What/your name?", "You/have/pets?", "How old/your mother?", "When/you watch TV?", "You/go to the movies/last weekend?".
I also like to use this exercise when teaching the difference about using simple past/present perfec verbs. Examples: "How/you/go to work/yesterday?", "How long/you/work for ...?", "When/you/start working for...?", "You/be/to Europe?", "You/eat/lobster?", "Where/you/eat/dinnet last night?", etc. It works great with shy groups. Try to make some funny or provocative questions, so the students will really look forward to listening to the next questions. Have a good time!
Vania
Porto Alegre, Brazil