Activity
Community building activities, Warm up activities
Would You Rather?
Frank Tontala
This fun icebreaker can be used to spark interesting conversations in class.
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ACTIVITY PURPOSE
This activity can be used as an introductory, warm-up, or icebreaker. It can be used to start spirited debates and conversations about preferences and personal ideas. Additionally, it can be reused with the same group of students with no repetition.
USEFUL FOR
Learning about individual preferences, practicing justification (defending a controversial position), and lowering learner affective filter through hypothetical situations. This activity can also be used to solicit learner feedback throughout the course, or as a prompt for students (have them create their own binaries).
PREPARATION
Download the spreadsheet with 94 sample ‘would you rather’ questions (Excel file, 19 KB). If you want to modify any selections, there are instructions provided on the sheet titled ‘instructions.’ Use the spreadsheet to generate 10 ‘would you rather’ prompts, and present them to your students.
INSTRUCTIONS
- Depending on the particulars of your class, each student, in pairs or as a small group can be provided with one question to discuss. Discussions can be sequential, or in small groups, depending on class size.
- Give students a brief amount of time to make their selection, and develop reasons why they feel that way.
- Then they should have time to present their opinion to their peers, and their peers should have a chance to voice agreement or disagreement.
DURATION
Duration varies based on the number of questions used, and class size. Estimate at least 2-3 minutes per question to allow for ample preparation and presentation.
ADAPTATIONS AND EXAMPLES
If the randomly selected questions are unsuitable, it is easy to reselect prompts. If the teacher wants to modify the list of prompts, instructions are provided on the ‘Instructions’ sheet of the excel spreadsheet. Another possible adaptation is for teachers to invite students to create their own ‘would you rather’ binaries.
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
Microsoft Excel (or Google Sheets).
USEFUL RESOURCES
Download ‘Would you rather’ sample questions (Excel, 19KB).
ABOUT
- Educator prep: None
- Student prep: None
- Synchronous
- Video conferencing, Shared online space
- Duration: Variable
This activity is one of a series of activities from Equity Unbound, focused on equitable online community building.
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