The Best Pet: Would you rather have a fluffy cow or a plant with eyes?

The world is full of big, important issues that your students could be debating, but I don’t have an example of one for you today. Instead, I have this prompt:

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Which is the best pet? : A horse? A bear? A fluffy cow thing? A plant with eyes? List 10 reasons why.

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This is a prompt for those days when your class just needs a silly, lighthearted debate. It’s a good way to help nervous language learners stop taking themselves so seriously and start brainstorming.

Here’s a little handful of ideas on using this prompt:

• Divide your class into four groups, and assign each group to a different one of the pets. (I would recommend assigning the pets randomly. It’s more fun and more challenging when students have to defend an idea that they don’t actually believe.) Encourage them to (a) compare their pet to the other pets, and (b) Think of specific examples of activities that they could do with their pet.
• After your students are finished writing down their ideas, it’s time to debate! My debates are usually somewhat informal. I give each group the chance to state one of their ideas at a time, and then I allow the other groups to argue against it. (If anyone has any ideas for a better organized debate, though, I’d love to hear them.)
• This prompt works well after teaching comparative and superlative adjectives. (A bear is stronger than a horse, but a plant with eyes is cuter and less dangerous than a bear.)
• Here is a simple, printable organizer that I created to help your students outline their ideas: Best Pet Organizer

Thoughts and Ideas:

How else could you use this prompt in your classes? Please share your ideas in the comment box!