Suggested answers/ Cards to photocopy
Initial brainstorming/ Asking for ideas
| Can we write anything | else | here? |
| Any | more | ideas? |
| I think we need three | or four | more ideas. |
| Let’s just write | all/ all of | our ideas down and discuss them later. |
| That probably doesn’t fit, but let’s write it | down | anyway. |
Organising the ideas/ Putting the ideas into order/ Putting the ideas into categories
| I think these two are linked | to each other | by… |
| We can put these | ones/ two | together because… |
| (I think) these (two) are | very | similar because… |
| Maybe we should move this one | over | here. |
| (I think) these (two) are | closely | related. |
| (I think) these (two) are | both/ all | kinds of… |
| Another | good | example of that is… |
Editing down the ideas/ Choosing the best ideas/ Getting rid of weak ideas
| I’d | probably | choose this one because… |
| This one doesn’t (seem t)o link to | any of | the others. |
| These two are | a bit/ far/ much | too similar. |
| (I think) we should cross this | one | off because… |
| This one doesn’t make | much | sense. |
| This one doesn’t | really | match our aim. |
| The audience | probably/ might/ almost certainly | already know this. |
| This won’t interest | most of the | audience. |
Supporting your arguments
| In my | personal | experience,… |
| According to a book | that/ which | I read… |
Anticipating other people’s doubts and arguments
| If they are not convinced | by that idea | , we can/ should say that… |
Brainstorming in groups longer phrases card games
Instructions
Students work together to put together just the left hand and right hand columns (the ones not in bold) to make basic phrases, add the middle ones (in bold) to check and extend their answers, then try to put them into categories by the stage of brainstorming that they would be used in. Students can look under the fold below for hints if they get stuck.
After checking their answers, students can test each other by reading out the long versions for their partner(s) to remember the short versions, then read out the short versions for their partner to remember the long ones. They can also help their partner come up with as many phrases as they can for one of the categories.
Students can then deal out the cards and try to use the words they are given during a group brainstorm, e.g. of things to mention in a presentation.
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These are the suggested stages of brainstorming, in order. All but one has more than one example phrase:
Initial brainstorming/ Asking for ideas
Organising the ideas/ Putting the ideas into order/ Putting the ideas into categories
Editing down the ideas/ Choosing the best ideas/ Getting rid of weak ideas
Supporting your arguments
Anticipating other people’s doubts and arguments
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PDF for easy saving and printing: brainstorming longer phrases
Related pages
Longer phrases card games (TEFLtastic Classics Part 12 reprised)
TEFLtastic 