Lesson Idea: Fortune Cookies

For the past (and next) couple of weeks, I have been teaching "future time" to my level 3 grammar students (Intermediate level). We have been taking about be going to and will, which are used for making predictions in English. 

As a fun exit ticket* activity before the break, I instructed students to make fortunes for their classmates, just like they'd get from a Chinese restaurant. I gave each student a little slip of paper to write a fortune on (i.e. "You will be lucky next week"). When they were finished, they gave me the fortune and took a short break. After the break, the students each got a fortune different from the one that they wrote. They each read their fortune out loud to the class, but they had to change the subject from you to I (i.e. "I will be lucky next week"). 

This was a low prep activity (the only materials needed are little slips of scrap paper), which didn't take much time in class. The best part was that the students really enjoyed writing and receiving fortunes.

Here's a sample of what they wrote:

• You will get $9999999 next week.
• You will get a girlfriend if you take a shower every day.
• You will change an English book.
• You will pass this class.
• You will get a good grade on the test
• You are going to have fun during spring break.

I really got a kick out of what they wrote for each other, and I think they did too. We had a lot of laughs for the quick 5-minute activity!



Image via theadventuresofaspacemonkey.blogspot.com

*Exit ticket activities are usually done at the end of class (or before a break). The students are required to finish something (usually proving what they've learned from the class period) and give it to the teacher before the exit the class. They're a great tool to ensure students have learned what you've taught. And in this case, a way tie in the first half of class to the second half when starting class back up after a short break.