A man walks into a bar...Riddles to activate speaking

 

Shared by Paula Soria:

I've started applying some of Paul's strategies and activities in my lessons with all the different levels I teach this year (1st, 2nd and 3rd ESO), but I'll share only one activity that I've been doing for some time now (recommended by another great English teacher!) and which is connected to Paul’s ideas:

As a starter or cooldown I use the lateral thinking riddles. You can find these short stories easily on the Internet and usually, you have to think outside the box to solve them. Here you have one example:

“A man walks into a bar and asks the barman for a glass of water. The barman pulls out a gun and points it at the man. The man says ‘Thank you’ and walks out.” *

Strange, huh? But a good way to catch students’ attention. After I tell them the story, I’ll ask them “why”. They can only ask yes/no questions to solve the riddle. They’ll have 5 or 10 questions per day and if they are not able to solve it (usually they aren’t, because they are difficult), we will continue the next day. If students get stuck, I’ll give them a clue before they lose interest.

It’s a good day to engage them, to make them talk (and practise questions!) and to pay attention and listen to their classmates…

* Answer: The man had hiccups.

The barman recognised this from his speech and drew the gun in order to give him a shock. It worked and cured the hiccups - so the man no longer needed the water.