The Grab of Socializing Sample Pages

The Grab Bag of
Socializing
A Collection of Socializing
Activities for the ESL Classroom
Canadian Edition
Elizabeth Ganong
Dan Ingram
ESL RESOURCES
The Grab Bag of Socializing 2004 eslresources.com 1-866-833-9485
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Contents
Introduction...i
Get Going ...36
Time Well Spent ...1
Sharing Plans ...37
Conversation Pieces ...2
Television Talk ...38
Out & About ...4
Deciding by Weather ...39
Question Words ...5
Restaurant Troubles ...40
Start Speaking ...6
Whos Next? ...41
Your Weekend ...8
What To Do? ...42
Conversation Starter ...9
Hi! How Are You? ...43
After the Fact ...10
Avoiding the Question ...44
In Your First Country ...12
Dropping By ...46
Party Verbs on the Move ...13
Sharing News 47
Party Preparations ...14
Being Neighborly ...48
The Best Party Ever ...15
An Offer ...49
Inviting Words ...16
A Babysitter ...50
Making Conversation ...20
Weekend Wrap-up ...51
Crashing the Party 21
Last Night Bingo ...52
Give & Take ...22
Movie Pairs ...54
Well Received ...25
Movie Editor ...55
Gift Match ...26
Invitation to a Movie ...56
A Gift to Remember ...28
Film Chat ...57
When Is It? ...29
Saturday Night ...58
New Year Plans ...30
Question Circles ...59
Celebrations ...31
Chat Lines ...60
Ask It ...32
Arrangements by Phone ...61
Huh? ...34
Plan Decision ...62
The
GrabDetails
Bag of...35
Socializing 2004 eslresources.com
1-866-833-9485
Adding
Conversation
Checks ...63
Photocopiable
Dictate, Orderby
& Purchasing
Ask ...35 Teacher
Come On Over ...64
Thanks a Million ...65
Whos Artistic? ...96
Sometimes ...66
What Do You Think About ...97
Your Travels ...68
Rude or Polite? ...98
Have You Ever? ...69
If I Were You ...99
Invitations ...70
Whats Your Opinion? ...100
Lets Do It! ...71
Discussion Response ...102
The Party ...72
Comparing Opinions ...103
Polite Interactions ...73
Whats Your Excuse? ...104
Eating Together ...74
Body Language ...105
Food Talk ...76
Complaining to Demanding ...106
Describing People ...77
Conflict Idioms ...107
Family Ladder ...78
My Compliments ...108
Relatively Speaking ...79
Rising to the Occasion ...109
Family Feud ...80
Birthday Bash ...110
Who Is That? ...82
An Important Birthday ...111
Friendship ...83
Tell Me A Story ...114
Love & Marriage ...84
I Remember When ...115
Whats In A Name? ...87
Say It Again ...115
The Name Game ...87
Ending It ...116
Lend or Borrow? ...88
Two Years Later ...117
Would You Mind? ...89
Will Opinions ...118
Polite Responses ...90
Putting Adverbs in Their Place...119
Get a Move On ...91
Monday Morning Match-up ...120
Couch Potato ...92
Talking About Entertaining ...121
Active Opinions ...93
Situation Conversations ...122
Camp Out ...94
Idioms At Work ...123
Favourites ...95
Embarrassing
...124 1-866-833-9485
The Grab Bag of Socializing
2004Situations
eslresources.com
Introduction
Whether your students want to be able to converse with the person standing at the bus stop
or mix and mingle at their boss open house, The Grab Bag of Socializing will provide you
with the tools to help your students improve their social skills. Your students will appreciate
being able to offer invitations, give compliments and avoid answering personal questions. In
addition, they will enjoy getting to know one another, sharing experiences and exchanging
ideas. You will appreciate the format of this teachers activity book. Not only are there
practical ideas but there are introductions and extensions that complement the main
activities.
About the Authors

Dan Ingram and Elizabeth Ganong met teaching Adult ESL at the Canadian Cooperative for
Language and Cultural Studies in Toronto in 1992. It was within this Language Instruction for
New Comers and teacher-training environment that the idea for sharing teaching materials
formed. In 1995, they started The Grab Bag, a newsletter of ESL teaching ideas. Over the past
few years, they have facilitated workshops at numerous conferences, including TESL Toronto,
TESL Durham, TESL Niagara, TESL Ontario, and TESL Canada.
Dan had his BRE and M.Miss when he was introduced to ESL in Ecuador. When he returned
from this overseas experience, he got his TESL Certificate from CCLCS and started teaching in
the LINC program at CCLCS. Dan is currently teaching at CCLCS.
Elizabeth had her B.A. when she started working at Humber College in 1985. It was there that
she was introduced to ESL. After receiving her TESL Certificate from Humber, she taught ESL
as a part-time and sessional instructor. She also has experience working with Humbers
Summer Language Program and extensive experience with LINC at CCLCS. Elizabeth currently
teaches with the Peel District School Board. In addition, Elizabeth has her B.Ed, M.Ed, and ESL
Part 1.
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the students who continually inspire us!

Titles in the Grab Bag Series

The Grab Bag of Socializing (2000)
The Grab Bag of Telephone Activities (2000) (Second Revised Edition)
The Grab Bag of Canada (2001)
The Grab Bag of America (2004)
The Grab Bag of Health (2003) (Second Revised Edition)
The Grab Bag of Work (2004) (Second Revised Edition)
The Mixed Bag Volume 1 (2004)
The Mixed Bag Volume 2 (2004)

Time Well Spent

Instructions
Everyone is different. What one person considers time well spent, another person considers a
waste of time. What do you consider time well spent? You are going out with a friend next
weekend. What would you prefer to do? Rate the possibilities below from 1 to 15 (one being
the activity that you would most like to do). Write the number to the left of each item. When
you finish, discuss your preferences with a partner. Explain why you prefer to do those things.
Rating
Activity
Go to a coffee shop and talk
Go for a long walk
Go to a craft show
Go to a jazz club
Go out to a Greek restaurant for dinner
Go out for brunch
Go to see a movie
Have your friend over to watch rented videos
Go shopping
Have your friends over for a barbecue
Go out to a dance club
Get together and play cards or board games
Go to a comedy club
Go to your friends home for dinner
Go to see an opera
Extra
What other possible activities are there? Make a list with your partner. Choose one and practice making plans to do this.

Conversation Pieces
Heres a great activity for a first class. It has it all. Your students will be reading, writing, speaking and listening.
Preparations
Photocopy the activity on the next page and cut it into squares. Prepare one set for each
group of three to four students.
Introduction
If your students are not familiar with dominoes, you need to give them an introduction.
Make up some other questions and answers (e.g. Do you have any pets? Yes, a parrot.)
that you can put them up in domino form on the board. Have them match the questions
and answers.
Activity
Tell the students that they have just met someone and they are asking the person a lot
of questions. Also, tell them that they need to match the questions with the appropriate
answers.
Once they have matched them up, they can do a role play. Then, using this as a model,
they can create their own conversations. This could be oral and/or written.
Extensions
To better assess grammar skills, have them say or write full
answers to the questions after they have warmed up with the
short answers.
Provide the short answers and have them write the questions.
Ask them to perform their conversations.
After they talk with one student, have them find another student and
tell the second student about the first one.
Go around the room and listen to the conversations. Record any problem sentences.
Use these for a correct the sentence activity.
Ask them think of more questions to ask. Perhaps you want to record some of these on
the board and the students can discuss which ones might not be the best ones to use
when you are meeting someone for the first time and why. You might also want to talk
about how to handle questions that make you feel uncomfortable.
Ask them to write a paragraph about themselves or a partner.

2
START
David.
Chile.
Whats
your
name?
For three
months.
Do you
like
living here?
Spanish.
How
long have
you been
doing that?
No, Im on my
own.
Have
you met
any friends?
How
long have
you been in
Canada?
Where
are you
from?
Yes, but I
cant find
a job.
Im a
teacher.
Whats
your
occupation?
About ten
years.
Do
you want
to teach here?
What
do you
teach?
Yes, if I can, but
Im willing to
do anything.
Do
you have
family here?
I play the guitar

Yes, a few.
and go out
What with my
do you friends.
usually do in
FINISH
your spare time?

Out & About

Part One:
Read the material below.
Meeting people is not easy but it is not impossible. There are many situations that make
meeting people much easier.
For one thing, if you move into a new neighbourhood, people can be
friendlier than if you move into an established neighbourhood. In a new
development, everyone is in the same boat, so people tend to make more of
an effort to be outgoing. Someone on your street might organize a street
party, or several people might invite you to go over to their houses for coffee.
You may even have a problem with the builder or the town or city and your
neighbours may offer their support. There are many
opportunities to get to know people when you move into a new
Another time when you meet other people easily is when you have a baby. When
both you and your partner commute to work and work long hours, there is very
little time spent at home. However, when your baby arrives, more time is spent at
home. Just being around provides you with more opportunities to get to know
your neighbours, but in addition you now have a baby that gives people
something to talk to you about. People will stop and talk to you just because you
have a baby. In addition, you will meet other mothers and fathers who might offer some help in
taking care of your baby. Having a baby guarantees that you will meet people.
People who have dogs also find it easy to meet others. This is particularly true if
your dog is a friendly one. Because you are out walking around your
neighbourhood, you will interact with others. Many people are dog lovers so
they want to get to know you and your dog. People with dogs find meeting
people a breeze.
If you live in a brand-new development, have a baby or have a friendly dog, the chances are
good that you will meet new people easily. If you do not have any of these things going for you,
you can still meet people but you have to work a little harder at it.
Part Two:
With a group, decide if you agree or disagree with the material. Discuss other ways
to meet people.

4
Question Words
Instructions
Provide each group of three students with the following question words and sentences cut into
pieces. Ask them to match them together. When they have made the appropriate question
matches, have the groups use the questions to get to know one another. Discuss how to answer,
How old are you? Then, talk about what questions might be appropriate to ask someone you have
just met at a party or at work.
How
are you?
Who
do you live with?
What
is your name?
Where
are you from?
When
is your birthday?
What time
do you leave home for school?
How long
have you been in Canada?
How often
do you go out?
How many
languages do you speak?
What
do you like to do on weekends?
Where
do you live?
How
do you get here?
What
is your occupation?

Start Speaking
Instructions
Photocopy the following conversation starters and give one to each student. The students then form
groups based on their topics. For example, all of the students with Music form one group.
Depending on the number of your students, you may have two groups discussing the same topic.
Just make sure that no two students in a group have the same questions. (You could put a blue dot
in the corner of the three cards about movies for one set and a green dot for another set.) Once the
groups have been established, have one student in each group start by asking a question. After all
of the questions have been asked, students may want to ask additional questions.
As a wrap-up, have each group report which question was the most interesting one and what
the group members responses were.
Variation
Form groups so that each member has a different conversation starter topic. For example,
movies, weather and spare time.
Movies
Movies
1)
How often do you go to a movie?
1)
Which country makes the best movies?

Why?
2)
Do you prefer watching movies at home or

going to see them at a movie theatre?
Why?
2)
Is it more or less expensive to see a movie

here than it is in your first country?
Movies
Music
1)
What is your favourite movie? Why is it

your favourite?
1)
How often do you listen to music? Do you

prefer listening to the radio or to a CD?
2)
Who is your favourite actor? Why is he or

she your favourite?
2)
What was the last concert you went to?

How did you like it?

6
Music
Music
1)
What is your favourite kind of music? Why

is it your favourite?
1)
What kind of music dont you like? Why

dont you like it?
2)
Who is your favourite singer? What do you

like about him or her?
2)
Do you watch any music award shows? If

yes, which ones?
Weather
Weather
1)
Do you prefer rain or snow? Why?
1)
Whats the weather like in your first country at this time of year?
2)
Whats the weather like today? Was the

forecast correct?
2)
What was the weather like yesterday? Did

it prevent you from doing anything? If yes,
what?
Weather
Spare Time
1)
What place in the world has the best

weather?
1)
What do you do in your spare time? What

would you like to do?
2)
Whats the forecast for the week? Do you

think the forecast is accurate?
2)
What do people in your first country usually

do in their spare time?
Spare Time
Spare Time
1)
Do you have more or less spare time here

than you did in your first country? Why?
1)
What do people in Canada usually do in

their spare time?
2)
Whats a perfect day? When was the last

time you had a perfect day?
2)
Do people in Canada have lots of spare

time? Why or why not?

Your Weekend
Sometimes, students need some ideas in order to really talk about their
weekends. This activity will provide them with some vocabulary to describe their weekends. Copy and
cut the template below into individual words. Have one set for each pair or group.
First, the students match the opposites. Then, they turn all of the words over and play concentration.
To start, one student turns over two words. If they are matching opposites, the student makes a
sentence using one of the words to describe his or her weekend. The same student can go again. If
the two words dont match, another student takes a turn.
busy
old
crowded
expensive
relaxing
terrible
fun
wet
hot
open
careful
heavy
quiet
new
empty
cheap
tiring
delicious
dull
dry
cold
closed
careless
light
Extension
Each student will use five of the words to write about his or her weekend.

8

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The Grab Bag of

Important Copyright and Photocopy Permission Information

Purchasing Teacher (One Teacher Permission)

Purchasing School (One School/Site Permission)

The Grab Bag of Socializing 2004 eslresources.com 1-866-833-9485

Get Going ...36

Time Well Spent ...1

Sharing Plans ...37

Conversation Pieces ...2

Television Talk ...38

Out & About ...4

Deciding by Weather ...39

Question Words ...5

Restaurant Troubles ...40

Start Speaking ...6

Whos Next? ...41

Your Weekend ...8

What To Do? ...42

Conversation Starter ...9

Hi! How Are You? ...43

After the Fact ...10

Avoiding the Question ...44

In Your First Country ...12

Party Verbs on the Move ...13

Party Preparations ...14

Being Neighborly ...48

The Best Party Ever ...15

Inviting Words ...16

Making Conversation ...20

Weekend Wrap-up ...51

Crashing the Party 21

Last Night Bingo ...52

Give & Take ...22

Movie Pairs ...54

Well Received ...25

Movie Editor ...55

Gift Match ...26

Invitation to a Movie ...56

A Gift to Remember ...28

Film Chat ...57

When Is It? ...29

Saturday Night ...58

New Year Plans ...30

Question Circles ...59

Chat Lines ...60

Arrangements by Phone ...61

Plan Decision ...62

Come On Over ...64

Thanks a Million ...65

Whos Artistic? ...96

What Do You Think About ...97

Your Travels ...68

Rude or Polite? ...98

Have You Ever? ...69

If I Were You ...99

Whats Your Opinion? ...100

Lets Do It! ...71

Discussion Response ...102

The Party ...72

Comparing Opinions ...103

Polite Interactions ...73

Whats Your Excuse? ...104

Eating Together ...74

Body Language ...105