Indirect Questions Dice Game
A LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS
A fun dice game and grammar presentation to show the different meanings and uses of different embedded questions, including suggested topics for indirect questions speaking practice
Lesson Plan Content:
Indirect questions dice game
Roll a dice and ask your partner a question starting with the right indirect question starter below, making sure that the topic matches that starter. If your question is too personal (even as an indirect question), then your partner can refuse to answer with “I’d rather not say”, “That’s a bit personal”, etc. You can also ask follow-up questions if you like, but make sure they are suitably direct or suitably indirect, and that they are not too personal/ not taboo.
- Do you know…? (for questions that your partner might not have the answer to)
- Do you happen to know…? (for questions that your partner probably can’t answer, but could possibly answer)/ You don’t (happen to) know…, do you? (for questions that your partner almost certainly can’t answer)
- Can I ask…? (for questions which might be a little personal/ which are on slightly taboo topics such as negative aspects)
- I’d like to know…/ Can you tell me…?/ Could you tell me…? (for questions that your partner probably knows the answer to and which are clearly not personal/ not taboo)
- Can I (just) check…? (for questions about extra details about something you already know about or something that you might not remember correctly)
- I’d be interested in hearing… (for your partner’s personal opinions and personal experiences)
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Suggested topics academic subjects contact details (address, email, phone, etc) countries data/ figures/ numbers/ statistics departments/ sections/ teams directions on how to get somewhere/ travel connections feelings industries IT/ technology jobs places (hometown, living place, local area, workplace, travel, etc) prices products/ services regions towns |
Share something that your partner told you, and see if other students can guess which question starter you used above.
Ask about anything above that you can’t understand, couldn’t use, etc, working together to make suitable questions each time.
Play the dice and questions game again, but this time with just the questions or just the descriptions below to help.
Just indirect question starters
- Do you know…?
- Do you happen to know…?/ You don’t (happen to) know…, do you?
- Can I ask…?
- I’d like to know…/ Can you tell me…?/ Could you tell me…?
- Can I (just) check…?
- I’d be interested in hearing…
Just descriptions of indirect questions
- ___________________________________________...? (for questions that your partner might not have the answer to)
- __________________________________…? (for questions that your partner probably can’t answer, but could possibly answer)/ ______________________....____? (for questions that your partner almost certainly can’t answer)
- ________________________________________________…? (for questions which might be a little personal/ which are on slightly taboo topics such as negative aspects)
- ______________________________…/ _____________________________…?/ ___________________________…? (for questions that your partner probably knows the answer to and which are clearly not personal/ not taboo)
- __________________________________________________________________…? (for questions about extra details about something you already know about or something that you might not remember correctly)
- __________________________________________________________________… (for your partner’s personal opinions and personal experiences)
Without looking at the previous page, fill the gaps above with suitable question starters.
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Use the key words or mixed answers below to help with filling the gaps above.
Key words for indirect questions
be can/ could check
do don’t happen
hearing I I’d
interested just know
like tell you
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Mixed indirect question starters
- Can I (just) check…?
- Can I ask…?
- Can you tell me…?
- Could you tell me…?
- Do you happen to know…?
- Do you know…?
- I’d be interested in hearing…
- I’d like to know…
- You don’t (happen to) know…, do you?
Roleplay a whole conversation about places, using suitable indirect question starters when necessary.
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