Would You Rather questions are one of the simplest tools a teacher can use. They take thirty seconds, every student can answer, and there are no wrong answers. That makes them perfect for building confidence, practicing speaking and getting a quiet class talking. Here is how to use them well.
Morning warm-up
Write one question on the board as students walk in. They answer in their notebook with one sentence and a reason. After the bell, ask three students to share. It takes five minutes and gets the whole class thinking. Our questions for students are written exactly for this.
Brain break
When energy drops, read a question and ask students to stand on the left side of the room for option A and the right side for option B. Moving for one minute resets attention, and the counting is a tiny bit of math.
Opinion writing prompt
Would You Rather questions are ready-made opinion prompts. Ask students to pick a side and write a paragraph with a topic sentence, two reasons and a conclusion. Harder questions from our deep and ethical collections work well for older grades.
Speaking and debate practice
Pair students up and give each pair a question. Each student argues for a different option for one minute, then they switch sides. Switching teaches students to see both sides of an argument.
Language learning
For ESL and foreign language classes, the sentence pattern “I would rather … because …” is a perfect way to practice conditionals. Start with simple questions for kids and animal questions that use everyday words.
Topic tie-ins
- Science: “Would you rather explore space or the deep ocean?”
- History: “Would you rather visit ancient Egypt or the future?”
- Math: run a class vote, then turn the result into a fraction, a percentage and a bar chart.
- Holidays: use Halloween, Christmas or Easter questions for party days.
Play on the big screen
Open the online game on the classroom screen, read the question, let students vote with a show of hands, then tap the majority answer to reveal how players around the world chose. Students love comparing their class to everyone else.
Ground rules that help
- Every answer is accepted. The only rule is that you must give a reason.
- No “both” and no “neither”.
- Listen to the other side before replying.
Every question on WouldYouRather.info is clean and reviewed, so you can project any page in class without worrying about what comes next.