Topics for small talk

Learn about good topics for small talk in Canada

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Lesson plan overview

Task	To learn about expected topics for small talk in Canada (and to practice some responses).
CLB level	CLB Stage I (CLB 1-3)
Delivery method	Online
Class size	10-15 students (vary the number of activities according to your class size)
Estimated time	1.5 to 3 hours (depending on whether you complete all parts of this lesson)
CLB Skills and Competencies	*Speaking:* Interacting with others Sharing information *Listening:* Interacting with others Comprehending information *Reading:* Comprehending information
Language focus	Learn the vocabulary needed to understand this topic. Complete the optional “Part B: Building Sentences” activities below to help your students move from understanding vocabulary to using that vocabulary to create simple sentences. Use the appropriate grammar structures and vocabulary to respond personally to the reflection questions. (Encourage students to respond in full sentences.)
Cultural focus	Students will discuss cultural differences in small talk (e.g., the need for small talk at all, topics, etc.)
Specific task learning objectives	Students will understand topics that are suitable (and unsuitable) for small talk in Canada. Students will practice responding to basic small-talk questions.
ESL Directions original video (🎥) and audio (🔊) activities?	This lesson includes original video (🎥) and audio (🔊) activities.
Resource attribution	ESL Directions original resources are marked below with an asterisk (*). Feel free to use these, but please give credit to ESL Directions.

Part A: Vocabulary acquisition and practice
This is a self-contained, complete lesson plan (about 1.5 hours) focused on vocabulary.

Part B: Building sentences
Part B takes your students further by giving them some tools to build simple sentences (using the vocabulary they learned in Part A).

Use Part B (about 1.5 hours) if you want to focus on:

Sentence production.

Specific lesson-related grammar points. Note: Every lesson also includes similar practice exercises for subjects, verbs, and objects — the basic building blocks of most English sentences.

Part C: Reflection Questions
These topic-related discussion questions work at the end of either part A or B.

Lesson plan

Part A: Language acquisition and practice

Warm-up: Introducing the topic and defining our terms

Today, we’re going to talk about good topics for small talk in Canada.

What is small talk?
What are some good small talk topics in Canada?

Skill-building activities

Vocabulary flashcards*
Listen to the vocabulary again* 🔊 (Ask students to pay attention to the pronunciation and meaning of the words.)
Small talk topics 🎥 (Let’s do some more vocabulary review with this short video.)

Skill-using tasks

Common small talk questions* 🔊(Tell us what each question means.)
Sample answers to small talk questions* (Match the questions with some possible answers.)
Identify good and bad topics for small talk*

Assessment/review tasks

Part B: Building sentences

Introducing the topic

In this part of the lesson, we’re going to work on creating short sentences from the vocabulary we learned in Part A.

To help us, we’ll focus on:

Asking questions with “what” and “do you?”
Using the present simple tense to answer small talk questions

Subject, verb, and object word order.

Skill-building and skill-using activities

Asking questions with “what” and “do you?”

Quick guide: Asking questions with “what” and “do you?”*
Let’s practice*
Asking questions with “what” and “do you?”* (A more detailed explanation that you can teach in class or send home with your students.)

Verb tenses: Using the present simple tense to answer small talk questions

Word order in English sentences

Today, we’ll look at three important parts of English sentences.

What is a subject?
What is a verb?
What is an object?

Let’s practice!

Quick definitions: Subjects, verbs, and objects*
Unjumble the sentences*
Create sentences in subject/verb/object order*
Subject/verb/object explainer* (A more detailed explanation that you can teach in class or send home with your students.)

Assessment/review activities

Choosing small talk topics in Canada*🎥 (Watch a story using the lesson vocabulary and grammar points.)

Choosing small talk topics in Canada: Reading passage and comprehension questions* 🔊 (Read the story, and identify the grammar points.)

Part C: Reflection questions

What are three words or phrases that you learned today?
Have you tried making small talk in Canada? How did that go for you?
What are some good topics for small talk in Canada?
What are some inappropriate topics for small talk in Canada? Are these topics the same in your home country?
Canadians make a lot of small talk. Why do you think we like small talk so much?
Do people like to make small talk in your home country?

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COMMUNITY AND NEIGHBOURS WORDWALL ACTIVITIES

Wordwall is a very useful interactive lesson-creation site. If you sign up for a free Wordwall account, you will be able to see our “Community and neighbours” folder, which includes ESL Directions activities that you can add to your lessons.