Using Would You Rather Questions in Upper Elementary

I love to have would you rather questions on hand at all times! I use them both digitally and I have a stack of task cards printed “just in case.” I can’t tell you how many times there was a lull in class and I had to make up something to do. Can you relate? I quickly learned that having these questions on hand was gold! Plus, I love answering them – win, win! Check out some of the ways that I use them in my classroom.

At the start of the year, I like to use the questions as a get to know you activity. The students take out their white boards, a white board marker, and an eraser and the fun begins! I ask a would you rather question and then have each student make a choice and defend their answer with a sentence on their white board. Then, I may have the students turn and share with a neighbor or call on a few students to share with the class! These questions always spark conversations and get even the quiet students wanting to contribute to the conversation.

My favorite would you rather questions are the funny ones like would you rather sneeze cheese or have chocolate tears. Not as easy to answer as it looks, right? I may display them on the projector to the class during our class meeting and just let the conversation begin! Or use them for the class meeting sharing time. I do like to mix it up with more serious topics but the fun ones are just a way to get the conversation started.

You can also use them as a persuasive writing prompt. You can have them defend their response with 3 unique points in paragraph form or essay form for the older students. It takes a little bit of thinking sometimes to come up with 3 different points and really gets their writer’s brain working! I also love to have these as an optional done early activity as well. The possibilities are endless.

CLICK HERE for the set of 200 Would You Rather questions.

I also include would you rather questions in my monthly discussion starters! Check them out HERE.

How would you use would you rather questions in your classroom?