Purpose: Last Words expects students to write five sentences, with the last word serving as a prompt.

Info: Students collaborate in pairs to provide five sentences. There are a number of simple variations, each allowing the activity to better meet the level and needs of the class.

Step One: Step One: The teacher prepares five words to end five sentences. For example:

1: _________________________________ yesterday.
2: _________________________________ unbelievable.
3: _________________________________ home.
4: _________________________________ accident.
5: _________________________________ lost.

For upper-level students, the five words should allow students to write a very short story. This means the teacher will need to consider how the words might be linked. For lower-level students, five sentences with the words correctly and naturally used is an adequate enough challenge.

Step Two: The teacher writes the five words on the board. Students get into pairs and work together to write five sentences. The teacher should allot five minutes or less here.

Step Three: Students get into new pairs and present their sentences/stories to one another.

Variation One: The activity proceeds exactly as described above. However, the teacher provides the first words for five sentences, not the last words. This tends to be somewhat easier, making the activity suitable for some stronger classes of beginners too.

Variation Two: Here students receive several key words based on the theme of the lesson. As with Variation One, the key words should appear as the first words of the sentences. Students work in pairs to generate five sentences. The sentences don't need to be linked together as a story, as the purpose is to activate pre-existing knowledge/ideas on a topic. For example, in a lesson on natural disasters, the teacher might give the following:

1: A earthquake _________________________________.
2: Floods_________________________________.
3: Global warming _________________________________.
4: I _________________________________.
5: The future _________________________________.