Guess who’s coming to dinner

Note : All Viralelt posts share the same structure. Teacher’s notes appear only on How to use Viralelt. This is done to keep “teacher text” to a minimum and avoid repetition.

Before showing your students the video, ask them the following question:

“If you could have dinner with anyone, living or dead, who would you choose?”

1. Do you think it’s important for families to eat together at least once a day? When is the best time for the family to eat together: during breakfast, lunch or dinner?
2. What do you normally talk about during mealtimes? What are the typical topics of conversation?
3. When you’re having a family meal at home, are there normally a lot of distractions which prevent proper conversation? How screen-free are your mealtimes? Do you think families should ban screens during mealtimes?
4. The kids in video obviously enjoy spending time with their parents. Do you think this will change in the future when they start growing up?
5. Do you think parents spend enough time with their kids these days? Did parents spend more time with their kids in the past?
6. Where and with who do you normally have the three typical daily meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner? Are you ever alone during these meals?
7. How long do you spend having breakfast, lunch and dinner? Are these mealtimes social occasions or are they just about sustenance?
8. Where would you take the following people for a meal? A parent | Somebody you fancy | A close relative | An elderly relative | A couple with young children
9. How often do you invite people round for a meal? Do you prefer entertaining people at home or going out for a meal?
10. What did you have for dinner last night? Can you remember what you talked about? What are you going to have for dinner tonight?

Which two of the above questions are being discussed?

Download “Question time” and the “Sitting comfortably?” script in an editable Word document here.  

A : Further video 

A rather special pepper pot which jams screens during family mealtimes.

B : Roleplay / Conversation activity 

Organise your students in groups of four. Each group represents a family that has run out of things to say to each other. Give each group a pile of cut-up conversation starters from “Iowa University, Extension and Outreach” and see if table talk improves a little.

C : Newspaper articles

• “Tech is taking over the dinner table”
• “Parents’ smartphones harming children’s ability to hold conversation, say teachers”

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