This or That

Well, it's a Saturday night and I'm being totally lazy tonight. I taught three 2nd grade classes this morning and everything went smoothly. It was lovely weather today although the forecast for tomorrow looks to be much colder. I had a zillion things I wanted to get done today, but I just didn't have the energy. So here it is, almost midnight and I'm having fun just relaxing. Unfortunately, my mom is not feeling well and so she's having a few stomach issues. She should be on a much healthier diet, but I think she lost a little self-control this week and ate one too many snacks which were not good for her diet. Hopefully, she'll be fine in the morning.

I decided to resort to an old tactic I used to do in my other journals when I couldn't focus on a post for the evening. Tonight I've decided to do a "This or That" post. Actually, "This or That" is a great game to play with your students when you need a quick communication activity. I used to play this with my students prior to going on our international exchanges. One of the things I observed with my Japanese students is that they had a hard time making quick decisions. Sometimes children worry about making a decision that is different from their classmates or their friends. Other children seem to lack the confidence to make their own decision. One example I use to introduce this activity is when the students are riding on the airplane and the flight attendant asks them to make a meal selection. Chicken or fish? Beef or pasta? Western breakfast or Japanese breakfast? I wanted to give my students practice in making a choice between two items, even if they liked or disliked both items. I would have the children go around in a circle or down their desk rows asking the person next to them a "This or That" question. The student would answer and then ask a new question to the next person and so on. There were a few rules such as they could not use the names of teachers, family members, or their classmates. Depending on the age of the students, there were other categories they were not allowed to use such as ethnic backgrounds, religions, or choices involving death. Since I teach elementary school students, we didn't really need a whole lot of restrictions. You can use "This or That" questions for conversation starters or as a quick way to get to know someone's choice.

I've taken this list of 89 This or That Questions from a LifeHacks article written by Akshay, and have written my choice beside each question. Enjoy!

89 Good This or That Questions

► Cookies or cake? cake (carrot cake, red velvet cake, lemon cake to be exact!)

► Cat or dog? dogs

► Computer games or video games? video games

► Pop music or Rock music? pop music

► Stuff animals or dolls? stuffed animals, 100%!!!

► Pancakes or waffles? pancakes

► Hot chocolate or coffee? hot chocolate

► Morning or evening? morning

► Day or night? night

► Text message or call? text message

► Library or museums? museums

► French or Spanish? French

► Summer or winter? winter

► Theater or cinema? theater

► Love or money? love (du-uh)

► Book or movie? movie

► Tea or coffee? tea

► Chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate (I'm thinking ice cream here.)

► Coca-Cola or Pepsi? Coca-Cola

► Rain or snow? snow

► Car or motorcycle? car

► Comedy or horror? horror

► Hamburgers or hot dogs? hamburgers

► Paper or plastic? paper

► Boat or plane? boat

► Painting or drawing? drawing

► Reading or writing? writing

► Singing or dancing? dancing

► T-Shirts or sweaters? sweaters

► Flowers or trees? trees

► Phone or computer? computer

► Brown or black hair? brown

► Superman or Batman? Superman

► Doctor Who or the Walking Dead? the Walking Dead

► Lions or Bears? Bears

► Milk or juice? Juice

► Gold or silver? Silver

► 50’s or 80’s music? 80's music

► Google or Bing? Google

► Frozen yogurt or ice cream? Frozen yogurt

► Blue or green eyes? Blue eyes

► Witches or wizards? Witches

► Fire or ice? Ice, ice baby

► Straight or curly hair? curly

► Fruits or vegetables? vegetables (This was a hard one. I love both.)

► Burgers or tacos? tacos

► Roses or daisies? daisies

► Pandas or whales? whales

► McDonald’s or Burger King? Burger King

► Books or magazines? magazines

► Circles or squares? circles

► Ketchup or mustard? mustard

► Money or fame? money

► Piercings or tattoos? for me piercings, tattoos on others

► Puzzles or board games? board games

► Living room or bedroom? living room

► Sandals or sneakers? sneakers

► Apples or oranges? San Fuji apples

► Bagels or toast? bagels

► Weird or crazy? crazy (wtf?!)

► Skates or bike? skates

► Go skiing or snowboarding? skiing

► Watch or play sports? watch sports

► Swim in a pool or in the sea? in a pool (because, you know...Jaws...)

► Sweet or salty? salty

► Cars or trucks? trucks

► Leather or lace? lace

► Steak or chicken? steak

► Alaska or Hawaii? Hawaii

► Shower or tub? tub

► TV Shows or movies? TV shows

► Breakfast or dinner? breakfast

► Bananas or apples? San Fuji apples

► Facebook or Twitter? Twitter

► What’s up or Viber? I don't know or use either so I'll just say Viber

► Mountains or beach? beach

► Digital watch or analog? analog

► Freedom or hope? freedom

► Alice in Wonderland or Robinson Crusoe? Alice in Wonderland

► Snow White or Cinderella? Cinderella

► Sitting or standing? sitting??? (what is this in relation to???)

► Comedy or drama? drama

► Being too warm or too cold? I'd rather be too cold.

► Pasta or pizza? pizza

► Online shopping or in-person shopping? online shopping atm, in-person if no Covid

► Writing poetry or reading poetry? writing poetry

► Wild animals or domestic animals? wild animals

► Family or friends? family

► Scooby Doo or Tom and Jerry? Scooby Dooby Doo

xox