Asking and Answering About Favorites

Hello! Last lesson, the child practiced saying “My favorite … is …” about colors, animals, foods, and toys. Today, she will learn to ask another person about a favorite and answer when the question comes back. The aim is a short, genuine conversation—not reading or spelling the question independently.

Allow about 40 minutes. Have four picture cues ready (a color, an animal, a food, and a toy), plus paper and crayons. Write favorite and color in American English on anything you prepare.

Give the question a purpose

Begin with a quick exchange from last lesson. Hold up a toy and ask, “What is your favorite toy?” If the child answers with only its name, accept the choice and model the complete reply: “My favorite toy is my doll.” Invite her to say her own full sentence.

Now let her find out something about you. Keep two foods in mind, but do not announce your choice. Model the question once—“What is your favorite food?”—and invite her to ask it. Answer with a real preference: “My favorite food is pizza.” She has gained information she did not have before.

As you speak, point gently toward the person you are asking on your, and toward yourself on my. These gestures clarify why the words change between the question and the answer without requiring a grammar explanation.

For a teacher-facing example of prompting questions from visual clues, read the short “Ask me” activity in ESL KidStuff’s Intro lesson (ages 7–9). You will adapt its group activity to a conversation with one younger child.

Instead of writing several answers on a board, you can hold a crayon behind your back and reveal it after she asks, “What is your favorite color?” A real answer makes the question worth asking.

Keep the words steady while the topic changes

The question has a dependable shape: “What is your favorite [topic]?” The answer has a matching shape: “My favorite [topic] is …” Say both aloud; the child does not need to read them. Begin with food and color, then change the picture cue to an animal or toy. For example:

You: What is your favorite animal?
Child: My favorite animal is a cat.
Child: What is your favorite animal?
You: My favorite animal is a rabbit.

The My Favourite Things picture can supply visual reminders of the topics. Point to its food, color, animal, and toy spaces rather than asking the child to read its print.

Take turns after each cue so that the child is both questioner and answerer. If she says “Favorite animal?” while pointing at the animal, you know she has the right intention. Supply “What is your favorite animal?” and let her ask again. If she asks “What is my favorite animal?” while addressing you, point toward yourself and model your. Keep the exchange moving rather than stopping for a long correction.

Make an interview, not a recitation

Place the four cues face down. The child turns one over and asks you the matching question. Answer with a preference she does not already know. Then ask her the same question and listen to her answer. On the next turn, change who asks first. A small surprise helps: your favorite color or animal need not be the same as hers.

If she cannot think of a word in English, offer two familiar choices or supply the word she means. She can still practice the complete exchange. For an animal, model a natural answer such as “My favorite animal is a cat”; for a color, “My favorite color is blue.” There is no need to teach these as separate rules today.

After several turns, set aside the spoken model. Leave the picture cues visible, choose one, and wait to see whether she can form the question herself. If needed, give only the beginning—“What is your …”—before returning to a turn with less help. The goal is for the picture and her curiosity, rather than your full prompt, to start the conversation.

Leave a small record of what she discovered

Draw two simple columns, one for the child and one for you, with pictures for two or three topics. Let her ask about your favorites again and draw quick reminders of your answers; then you ask about hers. You can write a single answer word beside each drawing if useful. This is an interview record, not another favorite-things book or a spelling test. If she wants to copy a word, give her a clear model.

Finish by mixing up the picture cues. Listen for her to ask “What is your favorite …?” about at least two different topics and to answer two questions with “My favorite … is …” Give a picture cue if needed, but try not to say the whole question for her.

Close

Today, the child used one question to learn another person’s preference and one sentence to share her own. The important change was taking both turns in the conversation, with your in the question and my in the answer. Next lesson, she will move from naming a favorite toy to saying something about a familiar toy she can see or hold.