Warm up for Unit 3 "What It Takes to Be a Good Leader"

The title of Unit 3 seems very serious.  So I had to try to arouse students' interest in discussing this topic.  The following is my lead-in activity:

1. Write the topic on the blackboard.

2. Circle the words "a good leader" and ask students who they think is a good leader.

3. Challenge students to list some qualities for a good leader.

    (Students' responses:  responsible, confident, friendly, accessible, patient, smart, kind, learned, intelligent, etc.)

4. Use their list of qualities to check if someone is a good leader.  In one class I used President Ma Ying-jeou and in another class I used Mr. Chen Shui-bian.

5. Have students look at the warm-up in their textbook, where they see more adjectives starting with the letter L, E, A, D, E, R used to describe a good leader.  They have to decided which of the three in a group is the most important and then add more adjectives to that group.  In the second part of the warm-up, they have to choose among all the adjectives given by the book the five most important qualities and then arrange the five in order of importance.  The following is my list.

responsible, devoted, enthusiastic, reliable, encouraging.   

Students in the three classes, Classes 310, 313, 314, participated in the lead-in activity very actively. 

BTW, I heard some students in Class 310 talk in English during the break.  Great!  (A beaming smile)