Creating space for students to talk with one another can transform a classroom. Whether you’re building community at the start of the year or making space for reflection later on, discussion questions can help students feel seen, heard, and connected. Today on the blog, I have a handful of discussion questions for students that are ready for you to customize and use in a variety of ways.
These conversation starters are great for morning meetings, advisory periods, writing prompts, or even quick video reflections. You can use them in whole-class conversations or one-on-one check-ins. And who knows? A single question might lead to a great story, a group project, or the next big idea for a student video!
Customizing with Chatbots
If you’d like to tailor any of the discussion questions below, AI tools can help. Regular readers of the blog know that I love to use chatbots to make more engaging, personalized learning experiences for students. And if you’ve joined me for a webinar or workshop over the past few years, this has been a big theme.
Want to make each of these discussion questions “just right” for your students? Try copying and pasting a question into a chatbot like ChatGPT or Gemini. You might ask the tool to adjust it for a specific grade level, add a new vocabulary word, or connect it to a subject area like science or history. For example:
- “Make this question more appropriate for 1st grade students.”
- “Turn this into a prompt that uses the word ‘empathy.’”
- “Can you connect this to a middle school ELA standard?”
With just a few tweaks, you’ll have a question that’s a perfect fit for your group of students.
Let’s jump into the list of forty discussion questions for students to spark conversations. And remember, you’re welcome to send the link to this post to any colleagues who might find it valuable!
Getting to Know You
Start the school year—or a new unit—with simple questions that help students learn more about one another. These light, easy prompts build comfort and connection. If you are feeling like your students are a bit disconnected in the middle of the year, or if you’ve welcomed a handful of new students in one month, these are great to revisit.
- If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
- What’s a fun fact about you most people don’t know?
- What’s your favorite book or movie?
- What’s a skill you’d love to learn someday?
- What’s one word your friends would use to describe you?
- If you could switch places with someone for a day, who would it be?
- What kind of music do you like?
- What’s something you’ve always wanted to try?
- Would you rather explore outer space or the bottom of the ocean?
- If your life had a theme song, what would it be?
School & Learning
These questions give students a chance to reflect on how they learn and what school feels like for them. They’re perfect for check-ins or class discussions around goal setting and study habits. Just like the first category, you might turn a few of these questions into writing prompts or video reflections.
- What’s one thing you’re proud of learning this year?
- What’s your favorite subject and why?
- Do you like working in groups or by yourself?
- What’s the best project you’ve ever done at school?
- How do you stay organized with your schoolwork?
- What’s something at school that makes you feel happy?
- What do you do when you feel stuck on a problem?
- If you could design your own class, what would it be about?
- What’s something you’ve learned outside of school that you’re proud of?
- How do you prepare for a big test or presentation?
Creativity & Imagination
Encourage students to stretch their imagination with prompts that invite creativity and storytelling. These are great for brainstorming writing projects or kick-starting a low-stakes activity. You might give a question on this list to students the day before you plan on giving them time to share so they can come prepared with a few ideas.
- If you wrote a book, what would it be about?
- What kind of invention would you create to solve a problem?
- If you could design a new holiday, what would people celebrate?
- If animals could talk, which one would be the funniest?
- What would your superhero power be?
- What’s the craziest ice cream flavor you can think of?
- If you created a video game, what would the main character be like?
- What’s something you could teach others to do?
- If your pencil could talk, what would it say during the school day?
- What would your dream field trip look like?
Looking Ahead
Help students reflect on their dreams and goals with questions that point toward the future. These are perfect for the end of the year, new beginnings, or transition times. You might have students add their responses to one page of a collaborative ebook in the first half of the school year and then read it together at the end of the year.
- What job would you like to try when you grow up?
- If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
- Who is someone you look up to?
- What’s something you want to accomplish in the next five years?
- What kind of difference do you want to make in the world?
- What’s a place you’d love to visit someday?
- If you could give advice to your future self, what would you say?
- What kind of person do you hope to become?
- What’s one thing you want to try before the end of this school year?
- If you could plan your perfect day, what would you do?
Sharing Discussion Questions for Students
Giving students time to talk, share, and connect is an important part of building a classroom community. These discussion questions are great conversation starters for circle time, small groups, or partner chats. They work well at the start of a new school year but are just as powerful in the middle of a busy week when your class needs a reset.
And with a little customization—either by hand or with the help of a chatbot—you can tweak these questions to meet your students where they are. Whether you turn one of these questions into a writing prompt or use it to kick off a class discussion, you’re helping students build communication skills and confidence, too.
Find more posts featuring discussion tips:
- Tips for Fostering Academic Conversations with Jennifer Orr – Easy EdTech Podcast 269
- How Digital Forms of Communication Can Impact Relationship Building with Mike & Nita Creekmore – Easy EdTech Podcast 257
- 5 Types of Tech-Friendly Discussions That Promote Collaboration – Easy EdTech Podcast 195
- Find Movie Clips for Students That Spark Discussions with ClassHook
