Asking questions with many possible answers helps to get everyone talking. Why? Because it takes away the fear of being wrong.

Be open with your class: There isn’t just one single right answer to this question. What I’m interested in is your thinking and your reasons.

Question structures such as Would you rather… or Good idea/bad idea can be useful as they require a choice. Here are some examples which might be used in geography lessons:

Would you rather live in an overpopulated urban area or an underpopulated rural area?
Tourism to economically disadvantaged countries – good idea / bad idea?

Or you could use question stems such as Should… or Why might… For example,

Should rich people go on holiday in poor countries?
Why might people migrate?
Why might people stay living near active volcanoes?

Pupils can discuss questions like these in pairs, in small groups and as a whole-class. As always, make sure you maintain a healthy, supportive classroom culture so pupils feel confident to share their thinking (there’s a section all about classroom culture in my 100 Ideas oracy book).