ideas for first class
ice breakers
from http://busyteacher.org/classroom_activities-vocabulary/holidays_and_celebrations/backtoschool-worksheets/
from here
1. Put some sentences on the board that will help them get to know each other, not more than five. For example, with Basic students: What’s your name? / nickname? / occupation?
Put them standing up in two rows facing each other. They’ll have to talk to the person in front of them ask and answering the questions. When you clap your hands, they all move to their left (the ss who are first and last in the row, then change rows.) and continue doing the same thing with the new partner. Feedback with whole class at the end.
Variation: you can put some lively song (but at low volume) and instead of clapping, you’ll stop the song every time they have to change position.
Odd number of students: Since it’s fast paced, you can leave 1 student out. As soon as you clap, you put this student in the row and take out another student. When you clap for the second time, you put the student you’ve just taken out back in the row and take out another student and so on. Or you can participate.
2) Toilet paper - Pass around a roll of toilet paper and tell ss they can get as much as they want (it needs to be the one with the dotted lines). After all of them have taken some, they’ll have to give as many pieces of information about themselves as the number of “squares” they took from the paper.
- A variation can be done with M & M's (cuter, no doubt, but less fun)
3 - Ss have to write down on a piece of paper 3 pieces of information about themselves. After that, they’ll make a plane with the paper. You’ll play a song and while the song is playing they’ll have to throw the airplanes around (of course, getting any airplane that lands next to them). Once you stop they’ll get the plane they have in their hands or right next to them and read the information and try to guess who wrote it. They can go around the classroom asking questions to find out. Feedback with whole class at the end.
4. If I were... I would be... - Give out cards to students with one or two sentences using this structure “If I were... I would be...”. They’ll have 1-2 minutes to think of an answer. When they’ve done that, get them standing and in pairs or small groups they’ll have to read out and explain to their partner(s) their answers. When you clap, they change partners. Feedback with whole class at the end.
Put one sentence for you on the board and do it yourself first so students can get a hang of it.
Some possible sentences: If I were an animal, I would be...
If I were a fruit/food/vegetable, I would be...
If I were a country/state, I would be...
If I were a color, I would be...
If I were famous, I would be ...
Variation - they write down their answers and give you back the paper. You mix them up and distribute to students who have to try to guess who wrote it.
5. Yes / No / Maybe-Not much - Write these three “words” on different sheets of paper big enough so ss can see them from a certain distance. Stick them on the walls as far as possible from each other. Get students standing up in the middle of the classroom. Tell them you’re going to read some questions and they must stand next to the suitable answer for them. Read out first question. When students are placed, ask one from each group some follow-up question (or to make it more fast paced only ask one student varying the groups on the next questions). Then put them back in the middle and ask the second question and so on.
Variation: Select a student to answer and ask other students to make the follow-up questions.
Example of questions for intermediate students:
“Did you have vacation?”
“Did something really good happen to you this year?”
FIRST DAY from here
Beat the Clock
Submitted by: Jennifer Smith
From: West Valley City, Utah
Date Submitted: May 16, 2001
"Beat the Clock" is a team-building activity that is great for the first day of school and throughout the year. Each student receives at least one slip of paper with a silly instruction along with what the person before them does. For example, "After the teacher says 'go,' CLAP YOUR HANDS 3 times." Another student would receive a slip of paper that says, "After someone claps their hands 3 times, STAND UP AND DO TWO JUMPING JACKS." and so on. The instructions are not numbered to encourage students to pay attention to their classmates to determine when it is their turn to go. Each time you do this activity use a stop watch to time it. Be sure to record how long it takes somewhere where students can see. Then next time students participate in this activity their goal is to "beat the clock" or work together to decrease their time. This activity often provides opportunities to discuss what students can do to work together better as a team, such making encouraging!
comments, paying attention to their own responsibility, etc. (This idea was adapted from Nickie Elwood from Hyde Park, Utah)
FIRST DAY/CHARACTER ED from here
Brown Bag It!
Submitted by: I Love That Teaching Idea! Staff
From: SLC, Utah
Date Submitted: November 9, 2002
As a way of introducing yourself on the first day of school, bring a brown bag full of items that tell about yourself. Share these with your students. They could be things that tell about your family, an embarrassing moment, a hobby, etc. Then as a homework assignment for the first night, give each child a brown lunch bag, with the poem attached. (See poem below)
Have children bring their bags full of 5 items to share with their classmates the next day. This is a fun way to get to know one another and find common interests!
Poem:
In this brown bag you will find,
Things that show I'm one of a kind,
5 items of stuff I like,
My family, friends, a hobby, or bike.
So when I share these things with you,
You'll find out things you never knew!
FIRST DAY from here
Self-Portraits
Submitted by: Lisa Nelson
From: Concord, CA
Date Submitted: March 1, 2003
On the first day of school have the students draw a self portrait. Collect them and put them aside until the last week of school. At that time, have the children do another self portrait, do not let them see the older one though. Glue them side by side into a large piece of folded construction paper. They will be amazed at the change in their abilities over a school year!
Here are some fabulous ideas for the all-important first day of class:
Getting to know your new students
The first day of class is a great opportunity to get to know your new students and find out a little more about them.
1. This Is Me:
This is a very simple worksheet for very young learners who may not be able to write. They draw a picture of themselves and several of their favorite things. After they’ve completed their worksheets ask them to stand up and show their pictures to the class.
If possible, you may ask them to describe or name some of the things in English.
2. This Is Me (for older students):
This one is similar to the above worksheet but for students who are already able to read and write in English. You may also ask them to share the information they’ve written down with the class. The last part of the worksheet is particularly useful for teachers.
It asks students basically how much they like certain activities like singing, coloring, playing games, etc. and it will give you an idea as to what type of learner each may be.
Icebreakers
Never underestimate the importance of activities to break the ice on the first day of class (you have already checked our new ‘Warmers and Ice-Breakers’ category, haven’t you?). No matter how old or how young your students are, there is always a little anxiety about having to speak a language that is not their own. To get the year off to a great start, try either of these icebreakers, and you'll see your students will be more relaxed and less anxious about learning English.
1. Introduce me:
This activity is a great way to start a class of adult learners who are not complete beginners. Split them up into pairs and have them take turns asking each other questions. You should have some prompts written down on the board or on a handout, and they should be suitable to their level. For example, beginner-intermediate students should have a list of questions, like:
More advanced students, may be simply given areas to investigate, like:
They should be encouraged to take notes, and try to remember as much as they can about their partner. Once they’re done interviewing each other, each student has to introduce his or her partner and tell the class what they've learned about that person.
Very young learners or beginners can simply be taught to ask simple questions like, “What’s your name?” and “How old are you?”, then introduce their new friend to the class: “This is Sandra. She’s 7 years old.”
2. My goals:
Unlike most school courses, learning English as a second language is quite often something that is chosen by the students themselves. Adult students, at the very least, will be able to tell you why they’ve enrolled in an ESL course. But little ones may also have great reasons to want to learn English. So, ask each of them to share their reasons for signing up for the course, and what they hope to accomplish. You may ask them to write this down on the first page of their notebooks, so they can always have that to look back to.
A word book
Create a personalized dictionary that each student will keep for the duration of the course. Hand out a few blank sheets of paper to each of your students, as well as a piece of poster board of the same size. The poster board will be the front cover of their dictionary, which they can decorate as they please. The blank sheets of paper will be the pages of their dictionary. They should write down new words in their dictionaries, with a short definition, example, or drawing.
Looking to the future - Buried Treasure
Here’s another great activity for the first day of school that will blow your students away on the very last day of class. Create a Treasure Chest. Ask your students to draw pictures of themselves and write something on the back: a description of themselves, their favorite things, what they hope to learn and do in class, etc… Measure each of their heights with a piece of string or yarn and label each one with a child's name. If possible, record each of them speaking, briefly stating their names and a little something about themselves. Get a cardboard box that will hold all of the drawings, pieces of string, and the cassette or disc, seal it with tape, and hide it somewhere in the classroom, or take it home with you.
On the last day of class, you can play a Treasure Hunt game, complete with treasure map, or simply re-open the box in a grand ceremony. Students will have a blast looking at their earlier work, and they’ll be amazed to see how much they've learned and grown.
You can do something similar with adult learners. Ask them to write a paragraph about themselves, with no corrections from you, just a spontaneous sample of writing. Keep all of your students’ writings, and on the last day of class show these to them, so they can see how far they've progressed in their writing skills. You can also record them speaking. This activity is a lot of fun, but it also presents very tangible evidence of how far they've come, something that any ESL learner will appreciate.
Whatever you do on the first day of class, take the time to get to know your students and let them get to know you.
Set forth the classroom rules with the little ones; discuss your students’ goals for the course. But the most important thing is to lay a solid foundation for what will be a year of cooperation and learning.
from http://busyteacher.org/classroom_activities-vocabulary/holidays_and_celebrations/backtoschool-worksheets/
from here
1. Put some sentences on the board that will help them get to know each other, not more than five. For example, with Basic students: What’s your name? / nickname? / occupation?
Put them standing up in two rows facing each other. They’ll have to talk to the person in front of them ask and answering the questions. When you clap your hands, they all move to their left (the ss who are first and last in the row, then change rows.) and continue doing the same thing with the new partner. Feedback with whole class at the end.
Variation: you can put some lively song (but at low volume) and instead of clapping, you’ll stop the song every time they have to change position.
Odd number of students: Since it’s fast paced, you can leave 1 student out. As soon as you clap, you put this student in the row and take out another student. When you clap for the second time, you put the student you’ve just taken out back in the row and take out another student and so on. Or you can participate.
2) Toilet paper - Pass around a roll of toilet paper and tell ss they can get as much as they want (it needs to be the one with the dotted lines). After all of them have taken some, they’ll have to give as many pieces of information about themselves as the number of “squares” they took from the paper.
- A variation can be done with M & M's (cuter, no doubt, but less fun)
3 - Ss have to write down on a piece of paper 3 pieces of information about themselves. After that, they’ll make a plane with the paper. You’ll play a song and while the song is playing they’ll have to throw the airplanes around (of course, getting any airplane that lands next to them). Once you stop they’ll get the plane they have in their hands or right next to them and read the information and try to guess who wrote it. They can go around the classroom asking questions to find out. Feedback with whole class at the end.
4. If I were... I would be... - Give out cards to students with one or two sentences using this structure “If I were... I would be...”. They’ll have 1-2 minutes to think of an answer. When they’ve done that, get them standing and in pairs or small groups they’ll have to read out and explain to their partner(s) their answers. When you clap, they change partners. Feedback with whole class at the end.
Put one sentence for you on the board and do it yourself first so students can get a hang of it.
Some possible sentences: If I were an animal, I would be...
If I were a fruit/food/vegetable, I would be...
If I were a country/state, I would be...
If I were a color, I would be...
If I were famous, I would be ...
Variation - they write down their answers and give you back the paper. You mix them up and distribute to students who have to try to guess who wrote it.
5. Yes / No / Maybe-Not much - Write these three “words” on different sheets of paper big enough so ss can see them from a certain distance. Stick them on the walls as far as possible from each other. Get students standing up in the middle of the classroom. Tell them you’re going to read some questions and they must stand next to the suitable answer for them. Read out first question. When students are placed, ask one from each group some follow-up question (or to make it more fast paced only ask one student varying the groups on the next questions). Then put them back in the middle and ask the second question and so on.
Variation: Select a student to answer and ask other students to make the follow-up questions.
Example of questions for intermediate students:
“Did you have vacation?”
“Did something really good happen to you this year?”
FIRST DAY from here
Beat the Clock
Submitted by: Jennifer Smith
From: West Valley City, Utah
Date Submitted: May 16, 2001
"Beat the Clock" is a team-building activity that is great for the first day of school and throughout the year. Each student receives at least one slip of paper with a silly instruction along with what the person before them does. For example, "After the teacher says 'go,' CLAP YOUR HANDS 3 times." Another student would receive a slip of paper that says, "After someone claps their hands 3 times, STAND UP AND DO TWO JUMPING JACKS." and so on. The instructions are not numbered to encourage students to pay attention to their classmates to determine when it is their turn to go. Each time you do this activity use a stop watch to time it. Be sure to record how long it takes somewhere where students can see. Then next time students participate in this activity their goal is to "beat the clock" or work together to decrease their time. This activity often provides opportunities to discuss what students can do to work together better as a team, such making encouraging!
comments, paying attention to their own responsibility, etc. (This idea was adapted from Nickie Elwood from Hyde Park, Utah)
FIRST DAY/CHARACTER ED from here
Brown Bag It!
Submitted by: I Love That Teaching Idea! Staff
From: SLC, Utah
Date Submitted: November 9, 2002
As a way of introducing yourself on the first day of school, bring a brown bag full of items that tell about yourself. Share these with your students. They could be things that tell about your family, an embarrassing moment, a hobby, etc. Then as a homework assignment for the first night, give each child a brown lunch bag, with the poem attached. (See poem below)
Have children bring their bags full of 5 items to share with their classmates the next day. This is a fun way to get to know one another and find common interests!
Poem:
In this brown bag you will find,
Things that show I'm one of a kind,
5 items of stuff I like,
My family, friends, a hobby, or bike.
So when I share these things with you,
You'll find out things you never knew!
FIRST DAY from here
Self-Portraits
Submitted by: Lisa Nelson
From: Concord, CA
Date Submitted: March 1, 2003
On the first day of school have the students draw a self portrait. Collect them and put them aside until the last week of school. At that time, have the children do another self portrait, do not let them see the older one though. Glue them side by side into a large piece of folded construction paper. They will be amazed at the change in their abilities over a school year!
Here are some fabulous ideas for the all-important first day of class:
Getting to know your new students
The first day of class is a great opportunity to get to know your new students and find out a little more about them.
1. This Is Me:
This is a very simple worksheet for very young learners who may not be able to write. They draw a picture of themselves and several of their favorite things. After they’ve completed their worksheets ask them to stand up and show their pictures to the class.
If possible, you may ask them to describe or name some of the things in English.
2. This Is Me (for older students):
This one is similar to the above worksheet but for students who are already able to read and write in English. You may also ask them to share the information they’ve written down with the class. The last part of the worksheet is particularly useful for teachers.
It asks students basically how much they like certain activities like singing, coloring, playing games, etc. and it will give you an idea as to what type of learner each may be.
Icebreakers
Never underestimate the importance of activities to break the ice on the first day of class (you have already checked our new ‘Warmers and Ice-Breakers’ category, haven’t you?). No matter how old or how young your students are, there is always a little anxiety about having to speak a language that is not their own. To get the year off to a great start, try either of these icebreakers, and you'll see your students will be more relaxed and less anxious about learning English.
1. Introduce me:
This activity is a great way to start a class of adult learners who are not complete beginners. Split them up into pairs and have them take turns asking each other questions. You should have some prompts written down on the board or on a handout, and they should be suitable to their level. For example, beginner-intermediate students should have a list of questions, like:
- Where do you live?
- What do you do?
- Where do you work?
- Etc.
More advanced students, may be simply given areas to investigate, like:
- Education
- Family
- Work
- Leisure activities and hobbies
- Etc.
They should be encouraged to take notes, and try to remember as much as they can about their partner. Once they’re done interviewing each other, each student has to introduce his or her partner and tell the class what they've learned about that person.
Very young learners or beginners can simply be taught to ask simple questions like, “What’s your name?” and “How old are you?”, then introduce their new friend to the class: “This is Sandra. She’s 7 years old.”
2. My goals:
Unlike most school courses, learning English as a second language is quite often something that is chosen by the students themselves. Adult students, at the very least, will be able to tell you why they’ve enrolled in an ESL course. But little ones may also have great reasons to want to learn English. So, ask each of them to share their reasons for signing up for the course, and what they hope to accomplish. You may ask them to write this down on the first page of their notebooks, so they can always have that to look back to.
A word book
Create a personalized dictionary that each student will keep for the duration of the course. Hand out a few blank sheets of paper to each of your students, as well as a piece of poster board of the same size. The poster board will be the front cover of their dictionary, which they can decorate as they please. The blank sheets of paper will be the pages of their dictionary. They should write down new words in their dictionaries, with a short definition, example, or drawing.
Looking to the future - Buried Treasure
Here’s another great activity for the first day of school that will blow your students away on the very last day of class. Create a Treasure Chest. Ask your students to draw pictures of themselves and write something on the back: a description of themselves, their favorite things, what they hope to learn and do in class, etc… Measure each of their heights with a piece of string or yarn and label each one with a child's name. If possible, record each of them speaking, briefly stating their names and a little something about themselves. Get a cardboard box that will hold all of the drawings, pieces of string, and the cassette or disc, seal it with tape, and hide it somewhere in the classroom, or take it home with you.
On the last day of class, you can play a Treasure Hunt game, complete with treasure map, or simply re-open the box in a grand ceremony. Students will have a blast looking at their earlier work, and they’ll be amazed to see how much they've learned and grown.
You can do something similar with adult learners. Ask them to write a paragraph about themselves, with no corrections from you, just a spontaneous sample of writing. Keep all of your students’ writings, and on the last day of class show these to them, so they can see how far they've progressed in their writing skills. You can also record them speaking. This activity is a lot of fun, but it also presents very tangible evidence of how far they've come, something that any ESL learner will appreciate.
Whatever you do on the first day of class, take the time to get to know your students and let them get to know you.
Set forth the classroom rules with the little ones; discuss your students’ goals for the course. But the most important thing is to lay a solid foundation for what will be a year of cooperation and learning.