Back to School : Part 1 (Week 1: getting to know your students )

So this is it! Back to school.. :) I am pretty excited about it, let's be honest, educators have such a big break :D and I do miss teaching. So these are my top ideas/activities on getting back to school, mainly related to new groups, adults and teens.

1. Find someone who (A2 and above/Adults): love this, just because I get them to stand up, mingle, move around and get to know each other.

• Hand out the sheets (attached below) and demonstrate the first example by asking  the question to a student. Ask students to fill up the information at the same time.

Teacher - Have you got a pet?
Student -Yes
Teacher -Is it a cat or a dog?
Student - Dog
Teacher - What's his/her name?
Student - Klio.

• Ask students to think for a minute on how to formulate the questions and then elicit. 
• Then, get them to stand up, mingle around the classroom to write as many names as possible. Also remind them to ask more question to fill up the 'more information' section.
•  Elicit feedback with students telling you about their findings. Example: Yiannis speaks more than three languages. Persian, Greek, English and Spanish and his favorite language is Persian.
• Adapt this game by making your own questions depending on the level and age group.

PRESS HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE HANDOUT 

2. True or False.

• Write five statements about you on the whiteboard and tell students that 4 statements are True while one is False. 
• Students make their guesses in an open class discussion. 
• Get students to do the same by writing 4 true statements about themselves and one False. Then, get them to work in two's or three's and play the game.

3. About me (A2 above/works well with teenagers)

• Write a set of questions on a handout or the whiteboard related to hobbies, interests, music, sports, holidays e.t.c.
• Give out some empty pieces of papers and ask students to answer each question on a different paper and then folder it. 
• Collect the paper, add it in a box or a jar and get students to pick and guess who's paper might be. If right then he/she gets a point.
• Encourage students to ask a question to find more information and get an extra point. 

PRESS HERE FOR THE QUESTIONS I USE.  

In Part 2 I am going to share some more fun activities after you get to know your group. This one (below) I love it !!! :)
4. Jinx Challenge. (For all levels and ages.)
This can be played after getting to know your students to add a bit of fun. I've attached the YouTube video here that I get the inspiration from. Enjoy it!