Whats your favorite American/English food?

Whats your favorite American/English TV show?

Whats your favorite international pop star?
Whats your favorite color?
What month were you born in?
Three Adjectives That Describe You
Who am I?
Prepare a self adhesive label or post-it note for each young person in your group. Write on it the
name of a well-known or famous person. This can be an historical character or current
sportsman, musician, T personality, celebrity etc. !ave a good mi" of men and women.
#eeping the names hidden, stick the post-it notes on the foreheads of everyone in the group.
They must then ask $uestions of the others to find out their identity.
What do our names mean?
A good firstday activity is to! when introducing ourselves! give the meaning of our names "as
well as the spelling and pronunciation as necessary#$ %any students will &now their names
meanings! and most people en'oy discussing their names$ Those students who dont &now their
names meaning may be inspired to find out by the ne(t class$

This is a valuable activity because it provides spea&ing and listening practice as students discuss
their names$ )n addition! it provides e(tra processing time of each name! increasing the
li&elihood it will be remembered$
Fun First-Lesson Ice-Breakers
*$ *
?
When ) wal& into a class for the first time! instead of introducing myself! ) li&e to draw a
big +uestion mar& on the board and get the students to do all of the hard wor&$ )
sometimes tell them that ) would normally introduce myself! but )m feeling a little tired
and that they must do the hard wor&$ ,or more advanced students! the teacher could wal&
in the class and have students as& whatever comes into their mind with little preparation!
while lower levels could wor& in pairs or groups and write down some +uestions they
could as&$ Error correction is very important! the teacher should write the +uestion on the
board! and if a +uestion is as&ed in a structurally incorrect way! the teacher can elicit the
answer from other students in the class$ This is good way to build the confidence of
students and show them that incorrect answers are still beneficial to the class$ This
e(ercise is a great way to start off a class as it puts the students in a position where they
are effectively doing wor& in your class! e(periencing your role as a teacher in the class!
and building their confidence in using English in a fun and lighthearted manner$
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Lie Detector
.ie detector is a great way to build rapport and trust with students$ This activity involves the
teacher writing three sentences on the board about him/ - are true! and * will be a lie$ Teachers
should embellish the details slightly and write some sentences that the students wouldnt be
li&ely to guess$ 0epending on the level of the students! the students can then as& +uestions about
the topics of the three statements of the teacher to determine the lie$ 12T! the hoo& to this game
is that 342! the teacher! may lie verbally to the students in your response! and the students must
play the role of a lie detector and figure out which sentence is a por&y pie$ 3ou can then set it up
as a fun game! while analysing the level of the students by getting them to write three sentences
about them! with one of the sentences being a lie$ A good way to do this is the class versus the
teacher! if the student can successfully deceive the teacher! the class will get the point$ )f the
teacher can successfully detect the lie! the teacher will get the point$
5
Talk about your partner
)n some classes! especially basic levels! the students may not possess the necessary &nowledge of
structure or vocabulary for the above e(ercises$ Introductions are vital! as the teacher can learn
a lot about the interests! along with wants and needs of a student$ 3ou may find out something
rather uni+ue! li&e the softly spo&en middleaged woman who drives rally cars as a hobby on the
wee&end6 This would ma&e +uite a fantastic talking point when it comes to as&ing the student
about her wee&end$ To avoid being predictable and to challenge the students! introductions can
be done with a twist 7 by finding out the information from their partner and completing
presenting the information to the class$ This ta&es a traditionally +uiet! individual tas& and
transforms it into a fun! social activity that incorporates the additional s&ills of forming +uestions
7 provided the student uses English and not their native language6
8
!pectations" #ants and needs
When dealing with children! the e(pectations of the teacher play a significant role in contributing
to a productive flow of the course! especially for dealing with classroom management$ 9owever!
when it comes to dealing with adults! focusing on the e(pectations of the students is vital when
providing e(tracurricular activities$ All adult students would have an e(pectation of an English
class! and when you fulfil the e(pectations of the student! you succeed as an E:. teacher$ 1y
finding out the e(pectations of the students! you can tailor the course around their wants and
needs! which at the end of the day gives you positive feedbac& and provides you with a great
reputation that can lead to more opportunities in the future$
*$ ;
nd the class on a fun note
$fter co%pleting a successful first class" leave on a high note and play a ga%e& A
great little +uic&y vocab game is to come up with a topic! e$g$! <The 1each! and have the
students stand up and form a circle in the middle of the room$ The student must say an
original word associated with the topic! e$g$! <sand! <sea! etc$ )f the student gives an
answer that is not associated with the topic! ta&es too long to answer or repeats a word!
they must sit down$ The game continues until one person is left standing! who is the
winner$
$s the saying goes' first impressions last" especially #alking
into a class full of ne# faces&
All you need to do is arm them with the confidence to succeed! find out what they e(pect from
the class! while ta&ing a fun and lighthearted approach$ 1y following the above steps! your
students will love you! and have the confidence to e(press themselves and wal& away from the
class having learned something new in constructive and en'oyable atmosphere$
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