Fabulous Ideas for the First Day of Class

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  • Onthefirstdayofclass,thehallsbuzzwithexcitement.

    Teachersgetreadytogreettheirstudents,anxioustogetstarted,andouryoung,ornotsoyoung,learnersarenervous,wonderingwhattheirteacherslike.Ofcourse,firstimpressionscount,anditsessentialtohaveafirstdayofclassthatwillsetthetoneforwhattherestof

    theschoolyearorcoursewillbelike.Anditwillbefun!

    Herearesomefabulousideasfortheallimportantfirstdayofclass:

    Gettingtoknowyournewstudents

    Thefirstdayofclassisagreatopportunitytogettoknowyournewstudentsandfindoutalittlemoreaboutthem.

    1.ThisIsMe(http://busyteacher.org/2897thisisme.html):Thisisaverysimpleworksheetforveryyounglearnerswhomaynotbeabletowrite.Theydrawapictureofthemselvesandseveraloftheirfavoritethings.Aftertheyvecompletedtheirworksheetsaskthemtostandupandshowtheirpicturestotheclass.Ifpossible,youmayaskthemtodescribeornamesomeofthethingsinEnglish.

    2.ThisIsMe(forolderstudents)(http://busyteacher.org/2899thisismeolderstudents.html)ThisoneissimilartotheaboveworksheetbutforstudentswhoarealreadyabletoreadandwriteinEnglish.Youmayalsoaskthemtosharetheinformationtheyvewrittendownwiththeclass.Thelastpartoftheworksheetisparticularlyusefulforteachers.Itasksstudentsbasicallyhowmuchtheylikecertainactivitieslikesinging,coloring,playinggames,etc.anditwillgiveyouanideaastowhattypeoflearnereachmaybe.

    Icebreakers

    Neverunderestimatetheimportanceofactivitiestobreaktheiceonthefirstdayofclass(youhavealreadycheckedournewWarmersandIceBreakers(http://busyteacher.org/teaching_ideas_and_techniques/warmersworksheets/)category,haventyou?).Nomatterhowoldorhowyoungyourstudentsare,thereisalwaysalittleanxiety

    Fabulous Ideas for the First Day of Class

    (/)

    WORKSHEETS ESLARTICLES(/HOWTO/) SEASONAL (/SEASONALWORKSHEETS/) MORE OURSTORE

  • abouthavingtospeakalanguagethatisnottheirown.Togettheyearofftoagreatstart,tryeitheroftheseicebreakers,andyou'llseeyourstudentswillbemorerelaxedandlessanxiousaboutlearningEnglish.

    1.Introduceme:Thisactivityisagreatwaytostartaclassofadultlearnerswhoarenotcompletebeginners.Splitthemupintopairsandhavethemtaketurnsaskingeachotherquestions.Youshouldhavesomepromptswrittendownontheboardoronahandout,andtheyshouldbesuitabletotheirlevel.Forexample,beginnerintermediatestudentsshouldhavealistofquestions,like:

    Wheredoyoulive?Whatdoyoudo?Wheredoyouwork?Etc.

    Moreadvancedstudents,maybesimplygivenareastoinvestigate,like:

    EducationFamilyWorkLeisureactivitiesandhobbiesEtc.

    Theyshouldbeencouragedtotakenotes,andtrytorememberasmuchastheycanabouttheirpartner.Oncetheyredoneinterviewingeachother,eachstudenthastointroducehisorherpartnerandtelltheclasswhatthey'velearnedaboutthatperson.

    Veryyounglearnersorbeginnerscansimplybetaughttoasksimplequestionslike,Whatsyourname?andHowoldareyou?,thenintroducetheirnewfriendtotheclass:ThisisSandra.Shes7yearsold.

    2.Mygoals:Unlikemostschoolcourses,learningEnglishasasecondlanguageisquiteoftensomethingthatischosenbythestudentsthemselves.Adultstudents,attheveryleast,willbeabletotellyouwhytheyveenrolledinanESLcourse.ButlittleonesmayalsohavegreatreasonstowanttolearnEnglish.So,askeachofthemtosharetheirreasonsforsigningupforthecourse,andwhattheyhopetoaccomplish.Youmayaskthemtowritethisdownonthefirstpageoftheirnotebooks,sotheycanalwayshavethattolookbackto.

    Awordbook

  • Createapersonalizeddictionarythateachstudentwillkeepforthedurationofthecourse.Handoutafewblanksheetsofpapertoeachofyourstudents,aswellasapieceofposterboardofthesamesize.Theposterboardwillbethefrontcoveroftheirdictionary,whichtheycandecorateastheyplease.Theblanksheetsofpaperwillbethepagesoftheirdictionary.Theyshouldwritedownnewwordsintheirdictionaries,withashortdefinition,example,ordrawing.

    LookingtothefutureBuriedTreasure

    Heresanothergreatactivityforthefirstdayofschoolthatwillblowyourstudentsawayontheverylastdayofclass.CreateaTreasureChest.Askyourstudentstodrawpicturesofthemselvesandwritesomethingontheback:adescriptionofthemselves,theirfavoritethings,whattheyhopetolearnanddoinclass,etcMeasureeachoftheirheightswithapieceofstringoryarnandlabeleachonewithachild'sname.Ifpossible,recordeachofthemspeaking,brieflystatingtheirnamesandalittlesomethingaboutthemselves.Getacardboardboxthatwillholdallofthedrawings,piecesofstring,andthecassetteordisc,sealitwithtape,andhideitsomewhereintheclassroom,ortakeithomewithyou.

    Onthelastdayofclass,youcanplayaTreasureHunt(http://busyteacher.org/classroom_activitiesvocabulary/quizzes_and_huntsworksheets/)game,completewithtreasuremap,orsimplyreopentheboxinagrandceremony.Studentswillhaveablastlookingattheirearlierwork,andtheyllbeamazedtoseehowmuchthey'velearnedandgrown.

    Youcandosomethingsimilarwithadultlearners.Askthemtowriteaparagraphaboutthemselves,withnocorrectionsfromyou,justaspontaneoussampleofwriting.Keepallofyourstudentswritings,andonthelastdayofclassshowthesetothem,sotheycanseehowfarthey'veprogressedintheirwritingskills.Youcanalsorecordthemspeaking.Thisactivityisalotoffun,butitalsopresentsverytangibleevidenceofhowfarthey'vecome,somethingthatanyESLlearnerwillappreciate.

    Whateveryoudoonthefirstdayofclass,takethetimetogettoknowyourstudentsandletthemgettoknowyou.

    Setforththeclassroomrules(http://busyteacher.org/3040backtoschoolhowtoestablishclassroomrules.html)withthelittleonesdiscussyourstudentsgoalsforthecourse.Butthemostimportantthingistolayasolidfoundationforwhatwillbeayearofcooperationandlearning.

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