Here's Part 2 of my first class ideas, this time focused on the primary EFL class. If you're looking for ideas to use with teens or adults, please check out my previous post Hello! Nice to Meet you Part 1 in which you'll find plenty of ideas to start your English course off on the right foot!
What's the 'perfect' first primary class activity?
No such thing exists! First classes, especially for younger primary learners, should be dynamic and you ought to alternate short activities of no more than 15 minutes each in order to keep the students' attention and to engage as many different likes and personality types as possible, ie: some movement activities/games, some quiet worksheet/colouring/drawing time, some reviewing of previous language knowledge, lots of getting-to-know-you activities... Plus some back-ups in case any of your planned activities sink faster than lead (it happens!).
Don't forget to begin your course with the class systems and routines you plan to use going forward; routines create a great sense of security and facilitate moving from one activity to another smoothly and should be built into your very first lesson so as to help students anticipate what's coming next in each following class, so as to ultimately feel more comfortable and confident (more on classroom routines for YLs coming soon!).
Here are some of my favourite getting-to-know-you activities I enjoy using with my primary learners in that all important first class, as well as ideas on how to create a class contract.
Hope you find them useful!
1. 'Hand of me' activity
In this activity students learn a little personal information about a partner and can start practising single words/short phrases/questions in English, depending on their level.
Draw a hand on the board, elicit what is is and write your name in the middle.
On each finger write a short piece of information/fact about you.
Ss look at the personal information and take turns to guess what this information means to you. Eg: PIZZA; students might only be able to say Favourite food?, or maybe even Pizza is your favourite food / Is pizza your favourite food? Encourage Ss to help each other to form sentences/questions in English, and be prepared to help translate any ideas as needed.
Now that you've demo'd the activity, distribute some paper to Ss and allow a few minutes for them to trace around their own hands, write their names in the centre and add 5 pieces of personal information.
Ss now swap their hands with a partner and take turns to guess what the information is. Continue to monitor to assist with any language issues and emergent language.
Once Ss have had sufficient time, take class feedback and invite Ss to share some information that they can remember about their partner.
2. 'Find someone who...' mingler
Many first class 'getting to know you' activities focus on pairwork, but I don't see any reason why our primary students shouldn't be mingling as an entire group right from Day 1. After all, they've probably sat next to someone they already know, so it's more beneficial for them to mix with their other, new classmates, and getting primary learners up and about is a great way to reduce table-induced boredom!
A simple 'find someone who...' activity can be easily adapted for most levels and ages, using words/images/questions... This example I've used in an A1 level, 3rd-year primary group (8-9 year olds), and you'll find it available to download below. If you're not sure what existing knowledge your Ss have, go through the previous level's coursebook and that should give you a good (although not foolproof) idea of what to include.
Distribute a pre-made 'Find someone who...' board. Read through the instructions and question prompts, checking Ss understand each concept well, referring to the visual aids as needed.
Demonstrate how the mingling activity works by walking around the class and 'bumping into' Ss who then greet you ("Hello teacher! How are you?") and ask you a question.
Take care to thoroughly demonstrate that Ss do not write your name if your answer is 'no', and should repeat the same question with another classmate until they receive a 'yes'.
Ss can ask the Qs in any order, and you should ideally have some kind of a buzzer or bell on hand to signal when Ss should change partners.
When Ss have completed their boards, or you've spent as much time as you'd like on the activity, invite Ss to sit back down and ask for volunteers to share what they've learnt about their classmates. This is a great opportunity to practise some complete sentences and 3rd personal singular forms, which can trip some students up.
3. 'Class clouds'
This fun activity involves music, movement and greetings as well as drawing and/or writing personal information. You'll end up with a 'cloud' for each student with personal details added by their classmates. Why not then use these clouds to decorate your classroom during those first weeks of the course? This would be a great way to develop a sense of classroom ownership amongst your students and mark a shift from 'your' classroom (as the teacher), to 'their' classroom (the students) (credit to Michelle Worgan for helping me reflect on the difference between my/their classroom during a recent Inclusive 5-Day Challenge!).
Distribute paper to each S and either ask them to draw a large cloud, or have the shape already printed out for them to trace over in a colour of their choice. They write their names in large letters in the centre (see example).
Tac the clouds around the classroom walls and invite Ss to stand up.
Explain that you're going to play music (any popular Disney hits or the Jackson 5 are my go-to options!) and Ss should walk around the classroom greeting each other. Elicit/pre-teach some common greetings they could use, eg: Hello! Nice to meet you! Good afternoon! What's your name? How are you today? etc, as well as handshakes/high fives/anything else you find appropriate for your group. Students generally find this quite embarrassing to begin with but quickly enjoy themselves once they get going.
The mingling works like musical statues - Ss continue to mingle and greet one another until the music stops, at which point they freeze with the person closest to them. You call out a topic and elicit possible questions from Ss, for example FOOD! could be:"What's your favourite food?", which Ss must ask and answer with their closest partner.
When both Ss have asked/answered the question, they must find their partner's cloud around the room and draw or write their answer onto the sheet.
Music resumes, Ss continue to greet one another and when the music stops call out another topic/question. My example uses: food, animal/pet, age, hobby, class/subject, brothers/sisters...
When you've added enough information onto each cloud, you could either ask Ss to go around the class to see how much they have in common with their classmates, or ask them to find their cloud and talk about it with a partner.
4. Class contract
- Why create a contract?
I think the creation of some class rules or a type of class contract is an essential way to introduce the concept of suitable/unsuitable classroom behaviour right from the get-go. Helping students actively participate in their creation makes the rules a) much more personalised to your context and students, and b) a much more effective classroom management rool since the Ss have developed the rules themselves!
- Who with?
I used to use class contracts solely with my older primary and secondary-level learners, but this was a mistake. My 1st year primary groups (6-7 years old) are just as capable of vocalising how they want to be treated, how they should treat each other and what they expect from me as their teacher (!) as their older peers. Granted, there may well be a lot of L1 and language support needed but the objective of creating a class contract is to develop standards and discussions about acceptable behaviour in the classroom, it does not necessarily have to be focused on English language content.
- Ideas creation
Ask Ss to come up with some ideas on their own first, then to share with a partner or in a small group. Then take class feedback and identify which ideas are the most popular, and which should make it onto our 'class contract'. By creating rules this way, you're building thinking time into the activity as well as encouraging collaboration and listening - skills you'll want to continue promoting in your classes going forward. Depending on the age and level of your students, this could be done in L1, in English, a mix, a mix with mimes... Whatever will work for your students. The focus should be on positive behaviours and rules, rather than 'do nots'.
- Teacher's rules (!)
I also ask my students to come up with some rules for me, the teacher! Most of my students are familiar with classroom rules but find the concept of teacher rules to be quite novel, so be willing to help them out with some suggestions if needed. Common rules I've been given are: to nominate a S to be the 'mini-teacher' if I have to leave the class unexpectedly, to finish 5-10 minutes early for a chat or a game at the end of each class, to play music in class, to use Ss' names (it's sad to me that Ss feel they need to ask their teacher to use their names), to bring prizes and sweets into class on special days.... None of the suggestions have ever been too ridiculous so I'd suggest you lean into it and see what they come up with!
- Your class contract poster/display
Once you've decided on your class rules, I think it's important to display these in your classroom so that you can refer back to these agreed behaviours during the course, if needed. I like to involve my students in creating and decorating the poster, as well as 'signing' it as an endorsement. The rules could be written, or could use image representations, depending on the language level of your group. I usually ask Ss to 'sign' the poster by drawing around their hand on paper which they cut out and decorate with their name (plus any other images/designs they want to include). We glue our handprint 'signatures' onto the class contract poster when we're finished - this creates a real sense of ownership over the rules, which will help Ss follow them consistently.
Do you think you'll be using a class contract in your primary groups this year?
What might you do differently?
Good luck with the start of the new academic year! 👍🏻
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