First Day Activities for Elementary ESL Classes

Source : Joel Barnard , ehow.com

The first day of an elementary class is an opportunity for you to get to know the students and for them to get to know you and each other. It's also a good time to give them some indication of what is expected of them in class and what the rules are. A variety of interactive activities will achieve this as well as making the class happy and relaxed.

Learning Names

Arrange the students in a circle in the center of the class. Hold a ball in your hands and throw it to one student, saying your name as you do so. This student throws the ball to someone else, saying his own name as he does so. After five minutes, stop the activity. Take the ball and throw it to another student, saying her name as you do so. This student then throws the ball to another student, saying the name of the student who is catching the ball. Continue for five minutes or until everyone is reasonably familiar with the names of the people in the class.

Getting-to-Know-You Questions

Write five short answers about yourself on the blackboard. For example, "John," "23," "Texas," "7 a.m." and "Steak." Ask the students to supply you with the questions for these answers, prompting where necessary. The questions are: "What's your name?," "How old are you?," "Where do you come from?," "What time do you get up?" and "What's your favorite food?" Ask students to now work in pairs, asking their partner these questions and perhaps one or two more they can think of. After five minutes, or when they have finished, ask them to change partners and ask the questions once again. After five minutes, ask the students to stop and invite them to share the information they have gathered with the class.

Find Someone Who

Provide each student with a piece of paper on which you have listed 10 prompts about experiences. The list might include phrases such as "been to Spain," "built a snowman" and "drunk root beer." Explain any vocabulary an elementary student might not know. Ask the students to stand up and move their tables and chairs to the side of the room. Demonstrate the activity yourself first by asking one student, "Have you ever been to Spain?" Continue asking students this question until someone says yes. Then write her name on the piece of paper next to the question. Students continue the activity by asking each other questions until they have a name for each question on their piece of paper. When they have finished, ask them to sit down and share some of the information with the class.

True and False Class Rules

Divide the class into pairs and issue each pair a piece of paper on which you have listed some of the rules of the class. For example, "You should not speak your native language in class" and "You should arrive to class on time." But also include some false "rules" such as "Students will fail the course if they call the teacher by his first name" or "You can smoke in class if you really need to." Put the students in pairs to work through the list, marking each sentence true or false. Go over the sentences with the entire class once most of the pairs have finished.