2 Questions and answers

2.1 Warming-up exercises

Topic Organis- Prep- Time in
Activity type Level ation aration minutes
1 Names pers./fact. beg. class yes 5-10
2 Name circle pers./fact. beg. class no 5-10
3 Name tags pers. int. indiv. yes 10-15
4 Identity cards pers./fact. int. pairs Part 2 10-30
5 Trademark pers. int. indiv. yes 15-20
6 Three adjectives pers/* int. indiv./class no 10-15
7 Stem sentences pers. int. indiv. Part 2 15-20
8 Choosing pictures pers. beg./int. indiv. yes 15-20
9 Clusters fact. beg./int. class yes 15-30
10 Groupings pers./fact. beg./int. class/groups Part 2 5-10
11 Back to back pers. beg. pairs no 10-20
12 Similar and different pers.* int. pairs no 10-20
pers. = personal; pers.* = more intimate; fact. = factual; beg. = beginners; int. = intermediate;
indiv. = individuals; groups = small groups; pairs = two people working together;
class = everybody working together; Part 2 = material for the exercise is to be found in Part 2.

When people have to work together in a group it is advisable

that they get to know each other a little at the beginning.
Once they have talked to each other in an introductory
exercise they will be less reluctant to cooperate in further
activities. One of the pre-requisites of cooperation is knowing
the other people's names. A second one is having some idea
of what individual members of the group are interested in.
One important use of warming-up exercises is with new
classes at the beginning of a course or the school year. If you
join in the activities and let the class know something about
yourself, the students are more likely to accept you as a
person and not just as a teacher. A second use of warming-up
activities lies in getting students into the right mood before
starting on some new project or task.
However, even warming-up activities may seem
threatening to very shy students. In particular, exercises in
which one person has to speak about himself in front of the
whole class (e.g. No. 5 Trademark) belong in this category.

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