Name Chain Games

By far and away the best way to learn and retain student names is
to do a name chain game to start off the class. You can vary the
specifics to fit the needs of your particular class, but my class usually
goes like this: the first student says 1) his or her name, 2) his or her
home country, 3) one interesting fact about himself or herself, and 4)
his or her favorite English word. The next student must then repeat all
of the information about himself or herself and then say the name and
favorite English word of the preceding student. The third student
introduces himself or herself and then says the names and favorite
English words of the preceding two students, and so on until the last
student. For a challenge, tell the last student not to write anything
down! As the teacher, you can also go last instead and impress
theclass with your knowledge of their names while simultaneously
making the last student feel better. Make sure you quiz your students
throughout the week to see if they can remember everyone’s names
and favorite words. I’ve also made a practice vocabulary quiz using
each of their favorite English words before which is a great way to
transition them into your testing style.
Variation: Instead of having students say their favorite English word,
have them choose a word that starts with the same letter as their
name, a favorite city, favorite food, etc... the options are endless!
Name That Person
Another great activity to get to your students to know each other a
little better is a guessing game. Pass out small pieces of paper or
notecards to each student and tell them to write down two facts about
themselves on the card without writing their name on them. Collect the
cards in a basket and mix them up before redistributing them to the
students. Students take turn reading out the facts from the note card
and the other students guess which person wrote the card.
Variation: Instead of writing them down on notecards, have them
discuss their facts with a partner. After groups have had some time to
discuss, come back together as a whole class. The partners will take
turns sharing facts and the rest of the class has to guess which partner
the fact is about! Give apoint to the partners who guess the facts
correctly and a point to the partners who are able to fool the class.

Would You Rather....

Line students up in two lines with each line facing each other. Tell
them to come up with creative “Would you rather...” questions to ask
their partners, such as “Would you rather eat pizza for the rest of your
life or chocolate?”; “Would you rather be a ballerina or a florist?” etc...
Give them a few examples to prompt them and see what kinds of
creative questions they come up with. This will help to pique their
creativity and get to know their new classmates. After a short time,
have one of the lines move down so students will get to meet everyone
in the other line.
Variation: In a large circle as a whole class, have Student A pose a
would you rather question for Student B to answer. To make things
even more interesting, have Student B answer for a different student.
 For example, Student A might ask “Student B, do you think student C
would rather have a crocodile or a zebra for a pet?” The students will
then guess for their classmate; be sure to have Student C answer to
see who close Student B was!

Find Objects to Describe Me ....

A classic get to know you activity is to have students go through
their backpacks, folders, pockets, etc... and find 3 or 4 things that
they feel describe them very well. Students then need to describe
their objects and why they chose them as their defining objects. Put
students into pairs to share their objects or share as a whole class so
that way everyone can hear about their new classmates!
Variation: Send students around the building with cameras (phones
work nicely these days) and take a picture of something in the building
that they think defines them or could describe them.

Word Association
A great speaking activity that helps to loosen up nervous students
on the first day is a word association game. One student says a
word (choose a category like travel if you wish to narrow things down)
and the next person must say a word associated with that word; the
next student says a word associated with that word, and so on. If
another student challenges the association, the student must justify
how those words are related. Make it a competition to see who can get
the most points if you want to add a little friendly rivalry in the mix.
Variation: To make things more challenging or adapt this activity for a
higher level class, put extra restrictions such as the word you say must
 begin with the last letter of the word the previous student said. For
example, if Student A says “Japan,” Student B might say “ninja.”

Picture Story-Telling
To get some of the more creative students included, give each
student a blank piece of paper. Tell them to draw a picture of an
event that happened to them recently, for example, a vacation they
took, or a graduation ceremony etc... There can be no words on the
paper. Put the students into pairs and have the partners guess what
went the event was based on just looking at the picture.
Variation: Before putting students into pairs, collect the students’
pictures and randomly redistribute them to different students. The
students will then have to describe to the class what is going on in the
picture. When they finish, ask the artist of the picture to say how close
that student was and to narrate what actually happened in their life
event.

I’m Cool Because...

If students are getting sluggish and you need them to move
around the first day, do this activity. Have all of the students seated
in a circle and you as a teacher stand in the middle. To start off the
activity, you will say “I’m cool because...” and then finish that sentence
with something that’s true about you, for example, you’re wearing blue
jeans, you speak 3 languages, etc... Then, every student who shares
that fact in common with you must stand up and find a new seat. You
also will need to find a seat meaning that one student will be stranded
 in the middle. This game is great for finding commonalities and getting
in some good laughs!
Variation: Play “I have never....” instead. When students are in the
middle, have them call out things they’ve never done and have the
students move who have done those activities.

3 Common, 1 Unique
This activity is good for small groups. Randomly group students
into three or four and give them a time limit to discover three
things that all members of the group have in common and one
thing that is unique for all of them.When the time is up, have each
group report to the class. Then, change up the groups and have them
do it again with their new class members. If it starts to get too easy,
start ruling out common answers like “We’re all from different countries”
or “We all breathe oxygen.”
Variation: Try this with the whole class after doing it in small groups. If
they’ve been good listeners, they should be able to recall many things
that all students had in common. It may take awhile, but there are
surely at least 3 things the whole class has in common!