Four 'back-to-school' activities

Going back to school: some ideas for your first lesson(s)  

It’s September, the time when many are heading back to school (in the Northern Hemisphere). I thought it would be a good time to share some lexical (and lexico-grammatical) activities to start the year.

Alliterative introductions

Students introduce each other using an adjective that alliterates with their name. Suitable for Pre-Intermediate (A2/B1) and up.

Procedure

1. Introduce yourself using an adjective that starts with the same sound as (=alliterates with) your first name. There are several ways of doing (depending on the level):

Hi. I’m lexical Leo
Hi. I’m Leo and I’m lazy
Hi. My name is Leo and people call me Lovely Leo

2. Put students in pairs and ask them to come up with adjectives that alliterate with their names. Monitor and help with difficult letters, for example, M or V (e.g. Vivacious Vivienne) – I've found THIS table which might be of help

3. Students introduce their partner to the class using the adjective and one of the above patterns. With higher levels you can ask students to justify the chosen adjective. 

Note 

With lower-level classes and large classes you might end up with a lot of new adjectives which you would need to clarify. Bear in mind that presenting new words in semantic sets (i.e. semantically related words belonging to the same part of speech) has been shown to impede learning – see this POST

Related

See THIS song activity focusing on alliterations

Sentences in a box 

Students use sentence heads to make statements about themselves; suitable for Pre-Intermediate (B1) and up

Preparation

Prepare slips of paper with (some of) the following sentence starters (sentence heads). There should be a bit more papers than the number of students.

One thing I’ve always wanted to try is…
I was really surprised when…
I used to…
…really frightens me
I could easily… if I had do
I don’t know the first thing about…
I don’t much care for…
I’ve always wanted to…
I think English is…
One thing I’m afraid of is…
I wouldn’t mind… It normally takes me…
What I don’t like about ____ is…
I wish I could…
If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s…

Procedure

1. Put all the papers in a box (e.g. shoe box). Circulate around the room with the box and ask students to take one strip of paper each.

2. Students complete the sentences so that they are true for them, fold them and put them back in the box.

3. Place the box in the centre of the room. Ask students to take a strip of paper out of the box and find out who the statement written on it belongs to. If, by chance, students pick out their own sentence, collect the papers from them (and a couple of other students) and redistribute by shuffling the papers in the box. To find out who has written the statement, students should mingle and talk to each other. They are not allowed to show each other the papers.

Follow up
Encourage students to ask follow-up questions and, at the end, when the students have returned to their seats, ask some of them to report on what they’ve learned about their classmates.

I think I first saw this activity in a resource pack accompanying one the coursebooks in the Reward series (Heinemann/Macmillan)

Four square introductions 

Students combine basic words and grammar to make sentences about themselves - suitable for beginners (A1) of any age

Preparation 

Prepare a half A4 page (A5) sheet with four circles – see Example below.  Make enough copies for each student in class. Alternatively, draw the circles on the board and ask students to copy.

Procedure 

1. Make sure students know the meaning of the verbs in the circles. Introduce yourself using the four circles to provide a model for students.

2. If students can write, ask them to write ONE sentence in the circle. If they can’t, they should make a sentence orally. Monitor and help students by feeding in the vocabulary they may lack.

3. Allow some time for practising introducing each other in pairs; then call on each student and ask them to read out / say their sentences.

Follow up

Now encourage them to write / think of two more sentences for each circle, for example:

I am tall / 38 years old
I live in a flat / with my parents
I have a car / two sisters
I like sushi / summer

Encourage students to incorporate as many words as they know.

From the upcoming book Lexical Grammar (CUP)

I know what you did last summer 

This is basically a Find Someone Who (FSW) activity suitable for students who already know each other (i.e. they were in the same class last year) - with a "twist" at the end.

Preparation

Prepare a handout with (some of) the following statements:

What did your classmates do over the summer?
Find someone who...

1. tried to get in shape
2. pursued his/her favourite hobby
3. binge-watched her/his favourite TV show
4. went for a bike ride
5. lost weight
6. went to the beach and basked in the sun
7. got rid of the clutter in the house
8. cleaned up his/her email inbox
9. threw a party
10. got injured
11. took a cooking/photography/art class (insert one that fits if you know your students' interests)
12. came down with a virus
13. moved house
14. just took it easy 

Procedure

1. Distribute the handout. Clarify the meaning of 'difficult' lexical items, if necessary.

2. Students mingle asking and answering each others' questions.

3. Conduct whole class feedback by asking students to report back to class what they found out about their classmates.

4. Ask students to turn over the FSW handout and distribute a sheet with the same questions with the verbs blanked out. Alternatively, this can be displayed on the board/screen.

1. tried to ... in shape
2. ... his/her favourite hobby
3. ... her/his favourite TV show
4. ... for a bike ride
5. ... weight
6. went to the beach and ... in the sun
7. ... of the clutter in the house
8. ... his/her email inbox
9. ... a party
10. ... injured
11. ... a cooking/photography/art class (insert one that fits if you know your students' interests)
12. ... with a virus
13. ... house
14. just ... it easy 

Get students to fill in the gaps. Then check against the original FSW handout. Discuss any areas of difficulty.

Note

There is a mix of relatively easy, familiar verb-noun collocations here (e.g. went for a bike ride) and some potentially new ones (which you would have clarified in Step 1 above), such as binge-watch or came down (with) - I'm aiming for B1+/B2- level here. There are also a couple of 'problematic' collocations, such as threw a party or took a (photography) class.

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Do you have a favourite 'back-to-school' activity? Do share in the comments below.
And have a successful school year, in which I promise I'll be updating this blog more often :)