Image from Be Kind
It’s back-to-school time, which means a new classroom of eager (and nervous) students! A critical aspect of starting a new school year is creating a welcoming and inclusive classroom and setting a positive tone for the academic year ahead.
“Get To Know You” Activities and Games
Simple “get to know you” or “icebreaker” activities are a great way to introduce students to one another and create a sense of community within the classroom, especially for those students who might be new to the country and the language. These activities also enhance communication, promote teamwork, and increase student participation.
Here are some great “get to know you” activities and games:
Heard It Through The Grapevine
This quick and easy craft allows students to write fun facts about themselves on a grape (click here for the grape template and full instructions). Once the students have filled out and decorated the grapes, they can attach them to a paper chain to make a grapevine. Use the paper chain to decorate the classroom and encourage the students to figure out which facts belong to which students.
Superpower Worksheet
One fun way to celebrate and get to know the bilingual students in the classroom is to have them fill out this Bilingual Superpower Worksheet. This worksheet encourages students to share the languages they speak, favorite holidays, hobbies, books, and other fun facts. The worksheet is now available in English, Chinese, and Spanish.
Walk The Line, If…
“Walk the Line, if…,” is an interactive way for students to learn about one another. To play, have the students gather on one side of the room/line and face towards its center. The teacher calls out specific categories/labels/descriptions and asks all those to whom this applies to walk to the other side of the room/line. Continue with questions ranging from who wears glasses to who speaks another language other than English.
Snowball Fight
Give each student a piece of paper and ask them to answer 3-5 provided questions about themselves to get to know one another. Once each student answers the questions, have them crumple their paper into a ball and announce “Snowball Fight.” After about 30 seconds, have the students stop and pick up the closest “snowball” to them. They then have to reunite the “snowball” with the correct person by asking questions and matching the answers to what is on the paper.
We have been busy at Language Lizard, adding additional teaching resources and new languages and expanding our language offerings in some of our most popular series. More about these new offerings in our next “Back to School” post, so stay tuned!