All You Need is Paper (and a little love) ESL/EFL activities

  I made these characters to play an adaptation of the Among Us game with my teenage students on our first day. They all have to put their heads down on the table and I'll call each one individually. If I show them the green player, they are part of the crew. If I show them the red player, they are the impostor. When they all put their heads up, each student will say a sentence about themselves but the impostor has to say a false sentence. Then, the class has to all vote on who they think the impostor is and why. The sentences can be about things they like or don't like, favorite colors or sports teams, pets they have, anything about their lives. Again, I used a cereal box to make the characters and taped them onto chopsticks, really simple. Let's see how it goes. 🤞🤞

The first day of class is always crucial to set the tone to what kind of teacher you are and how you hope the semester will unfold. I remember the butterflies which frantically flew around my stomach on the many first days of school I had as a child. This year with the many different kinds of classes, online, in class or even hybrid (some students online while others are in our classroom), students might be even more anxious than ever. Here are some ideas and suggestions to make your students feel welcome and to immediately get to know your students better. Remember the ideas have to be adapted to fit your age group. If you live in a country where you are already in the classroom with all your students, tape a slip of paper under their desk or chair with a personal message for them. It can be something like: John, I'm so happy you are my student this year/semester or Alice, I can't wait to learn what your favorite pet/color/cartoon is. They really get excited when you tell the...

Unboxing videos are all over the Web, so I decided to make my own unboxing video to show my students on the first day after our break. I collected things I did on my time off to share with my class on their first day back. I only wrote the word  unboxing  on the box so I could use the box again with other topics. The words  my vacation  can be taped on and then taken off and replaced.  If we were in a live classroom, I’d do the unboxing in the classroom but since we’re still online, I thought a video would be best. I asked them to create their own vacation unboxing vídeos to share with the class. Let’s hope they do! .

These Story Wheels can be used in several different ways. I used them in 2 different classes as first day activities. In one class, students were very young, around 8 years old, so I had students draw and talk about their likes and dislikes. They shared their circles in small groups. In another class, students' average age was 12 years old and they were at an intermediate level. I had them draw and then talk in pairs about important moments in their lives. The circles are easy to make. You just need to circles of the same size, one has an opening so you can see the drawings on the other circle. After students have made their drawings, you put the circles together using a brad. There are just soooo many ways you can use these circles and it really lets students get creative.

This activity can be used as an icebreaker or a warm up activity for a specific unit in which the title and/or topic is love. You can also do this in February around Valentine's Day. I cut out a heart for each student around the size of my hand. My hearts were red but you can use any color your heart desires. Each student is given a heart and asked to write 2 things they like about themselves and two things they like about the person to their right. It can be one word or how they like the way the person does something. Each thing is written on a round "tip" of the heart, 2 on the front and 2 on the back. Tell your students they are not supposed to let anyone see what they are writing. When they are done, collect the hearts and tape them up on the walls with the back tips folded back (sort of like a butterfly on a wall). Ask your students to get up and go up to the hearts and try to find out who the hearts are referring to. It's a nice way for them to get to kn...