[Mr. E English]

As this is my challenge I suppose I should start it off - here's my activity.

Level - Any
Purpose - discussing personal details

I use this as the opening lesson for a new class of students who don't know me (the teacher) or their other classmates. The purpose is to get them talking (so I can start to access their level and ability) and allow them to start to know a little about each other and therefore jell as a group.

Process -

draw one line straight down the middle and another line across the middle of the board so you have four squares.

In each square draw a picture of something related to your life, e.g. family members / a musical instrument / the beach / tennis. As you build up the picture elicit from the students what they think the picture is.

Students as a class now question you about the items they can see in each square, e.g.

"Do you like playing tennis?" - Yes, I do.
"How often do you play it?" - Once a week on Saturdays
"Are you good at it?" - Not really, but I enjoy it

Repeat this discussion process for all the pictures.

Now handout a piece of blank paper to each student. The students divide the paper into four squares and in each one draw a picture related to their life.

In pairs students question each other about the pictures they have drawn.

Get students to change pairs and repeat the discussion with a new partner.

Final stage - collect all the pieces of paper. Teacher - hold up one of the sets of pictures and ask the class to tell you who's pictures they are and what information they know about that person.

Homework - each student takes a set of pictures of someone they interviewed and writes up their details in a short discription.


And all with just a whiteboard (and a few pieces of paper)!