A Good Activity to Meet Your EFL Students

There they are, maybe a dozen of them, staring you down-their EFL teacher-to start the first day of class. Who's more scared-you or your students? It's hard to believe, but your students are probably more scared than you.

One of the things you have to accomplish on this first day is group bonding. This is one of the most important factors that will determine how the class will go, according to EFL experts.

Okay, so your students have gone around and announced their names, their countries of origin and why they want to study English. Now what?

I've found one of the best activities to get EFL students to bond is the use of Identity Circles. This can work with most levels, starting with elementary. Here's what these circles are and how you use them:

1. Tell the class you're going to do a fun activity to get to know each other, and that you're going to start first.

2. Draw a large circle on the board and put your name in the middle of it.

3. Then draw five spokes out of the circle. On the end of each spoke, put a fact about yourself. For example, at the end of my spokes, I usually have the following: Egypt, chocolate, (the number) 2, New York, etc.

4. Tell the students that these are five personal things about you. They have to ask you yes-and-no questions to find out what it means in your life. Tell them some are easy and some are hard.

5. Then demonstrate. I take the words New York-and I say, "If you asked me 'do I live in New York,' I would say 'no.' Then you or someone else in the class needs to keep guessing what New York means in my life."

6. Ask the students to start. Some may not get the idea right away, but I guarantee you that someone will. And the students will love it.

7. Expand on the answers. For example, if someone asks if Egypt is one of my favorite places, I would say yes. But I wouldn't stop there-I would ask who else has been to Egypt? This starts a discussion that can involve almost everyone.

8. Make sure you leave time for the students do their own identity circles. That really is the whole point-for them to get to know each other, not just you.

9. When your students have finished guessing the facts in your life, ask them to write down their own identity circles on a piece of paper and put in their own personal facts.

10. Then ask the students to do the activity with each other. If it's a small class and you have the time, ask each student to volunteer to put his/her circle on the board and let the other students guess about the facts in their lives. If it's a large class, then divide the class in pairs and ask them to do the activity that way.

11. After students have completed the task in pairs, ask them to join the larger group again and ask each student pair to tell some interesting things they learned about each other.

This activity works because it's fun, it helps the students focus on conversation rather than their anxiety on the first day-and best of all? It takes up a lot of time.

Ilene Springer teaches EFL in Malta and is author of An-American-in-Malta.com.