3 Fun Back-To-School Activities for English Language Learners
The beginning of every school year is several things— overwhelming, exciting, and magical!
Leaves are changing colors, the school buses are running again, and you get to work with some of your favorite students. While summertime was fun, you’re ready to get back into the classroom and start setting goals for the New Year.
When you’re thinking about activities for the first week of school, remember that this time is mainly about making connections and understanding where each student is regarding language proficiency and skill level.
The activities you do in the first weeks give you valuable information about your students’ needs. This information can also help you plan for the rest of the quarter, semester, or even the rest of the school year.
While you may have some students you’ve taught in the past, you’re bound to see some new faces. Use this time to understand better the students who are new and reconnect with returning students.
Whether you’re trying to do back-to-school activities or teach ELL activities, there are many ideas to put together to help ignite their curiosity.
3 Back-To-School English Language Learners Activities
1. All About Me Presentations or Find Somebody Who Game
An easy way for you to get to know your students and for them to get to know each other is by playing a few “Getting to Know You” games. All about me activities are an easy way to allow students to exchange a little bit of information about themselves.
Providing students with sentence frames creates a model for students to learn to introduce themselves. Plus, it is a great way to get to know each other!
If you are working with an older group and would like to have a more interactive experience, you can have your students do a Find Somebody Who Game.
This will allow your students to move around the classroom and introduce themselves to each other. You can also join in on the game!
2. KWL Chart
Developed in 1986 by Ogle, the KWL chart is a helpful exercise to give you an understanding of where students are at in their knowledge of the English language. While it was initially used in reading classes, it can be a fun back-to-school writing prompt to touch base with your students.
(K)now, (W)ant to know, and (L)earning provide you with an excellent example of where each student is after having summer vacation, which for some students could mean staying at home and not having many chances to practice English.
3. Family Tree
If you’re a teacher working with younger students, you can do a fun activity of having them organize a family tree to share with the class. Students can bring pictures in from home or draw different members of their family. Once students are finished with the activity, they can present it to the class, and then they can be used as decorations in the classroom. This can also help make connections when you meet parents as you’ll already have a nice picture of your student’s home life.
I hope these activities can help you too! What tips and suggestions do you have to share for back-to-school season? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below.
