Thanks to our contributors, Mr. Pramod Kanakath and Ms. Erni Sumiyati. We welcome all teachers to contribute your learning ideas.
The first day of school is a time where students & teachers get to know each other. First impressions are crucial for developing a prosperous school year together. In this edition, Mr. Pramod Kanakath from Lentera International School and Ms. Erni Sumiyati from ELT! Gramedia, share their experiences about activities for the first day of school.
1. Word Hunt
Level : primary/secondary
Purpose : to learn new words, e.g. relic, antique
Equipment : photo of one of the students (the thief), A4 size paper to be cut into several pieces of paper for writing down letters of the words.
How to do it :
– Tell the class that they are going to have fun with Word Hunt.
– Create an imaginary situation where an ancient jewel has been stolen from a famous palace. The police suspect a particular person.
– Divide the class into policemen, detectives and ONE thief.
– Send them out of the classroom in batches to retrieve the photo of the thief hidden somewhere in the school compound. They are also supposed to find the two code words used by the thief.
– Send the policemen first and if they return unsuccessful, send the detectives. One of the policemen or the detectives can be the thief.
– You need to prepare the photo of the thief and hide it somewhere in the school compound.
– The words must be separated into letters (on separate pieces of paper) and pinned on the various bulletin boards in the school.
– The students have to find all the letters and bring them to the classroom.
– Then they reorder the letters and find the two words along with the thief’s photo.
– They get two words, relic and antique. Explain the meaning of the words to them.
– Ask them to use them in their own sentences.
Pramod Kanakath, English Teacher
Sekolah Lentera Internasional
2. Tell Me Then
Level : elementary–advanced
Equipment : piece of paper for each
How to do it:
– Give a piece of paper to every student.
– Tell them that they have to draw or write something on the paper: in each corner, and one in the middle/centre. They can draw anything, write words or even numbers. Eg:
– When they have finished, ask them to make groups of 3 or four.
– In groups, everybody in turns has to guess why his/her friends wrote or drew the things on the paper.
e. g:
– When s/he has already discussed all, the next student will talk about what s/he has on her/his paper.
– When everybody has finished talking, they have to tell the class some interesting facts about his/her friends.
Erni Sumiyati
ELT! Gramedia, Jogjakarta
Editor: Michael R. Clarke
