These don’t require speaking– they’re just for fun. (From from Martina Bex at the Comprehensible Classroom.
The first student to tear off all the words gets a prize. If the word if blocked by a word to the left or the right, it can’t get torn off. As you give your presentation, tell students they may tear off the key words as they hear them, but ONLY if the word is on the outer edge. Write those words on the board, and tell students to write them down in a horizontal row on a piece of paper, but in a random order. Choose about 5-7 key words from your presentation, words that will be repeated frequently. This one is more innocuous than it sounds! If you are planning to start off with an “About Me” presentation, or an intro to the syllabus or procedures, spice it up a little by with this one. It’s a good way to show students they can understand many words right away, even when they are brand-new to the language. This game, of course, only works for languages that have cognates. Students stand on the side that matches their opinion/answer. Mark one side of the room as “I like” and the other as “I don’t like” (in the TL if desired). Call out cognates (like “chocolate” and “animales” for English-Spanish) and student stand on the side of the spectrum that shows how they feel about it.Īlternatively, put a line down the middle of the room. This is good for getting to know each other and finding out things in common. If they are new, use pictures to make it comprehensible. If students are upper-level, use words they know in the target language (TL). If two “globs” form over the same things, they should join. Call out (perhaps show) a term like “eyes,” “number of siblings,” or “favorite subject” and the students with the same answer stand in a group.
This is a low-pressure get-to-know-you game. Games that build community, look for things in common, and ease everyone into the target language can be a great way to start. My job is to make sure Spanish is comprehensible, and yours is to pay attention and stay with me.Īs a semi-introvert, most icebreakers terrify me– all the ones that make you remember everyone else’s name, think of a clever adjective, etc. I really think it’s important to do low-pressure icebreakers those first days, especially if you’re trying to do so in another language.You’re safe here: safe to try new things and make mistakes. This isn’t a class about Spanish it’s a class mostly in Spanish. We speak in the TL as much as possible.They reflect the tension we feel most days, probably: how can we stay in the target language, connect with our students, communicate effectively, and make the whole process enjoyable? No wonder we’re tired! In those first days, I do think it’s important to establish a couple of things: Icebreakers can be tricky in the World Language Classroom.
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