Wanna know my favorite back to school introduction game for students? Then pay attention! It is my own version of four corners! When I do introductions in my lessons I have a few goals: 1) I want students to introduce themselves by giving information. 2) I want students to use the target language. 3) I want students to learn about each other. This game does all of that!
Do you also feel like the back to school time should be fun and engaging right away? But do you also want to see what students can do for your subject? Then this game is what you need! I will explain to you my version of four corners and then you can decide if this is a game that you want to start your year off with.
Before I continue, if you love games, then you’ll also love this free cheat sheet of the seven best whiteboard marker games! Grab it here right away!
Icebreaker game for students
My version of four corners is one of my favorite introduction games for students. This is how it goes:
- I put a question up on the board with 4 options for answers.
- The answers correspond with the corners of the classroom, which I have marked as 1, 2, 3 and 4, or A, B, C and D.
- After I have read the question on the board out loud, students must choose the corner and the answer that applies to them, and stand in that corner physically.
- Once all students have chosen their corner, I will ask specific students why they chose their answer, or to elaborate their answer to the rest of the class.
- We will play a few questions the first time. And I make sure I have enough questions to play a few times more throughout back to school time.
Why is this such a good introduction game?
This is one of my favorite introduction games for groups because of the following reasons:
- Students will have a chance to show me what they can do in the target language. I will ask specific students to explain their answer or choice, and because the topic is familiar, it will be easy for them to talk about it in the language that they should use.
- Students will be able to share about themselves in a comfortable setting. All of their classmates will share something, and the answers are even clearly visible for everyone. This way there is no pressure to share more about yourself with new classmates.
- The students will learn about each other quickly and in a fun way. Questions will be about favorite food, pets, friends, sports and hobbies, etc. These are all things they will want to learn about in order to become comfortable with this new group of people around them.
- A last reason why this is one of the best introduction games for ESL students is that they will also see the language written out on the board, which will help them understand spelling. I will also say the words out loud so they will hear me pronounce them.
- Plus I love that this game involves movement. Research shows that movement enhances learning in great ways!
So those are the reasons why this is such a great introduction game for students!
Introduction game for adults
Note: I think this is also a great introduction game for adults actually! You would have to adapt the questions of course, make them more challenging. But depending on the setting, I think adults would also love to share about themselves in this way with a new group of people. It is low pressure, it is fun, and it achieves the goal of introduction!
If you want to read more about getting students to speak in class, click here.
You can easily create this game yourself. All you have to do is come up with questions that you want to ask your students, plus those 4 answer options for each question! If you don’t feel like creating it from scratch though, I have the game up in my store, and it includes 21 questions for students to answer!
Grab it now by clicking here!
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Why board games for teaching are an amazing asset for your lessons
How to combine games with learning in a fun and easy way
7 easy and wonderful back to school activities for your students
