Easy Back to School Activities for MLs
The beginning of the school year is an important time for creating a classroom community. It is also important to help students feel comfortable in the classroom. Here are some simple back to school activities that will help you support your MLs and help them to get ready for a new school year.
See What You Have in Common
Have students fill out an interest survey and then let them see similarities they have with other students. Depending on your group size and preference, this can be done by having students sit in a circle and stand up or switch seats when something is true. For example, “stand up if you have a pet dog.” If you have beginning language learners, pictures are helpful.
I have a premade set of student interest surveys, picture vocabulary, and a FREE digital version.
Art Collage
The project can be as simple or complex as you wish, depending on the age of the students and the materials that you have available. The general idea is to have students create a collage (or decorate a notebook) that represents themselves. One benefit for MLs, is that this activity does not require writing. For students who struggle with writing, this is a low-stress way to start out the school year.
A Special Object
Have students bring in a special object (or a drawing or photograph of the object). First, with a partner or in a small group, have them share what makes the object special. Afterward, have students share with the class what is special about their object. You can also add a listening component, and have students share about their partner’s object.
Some sentence frames to provide are:
My object is special because….
My partner’s object is special because…
I have a _____. It is _____.
He/she has a ____. It is______.
Review School Routines
One simple way to review school routines is to have students sort behaviors into those that are positive and negative. You can divide students into small groups or pair them up with a partner. The students talk about why they are putting each behavior into the different categories. Finally, have the class complete the sort so that students can hear additional ideas.
You can have students model different behaviors and take pictures for the students to sort. This gets students up and moving. They also love looking at themselves in photographs displayed on posters. I also have a set of ready-made school routine picture cards for students to sort with positive and negative behaviors.
Read Alouds
Read alouds are a simple way to introduce students to different cultures and get back into the school routine. Many books lend themselves well to discussions of classroom community and accepting the diversity around them. Take a look at my list of back to school books for ELLs and school books from around the world.
Cooperative Games
Games can be a low presure way for students to become comfortable working with each other. When students are comfortable, then they are more likely to take risks. This includes the risk of trying out speaking and writing in a new language. For younger students, some well made coraperative games are made by Peacable Kingdom. If you have newcomer students, puzzles are a low pressure way for students to get used to working together.
Would You Rather Questions
If you are short on time, Would You Rather questions are a quick way for students to learn about each other. They are especially helpful if you are meeting with a small group of students for a short amount of time (so you do not get all day the first week of school for students to get to know each other). Simply choose a card, have each student share which option they would choose, and then move on. If you have a larger group, create a t chart with a picture of each choice and have students write their name under their choice. If you have extra time use the sentence frame “I would rather ____ because ____.” to add in oral langauge practice.
Set Language Goals
For all students, the beginning of the school year is a good time for goal setting. For ELLs, it is helpful to have them set language goals. One way to set language goals is to have students write or draw one thing that they are good at and one area they want to get better in each language domain (reading, writing, listening, speaking.) You can share examples of what they will be learning in the upcoming school year to help them decide on a goal. Some teachers like to share with students how they did on the previous year’s language assessment. They might also share what areas they need to work on to move up a level.
I have sets of ready-made goal-setting graphic organizers for each language domain. I also have short sentences or phrases that have examples of what is expected in each domain at different language levels.
