First lesson ideas, games, and activities for an English classroom

You walk into a new classroom, full of students you are seeing for the first time. 

There's a slight tension in the air: some are nervously staring at the floor, others are excitedly whispering to their neighbours. 

And you have one thought in your head: how to start this first lesson in a way that sparks interest, makes eyes light up, and brings smiles to faces?

The first English lesson is not just an introduction to new material but an opportunity to create an atmosphere that will motivate students throughout the entire course.

The beginning is crucial: it sets the tone, forms the first impression, and helps establish a connection between the teacher and the students. 

It's important to make this lesson as engaging, interactive, and useful as possible. 

In this article, we will share ideas that will help you make this first step special.

The first English lesson is a perfect opportunity to create a comfortable atmosphere and establish a connection between the teacher and the students. 

Icebreaker games help to alleviate tension and create a friendly environment. 

These games will help students feel more at ease in a new setting and allow you to get to know your students better. 

Here are a few effective and fun games that will help you and your students start interacting easily and effortlessly.

In this game, each student introduces themselves by saying their name and adding an adjective in English that starts with the same letter as their name. 

For example, "Optimistic Olena," "Kind Kate," "Motivated Mykola." 

After a few students have introduced themselves, challenge the group to recall the names and adjectives of those who have already spoken. 

This will reinforce memory and make the activity more engaging. This game helps with memorising names and also develops students' creativity.

"My life in five sentences" is a game that allows students to share interesting facts about themselves while practising logical thinking and storytelling skills in English.

The aim of the game is to write five sentences about yourself in a mixed-up order on the board and let other students guess the correct sequence.

Ask each student to come up with five sentences about themselves and then write them on the board in a random order. 

These can be facts about their family, hobbies, school, interests, or future plans. 

The other students or groups discuss and try to guess the correct order of the sentences.

After the correct order is guessed, the student confirms or corrects it and explains why the sentences follow that particular sequence.

Each student thinks of three statements about themselves: two that are true and one that is a lie. 

Allow a few minutes for students to prepare their statements. Students take turns presenting their three statements to the group. 

The other students discuss and ask the speaker questions to gather more information and try to identify the lie. 

After the discussion, the group votes on which statement they believe is false. The speaker then reveals the correct answer. 

The game continues with the next student until everyone has had a chance to share their statements.

Next, you need to determine your students' knowledge level. 

It often happens that students forget grammar or words they have learned over the summer. 

To allow students to demonstrate their skills and recall the grammar rules of the English language, you can conduct various activities in a natural setting. 

This approach allows the teacher to notice the strengths and weaknesses of each student, their ability to interact, and their use of grammar and vocabulary.

Let's look at some examples of classroom activities.

The game "Associations" is a simple and effective activity that helps to warm up students' brains and allows you to assess their vocabulary and ability to think quickly in English.

As the teacher, you start the game by saying any word, for example, "summer." 

This word becomes the starting point for a chain of associations. 

The student sitting or standing next to you must say a word that they associate with "summer," for example, "sun." 

The next student then says a word that they associate with "sun," such as "beach," and so on. It is important that each word is associated with the previous one. 

You can add additional rules to keep the game from dragging on, such as limiting thinking time to 5-10 seconds or requiring that words not be repeated. 

The game continues until the associations run out or until you decide to stop the game. 

You can end the round with the last word and start a new round with a different word or theme.

Prepare cards or sheets of paper with sentences that contain intentional grammatical mistakes. 

These sentences can include errors in verb tenses, cases, prepositions, etc. Divide the class into teams of 3-4 students. 

Each team receives one card with three sentences containing grammatical mistakes. 

Teams have 3-5 minutes to discuss the mistakes and figure out the correct versions of the sentences. 

After the discussion, each team writes the corrected sentences on the board or reads them aloud. Each corrected sentence earns the team points. 

After several rounds, the points are tallied, and the winning team is announced. 

At the end of the game, the teacher can discuss the most common mistakes and how to avoid them.

Examples:

Prepare a list of simple questions in English that students will ask each other. 

Divide the class into pairs. If the number of students is odd, one of them can work in a group of three or the teacher can join a pair. 

Explain to the students that they will be working in pairs and interviewing each other. 

Each student needs to ask their partner several questions from the list and write down the answers. 

They can also add their own questions if they wish.

Give the students 7-10 minutes to conduct the interview. 

Ask them to listen carefully to their partner's answers and write them down. 

After completing the interview, ask each student to briefly introduce their partner to the class using the gathered information. 

For example, “This is Anna. She is 9 years old. Her favourite subject is maths.”

Summing up, the first English lesson is an opportunity to get to know your students and set the tone for the entire academic year. 

Using games and activities helps to establish an immediate connection with the class, understand each student's level, and create an atmosphere where learning becomes engaging and meaningful. 

These first steps are crucial: they show students that learning English can be interesting, accessible, and valuable. 

Well-chosen tasks and games not only motivate but also help everyone feel part of the group, which is key to successful learning in the future.