You’re about to teach a business class and you’re trying to figure out what to do.
Or maybe you’re teaching the same group for the second time, and you can’t OR you don’t want to repeat what you had done.
This is why I came up with two activities you can use back-to-back for your Business class on Day 1!
Activity #1: Mingling activity
1. Elicit from the s/s the meaning of “mingling”
2. Ask the s/s how mingling is connected with a first day of a new course or workshop.
3. Show s/s the topics they could ask each other (see slides 2-4 here).
4. Tell the s/s to remember anything interesting about the conversations
They can start mingling, and when you say “change”, the students will change partner.
After the mingling activity, ask the s/s to share anything that stood out to them at their table
Of course, you will do feedback on content and on language.
This was Activity #1!
Now, let’s move to Activity #2!
Activity #2: Getting to know each other better
Now is time to get to know your students better…and for your students to get to know each other better.
1. Divide the class into two groups – A and B
2. Tell the s/s that they are going to write one word or a number in the circles.
3. Tell the s/s they don’t have to do all the circles – Choose only 7.
4. Give students a couple minutes.
Now the fun part begins!
1. Put the s/s in pairs (A goes with B)
2. A shows B what they wrote in the circle
3. B has to guess what the number or the word refers to
4. A can give hints and B can ask questions
5. Once B guesses the meaning behind the word or the number, they can ask a follow-up question
6. It's A’s turn now.
Make sure to change the pairs after 3 circles, so that they can talk with different students.
You can also have the s/s share why they dd not choose some of the circles.
As always, you will do feedback on content and on language.
Extension activity for Homework
You can have the s/s send you an email with the information they just learned about one or two classmates. This might help you to gauge what their writing skills are.
Or you can have the s/s send you a voice recor
ding (1 minute) telling what information stood out to them and why.
Or you can have the s/s send you a voice recording sharing one or two things they wrote in the circle about themselves.
And here you have it!
TWO activities you can do back-to-back on your first day for your Business Class!
🗨️ Over to you:
What's your go-to icebreaker for your business class?
Share your ideas in the comments!
Source of the speech bubble: https://emojipedia.org/left-speech-bubble
Lorenzo, thanks a lot for sharing your ideas and your ppt slides! I have never taught business English, but this could help to do it in the future and not being afraid of doing it hehehe. Your slides are easy to follow and I'm sure any teacher would be able to follow your ideas ;).