Welcome Back To School!

Welcome Back To School!

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Welcome Back To School!
This activity is to get students motivated and eager to share their experiences and interests. It can be adapted to different levels and contents; and also allows students to add to their classroom decor and make it more representative of themselves.

Materials required:
- Photocopies of first page for all students
- 3 large sheets of paper to make posters
- Pencils, markers and other materials for drawing, painting and decorating.

File includes worksheet, instructions, aims of the activity and title templates for posters.

Instructions:
1. Give a copy of the worksheet to all students. For younger students, you can read out the instructions and ask
them to write in each space. For older students (specially ESL and EFL students), you can focus their attention
on the verbs marked in bold and ask them to write brief sentences to accompany their pictures depending
on their level of English.
2. Explain to students that the pictures will be displayed in the classroom later so they must use bright colours
and clear writing in their creations.
3. Once students have finished, ask them to cut out each square using the dotted lines. They must write their
names on the back of each square and then fold each one being careful not to get them mixed up.
4. Each folded paper is put into a corresponding box or bag to be drawn out of. One for vacation activities, one
for personal interests and one for things to be learnt.
5. When every student has placed their answers in the corresponding box, the teacher draws out different
pieces of paper describing the drawings and answers of the students. Students are asked to raise their hands
if they think it’s their drawing/answer.
6. After guessing, the teacher shows the drawing and the owner is identified.
7. Once all answers for the first question have been seen they are pasted on to a large sheet of paper
previously prepared by the teacher (You could have it decorated and with a title so all you have to do is add
the children’s drawings).
8. Do the same with the following questions.
9. After having pasted all the drawing on the correct poster you could ask students to work in groups adding
final decorations to the posters.

Aims:
The main objective of this activity is for students to share their experiences with the group, to begin feeling a part of
the class group and to find common interests amongst each other.
Additional content could be added like simple grammar structures or vocabulary especially in English learner groups.
Finally, you could use the final question (“3 things you’d like to learn about”) to plan a special project and get
students to work in groups based on similar interests.

I hope you enjoy this activity!