My favourite ice breaker for using on the first day of a new course is the personalised true and false statements activity. This works best when the students already know each other and the teacher is the newcomer. Here is the handout that I used with a new group of Italian students in Norwich last week:

Here is one way of using the material:

1. Put students into pairs or small groups and give out handouts.

2. Give students 5 minutes to decide which sentences are true and which are false. A consensus decision must be reached within each pair or group.

3. Conduct a feedback. This will give you the opportunity to test pronunciation of the language and drill whenever necessary. At this stage, don’t reveal the truth about the statements but do award marks to each pair/group whenever they identify one as being either true or false. In other words, your students will see that you are giving marks but they won’t know who is getting them. If possible, do this on the blind side of a double-sided whiteboard.

4. Tell your students that one of the groups has won but don’t tell them who it is.

5. Take back the handouts.

6. Tell your students that you will now answer any questions that they want to ask you. Students will now have to remember all of the statements and convert them into questions. You might want to give them a few minutes to prapare questions beforehand.

7. Work with the questions and write all polished versions on the board. Drill them and answer them. Once all questions have been asked, you can then tell your students who won.

8. Get your students to create their own personalised statements using yours as a language model. Ask each person to write one true and one false sentence. Go around the class and give your class a point each time they manage to fool you and give yourself a point each time they don’t.

Question revision

To recap the questions write key words or draw sketches on the board. Use these to elicit and drill the questions.

•  How many language do/can you speak?
• Do you have / have you got a cat called Ali?
• How many children does your sister have / has your sister got?
• Is she pregnant?
• Where do your parents live?
• Do they live in a castle?
• How long have you lived in Barcelona?
• How long have you been in Norwich?
• Did you work in New Orleans in 1994?
• Have you ever been to Italy?

Finally, take a photograph of the board and email it to your students. Get them to send you an email back containing the questions.