First Day Activities

The middle school where I work has three 12 week sessions of 7th grade classes that cycle through the three languages we offer here (French, German, Spanish). Today I just got my last batch of 7th graders for the year, and last week I came up with a new activity that I think is a good one for Day One with students who are unfamiliar with you, the language, and/or your room.

I frequently have had problems with students just not being aware of the resources around them - words that are on posters, where to find markers/scissors/etc, and where the homework is listed. Even after weeks together, some students still weren't aware of everything they had available to them, so I came up with a "Room Investigation" activity.

I looked at my room - the posters, the bulletin boards, the layout, etc - and came up with questions for three categories: German vocab, German culture, and class procedures. Using just the materials visible in the room, they had to answer questions such as "How do you say blue in German?" (I have color posters on one part of the wall) or "What is Oktoberfest?" (there are several Oktoberfest posters) or "Where are the German dictionaries?" (there are a bunch on a bookshelf).

You can see the full worksheet here (and if you'd like a copy, click on "File" and scroll down to "Make a Copy").

This gets students moving around the room (breaking up an otherwise procedure/policy heavy first day) and gets them some fun and also practical words while getting them a better idea of what's around them. Hopefully this will help clear up confusion as well!

- Frau Leonard