Some more icebrakers for the first lesson.

 Here is a game "Find someone, who..." 

Ask your students general questions, for instance, "How are you today?" "What is the weather like today?" "Do you like English?" You can use some more activities from my previous post, and to make the atmosphere more relaxed, you can give them pages with the following questions, ask them to get up and to ask each other "Do you...?", "Are you...?" Make sure they don't speak L1. They are supposed to write their peers' names on the page.

For adults, you can compose a questionnaire with the following questions:

Find someone, who...

                                has more than two children

                                runs his/her own business

                                has been to America

                                speaks three languages and more

                                has pets

                                likes traveling

                                often goes on business trips

                                works on shifts

and many more. You can remove some irrelevant questions and add something new, depending on yours and your students' interests.

For kids, you can compose such questions, as:

Find someone, who...

                               likes chocolate

                               likes cats and dogs

                               is an only child in the family

                               does not like Math

                               plays football

                               whose birthday is next month

and many more.

The students walk around the room, ask each other and write their names. Then you ask them to sit down and ask: "Who likes cats and dogs?"

Possible answers: "I like them", "I like cats but I don't like dogs", etc. 
Next step is asking them to report. A student says: "Dany likes chocolate, Lena and Tanya speak three languages, Tom likes dogs but he does not like cats".

This activity helps students to get together and get interested in your course.

How to catch the students' attention.

 Icebreakers

First day of class? Are students too shy? Students don’t feel comfortable speaking English? We have you covered! Just choose whichever icebreaker questions or speaking activities you think will work best !

Icebreaker Speaking Games/Activities

Who are you?

First of all, we have “Who are you?”. It takes a little prep (just some paper and tape), but students really seem to get into it. They may not get to know each other from this one, but

they will certainly get comfortable talking to each other.

Here are some more links.

Two Truths One Lie

Next is an activity for your students to get to know each other. It can be a very short or very long activity, it's up tp you. It can even be easily turned into a game.

 

Paper Fight

This get-to-know-you activity is definitely active and can be bit hectic but if you and your students are keen, it can be an activity they will remember for a long time.  Good for building rapport between you and your students.

 

Deserted Island

The deserted island question is one that we have all done. It’s popular for a reason and students seem to really enjoy figuring out which items to take to the island. With no preparation and lots of talking, this is a good one to have in your utility belt.

 

Twenty Questions

Twenty questions is also another well-worn activity, but one that never gets old. An added bonus is that it can be used to review target vocabulary. It’s good as a warmer to get them comfortable with speaking English again.

 

Multipurpose

This next activity is an interesting one that will get them talking as well as get them thinking creatively. It can be used in a limited way to review vocabulary since it can only be used for a few words, but the few you review will definitely be stuck in their heads after this activity.

 

Personality Quiz 

Ah, personality quizzes. Accurate or not, people really seem to enjoy taking them. You might want to hide the fact that it is a personality quiz until the end. A great activity to get them talking and also a great activity to review or practice adjectives.

 

Riddles 

Next up, riddles! Logic puzzles! Knock their brains into gear and get them to think outside the box. To get the most out of this one, definitely put them in groups of three or four. Students get a lot more out of this activity when they can bounce their ideas off other students. 

Bingo Icebreaker

Use this bingo board to get your students to ask each other questions. Available as a Word file download to edit it for your needs!

 

Spot the Difference 

Last one! This one takes the most prep of all of them. The language production on this one isn’t that high either, but most students will really get into it. You can also use it to point out some extra vocabulary to get a bit more bang for your buck.

Icebreaker Conversation Questions

 

Small Talk 

Completely random questions, so random in fact, that every student can find at least a couple of questions that will pique their interest.

Have you ever…

Questions about students experiences using the present perfect (i.e. have you ever…). Everyone likes talking about themselves and the things that have happened to them! (These questions are also listed under grammar)

Comparatives / Superlatives

Questions based on comparatives (i.e. bigger, smaller, more interesting) and superlatives (i.e. the biggest, the smallest, the most interesting). Lots of questions to get students talking about

their opinions on many different topics. (These questions are also listed under grammar)

250 Conversation Starters

This is a site aimed at native speakers of English but it has a lot of questions in the “random conversation starters” section that would be suitable for intermediate and advanced students. A great extra source of questions if the questions above aren’t enough for you