Tell Me about Myself
Level: Any Level
This game works well with students at pre-intermediate level or above and can be adapted accordingly. It is an original way of introducing yourself (as a teacher) to a class for the first time, but could also be used later on.
Prepare in advance, on an overhead transparency or white-board, a mind map of yourself. Instead of using sentences to describe your life, use single words, numbers, dates, symbols and illustrations where possible. For example I include information about my life in England, names of siblings, date of birth, name of hometown etc. (My hometown is Stoke-on-Trent which I then illustrate with a cup and saucer - the Potteries, and a football - Stoke City FC. It keeps them guessing.) I include information about my husband (name and illustration of job) children (names, ages, birthdays). You can add your shoe size, height, illustrations of your hobbies etc. I draw a needle and thread - sewing, a pair of skis - I enjoy skiing, and a pencil - drawing. Any kind of information can be included. Use your imagination! I live in Sweden and draw a picture of a snowman with a cross through it to illustrate that I don¥t like the winter! Get your students to tell you what the information means. For example.
July - is that when your birthday is?
Does the cup and saucer mean you drink tea?
Try and get a good mix of obvious and less obvious information. For example, when I drew a fish (to illustrate that I kept tropical fish) it provoked questions like:
Do you eat a lot of fish?
Do you enjoy fishing?
Is your star sign Pisces?
Give them a clue if they’re having problems guessing.
This game has worked wonderfully for me in many classes of varying levels. To follow up, get you students to take a few minutes to prepare something similar individually, and then work in pairs guessing what the information means about their partner.