> It's day one - you don't know the language and they don't yours -
> WHAT TO DO?
> I would appreciate advice from all and sundry on how to handle that
> 'icebreaker' 5 minutes in the new classroom, kids from 5 to 15.
> Please, everybody, share your best ideas, I am sure I am not the only
> one that would benefit from your wisdom and experience.
> Thanks!

Perhaps, you wont be battling jet lag, fatigue, general anxiety or a language barrier, when youre struggling to prepare a lesson plan on introducing yourself and your native country to your prospective students. But if you are or might find yourself looking for some suggestions on how to put together a self-introductory lesson, heres a simple lesson plan that I have used. In Japan, its quite common to be asked to do a self-introductory lesson.

Besides introducing myself to my students and sharing some information about my country, I use my self-introductory lesson as an opportunity to teach/review Hello. My name is (Students name). Nice to meet you. to my new students. Things you will need for the lesson are a world map, photographs or pictures of your country, your countrys flag, stamps, stickers, and origami paper or small sheets of paper.

I start off my lesson with a friendly greeting (good-morning or good-afternoon depending on the day) and then introduce myself. I say My name is Stefan. I clap out the two syllables in my first name. The students enjoy it. They have a chuckle over it. I circulate around the classroom introducing myself to several students. I return to the front of the class and introduce my country. I tell my students I am from Canada. I clap out the three syllables in Canada. I have the students say Ca-na-da. I point to Canada on the map and say Here is Canada. I then say Here is Japan. I talk about Canada; show them the Canadian flag, and photographs and pictures of Canadas nature. I then model the target language with the Japanese Teacher of English (J.T.E.)

Stefan Hello.

J.T.E. Hello

Stefan My name is Stefan. Whats your name?

J.T.E. My name is Noriko.

Stefan Nice to meet you.

J.T.E. Nice to meet you too.

We shake hands.
I divide the class into two equal groups, an A and B group. I have them say My name is A if they are in the A group and My name is B if they are in the B group. We practice the dialogue. We alternate the dialogue between the two groups. We then practice the dialogue in pairs. I circulate around the room helping the students. We then play the Meishi (Business Card) game. I hand out sheets of origami paper to the students. I draw a rectangle on the blackboard with 4 squares. I demonstrate and tell the students to fold their sheet of origami paper in half and then to fold it again in half. I point to the rectangle with 4 squares on the board and tell them that their sheet of origami paper should look like this. I draw an exaggerated picture of myself in each square. I usually draw myself with a very, very long nose and then write my name under my picture. The students have a chuckle over my picture too. If the students havent learned to write their names in romanji, they can write it Kanji or leave it out.

I demonstrate with the Japanese Teacher of English. We play janken to see who will go first in doing the self-introduction. Janken (rock, paper, scizzors) is a Japanese game used to determine the it person. Rock beats scizzors, scizzors beats paper, and paper beats rock. The student who loses has to give up one of his/her meishi cards to the winner and begin the self-introduction. The students with the most Meishi cards win. The winners receive a stamp or sticker. I have the students get out of their seats and circulate around the room playing the Meishi card game.

For younger students (elementary school children), I usually sit them in a circle. I point to myself and say my name My name is Stefan. We then go around the circle with each child introducing himself/herself. I have a ball going around as each child does the self-introduction. I go around the circle too helping and encouraging the children along. For more advanced students, I also play a quiz game. I make up questions based on my introduction. I divide the class into two equal teams. I have a member of each team play janken to determine which team goes first. The team has about 10 seconds to pick an answer. If the team fails to answer correctly, they lose their turn. The other team gets to answer the questions. Here are some sample questions:

1. Stefan is from
a) Canada
b) Japan
c) Australia
d) The USA

2. What are the colours of the Canadian flag?
a) red, white, and blue
b) red and white
c) red and white
d) red, blue and green

I hope this lesson plan helps you with preparing your self-introductory lesson. Good luck.