My Top 10 Getting to Know You Activities

I am having my diagnostic lesson on DELTA very soon and I obviously will need to do a Getting to Know You (GTKY) activity with my new group. GTKY activities are not only necessary for dynamics and support within the group, but also for learning to take place. Learners and course participants are more receptive to a new piece of information if they are familiar with the person they are interacting with, and thus such activities can build up a bridge between individuals for the information to flow freely within. This article shares my top ten GTKY activities. The audience will be referred to as "learners/students", although all activities can be adapted for teachers on a training course.

1- Which animal do you resemble?

This is a real fun activity that truly breaks the ice and helps you and your learners to remember names. The activity does not require any preparation. Students are given some time to think of an animal they resemble and they have to justify their choice. Then they are put into pairs or mini-groups where they have to say their name and the animal they resemble, and the other person has to ask why they chose that particular animal (e.g., I chose the lion because I look serious most of the time). The activity can be extended by reshuffling the groups/pairs.

2- Walkie talkie

This activity requires preparing a set of questions on slips of paper. The questions can be any GTKY question (e.g., How many people are in your family?, Do you have a pet?). Each learner is given a slip of paper, and they are put in pairs. Their task is to ask their partner the question and answer their partner's question. After that, they exchange their slips and mingle to find another partner to repeat the same thing.

3- Pie chart

This one does not require any preparation. I would recommend using it with learners whose cognitive thinking skills are fully developed (not young learners) as it demands basic mathematic calculation. I use it all the time with my adult learners. The teacher draws a pie chart on the board under the title "My time". The chart is divided into slices with percentages indicating time distribution. Learners guess what each slice represents in the teacher's time (e.g., I think 45% represent your teaching time). Then learners draw their own charts and work in pairs or mini-groups to guess each other's charts.

4- Boardgame

There are many ready board games out there to download, but it is fine if you feel like making your own. The board game will require dice and will contain different GTKY questions, and students have to talk for about 30 seconds to a minute about each square they land in. Students play in mini-groups or in pairs.

5- Things in common

This one is my favorite because all students are involuntarily inclined to listen to each other. It does not require any preparation. Students are put in pairs or mini-groups, and their task is to find one thing in common (e.g., all students in the group have a driver's license). You can allow early finishers to find more things, or you can alternatively reshuffle the groups.

6- Call my bluff

This is also known as two truths and one lie. The teacher says or writes on the board three sentences about herself, and the learners have to guess which is a lie. Then they are put in mini-groups or pairs to repeat the same thing. Plenary feedback is the best I see for this type of activity.

7- What does this number mean to me?

This one also doesn't require anything. The teacher writes three or five numbers on the board, and learners have to guess how they are relevant to the teacher (e.g., is that your birthday? the number of your brothers?). Learners then repeat the same in groups or pairs.

8- Find someone who

No preparation is needed. Students are given slips of paper where they have to write some interesting facts about themselves. The teacher then collects the paper and redistributes them to different students. They read the statements and mingle to find the person who wrote the statement and ask them more questions about it.

9- Buzz

This one is more dynamic and requires space. I usually use it with young learners or in language camps. Students stand in one circle where the teacher is in the center. They say their names and one fact about themselves. Then the teacher points randomly at one student who has to crouch and the two students standing and facing each other have to recall each other's name and the fact. The first person who does so wins and the other is excluded and becomes the center of the circle. It could be organized in mini-groups so it's easy for students to remember the names.

10- Never have I ever

Though it is a drinking game, it is totally perfect in classroom settings. Unsurprisingly, no materials or preparation are needed. In groups or pairs, students say some facts about themselves starting with the statement (Never have I ever...), and others should close a finger if they have done the thing the person said. The first person who closes all 10 fingers wins the game. So the task here is to say something that you are sure most people haven't done before. The game requires grammar construction, but I would not bother correcting students' past participle errors, in fact, it could be a good diagnostic test at the beginning of the course.