It’s the time of years when we start
thinking of first lessons and the best way for a class to get to know each
other. One idea I got recently from
reading an article is tapping into the concept of the ‘selfie’.
Not sure what a ‘seflie’ is – have a guess
using this word cloud of the guardian text.
Recently the guardian seems to have got a bit obsessed with the ‘selfie’ following up its article by asking ‘famous’ people to submit their own selfie. This seems like an excellent way to break the ice in a class and help students get to know each other. As a way into the topic you can begin with either rogue’s gallery from the guardian and / or use the word cloud above (made using the cloudart app).
Follow up by asking the students to discuss if they ever take selfies and why talking such photos is a growing phenomenon (according to the Daily Mail in the UK we take about 35 million each month). Finally, ask them to share any they have on their phones. Asking them to share one from their phones encourages some personalized speaking.
Apparently there rules one should follow in order to take a 'good selfie', so get the students to discuss what advice they would give for taking a 'good selfie' then get those with internet enabled devices to go to this link and they can find out if their ideas match those of the article. Those without can pair up or work in groups with those that can.
Finally (or even better for homework) the class creates it's only gallery of selfies. If they do it for homework then use an app (and website) such as lino (google play link). That way they can stick their selfies and leave a description similar that in the guardian. Next lesson you can begin by visiting the students' selfie gallery.