Lining Up in Alphabetical Order is a great ice breaker for a brand new class who don’t know each other yet. It’s best with younger classes, post-beginner level and, as a side-effect, it can also help you in remembering student names‏‎.

Five minutes into the first lesson, simply ask your students to stand up and come to the front of the class. Then tell them to get into alphabetical order.

The students must then use English only‏‎ to ask each other their name and work out who goes where while you stand back and let them get on with it.

Variations on a Theme

Of course there are many, many, variations you can use here. Each one will mean the students using different language and learning something about each other at the same time.

• line up according to age
• group according to the number of siblings each person has
• group according to the football team they support
• group according to their favorite food

Use your imagination here!