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🎨 Circle Activities Guide

Engaging classroom activities to spark creativity and learning

🎨

Chain Drawings

A collaborative drawing activity where students create artwork together while music plays.

  1. Give each student paper and colored pencils
  2. Play music and have students draw whatever comes to mind
  3. After 20-30 seconds, stop the music
  4. Students pass their drawing to the left and continue the next person's drawing
  5. Repeat until the song ends
  6. Use completed drawings for storytelling or dream analysis

💡 Pro Tips

Try different music genres: reggae and samba create beach scenes, while electronic music inspires futuristic cities. Ask topic-related questions first to guide the drawings toward your lesson theme.

📖

One Word Stories

Perfect for higher-level groups - create collaborative stories one word at a time!

  1. Sit in a circle with the teacher starting
  2. Teacher says the first word (try "Suddenly" or "Yesterday")
  3. Each student adds one word to continue the story
  4. No repeating previous words
  5. Teacher provides punctuation and sentence breaks as needed
  6. Watch amazing stories unfold organically!

💡 Learning Benefits

Excellent for practicing word collocations, word order, and past tense. Stories can develop in unexpected and creative ways!

🏃

Change Places If...

An energetic TPR activity that gets students moving while reviewing vocabulary.

  1. Arrange chairs in a circle (one less than participants)
  2. Teacher starts in the middle
  3. Teacher says "Change places if... you're wearing trainers"
  4. All matching students must find new seats
  5. Person left standing gives the next command
  6. Continue with different categories and topics

⚠️ Safety Note

This is a high-energy "warmer" activity. Young learners get very excited, so use it strategically - perhaps at the end of class rather than the beginning!

👤

Picture Consequences

Create hilarious misfit characters through collaborative drawing with folded paper.

  1. Give each student paper (portrait orientation) and pencil
  2. Draw a hat at the top, add lines for head, fold paper
  3. Pass right, draw face and neck, fold leaving neck lines visible
  4. Pass right, draw body to waist, fold and pass
  5. Continue with legs to knees, then feet
  6. Unfold to reveal crazy mixed-up characters!

🎭 Extension Ideas

Use the finished characters for describing people, reviewing clothing vocabulary, or creating fun role-play scenarios. No peeking allowed - that spoils the surprise!

✍️

Written Consequences

Similar to picture consequences but creates amusing collaborative stories.

  1. Write a man's name (famous person or classmate)
  2. Write a woman's name, fold and pass
  3. Write where they meet, fold and pass
  4. Write what he says to her, fold and pass
  5. Write her reply, fold and pass
  6. Write the consequence of their meeting
  7. Write the world's opinion as a final comment

📚 Language Focus

Perfect for practicing connectors, reported speech, and narrative structures. Read your example first, then have students share their hilarious mixed-up stories!

💬

Circle Chat

A structured speaking activity where students share personal experiences, current events, or daily life in a supportive circle setting.

  1. Sit in a circle and choose a topic (daily routine, weekend plans, current news)
  2. Teacher demonstrates by sharing first (1-2 minutes)
  3. Pass a "talking object" (ball, marker, etc.) around the circle
  4. Only the person holding the object can speak
  5. Each student shares for 30 seconds to 2 minutes
  6. Others listen actively and can ask one follow-up question
  7. Optional: End with group discussion or reflection

🗣️ Topic Variations

Daily Life: "What did you do yesterday?" or "What are you looking forward to?"
Current Events: "What's happening in the news?" or "What's trending?"
Personal Growth: "What did you learn this week?" or "Share a recent challenge"
Cultural Exchange: "How is this different in your country?" or "What's unique about your hometown?"