“Me vs. Not Me”: asimple yet effectiveget-to-know-you activity

This is one of my all-time favourite activities for a number of reasons. It is very flexible and easy to adapt, so it can be used for different purposes. It can also be used with any level and age group, and requires very little preparation by the teacher, which is always a bonus.

It works well as: a warm-up, especially on the first day of school to help students get to know each other better; a speaking activity, especially if the aim is to exchange personal information or opinions; general or specific vocabulary revision.

Ask students to get a sheet of paper and a pencil or pen. Ask them to draw a table on the sheet of paper as illustrated below: two columns, one with the heading “Me” and the other with the heading “Not me”.

Select the vocabulary – words and/or phrases – you want to focus on, e.g. chocolate, driving, waking up early, cinema, etc. As you dictate the words, students should decide whether they are things they like or can do, and write these words under “Me”, or if they are things they dislike or cannot do, and write these words under “Not me”.

All the teacher needs to prepare is the words and/or phrases they are going to dictate.

When students have written down all the words and/or phrases, you can have them work in pairs or small groups and discuss their answers. This can also be done as a mingling activity.

If you are working with children who are not yet able to write in English or with more restless or kinesthetic groups of students, you can do this as an oral activity only, having students stand and move to either side of the room according to how they feel about each word/phrase.

Mônica Freire

Mônica é uma das sócias da Troika. É formada em Letras pela UERJ; possui o RSA DOTE pela Universidade de Cambridge, mestrado em Linguística Aplicada pela UFRJ, especialização em Teacher Development, Assessment e CLIL pela Universidade de Chichester e Gerenciamento de Projetos pelo IBMEC. Mônica trabalha com ensino de inglês desde 1984 e, desde então, já atuou como professora, formadora e desenvolvedora de professores, coordenadora acadêmica, examinadora internacional, desenvolvedora de cursos e materiais didáticos, gestora editorial (Learning Factory) e educacional (Britannia International English e Cultura Inglesa RJ). Mônica também foi professora do Instituto de Letras da UFRJ e presidente do BRAZ-TESOL Rio Chapter.