As classes remain largely online, it can be easy for students to “lurk” in the background of online sessions. This can be particularly frustrating for students taking part in courses that are new and want to become familiar with their group. To overcome this, I suggest several activities below to enhance group cohesion in an online setting. Activities are aimed at learners of English, but could be adapted for any purpose. If you have any other suggestions, please pop them in the comments below!
- Continue the story – Begin a story and ask the students to continue the story on. This focuses on both listening and speaking skills and helps learners build fluency.
- Telephone – Say a sentence or phrase and ask students to repeat what they heard. This is a great way to build up “shadowing” techniques for listening skills.
- What happens next? – Show students a storyboard, and ask them to predict what happens next. This is a good way to get students to use their predicting skills based on the inference in the pictures.
- Following directions? – Instead of using your physical classroom, you could “hide” something in one of the folders of your VLE and ask students to find it. This activity will enhance their reading skills, teamwork, and allow them to demonstrate their understanding of directional vocabulary.
- Discussion– Choose a general, current affairs topic to discuss as a large group. I suggest using this as a main activity rather than a warmer.
- Quiz- Create a fun online quiz with questions related to your topic, or even general knowledge questions.
- Pictionary – Students may enjoy testing their drawing skills or even be amused by the teacher’s!
I hope you found these suggestions useful. Please leave me a comment if you have further ideas!
Sources:
Ms A Tutoring Services 