This ready-to-go lesson is designed for grade 5-6 learners, but if you have strong students, it can also work in grade 4 if their level is high. This lesson was designed with Chinese in it as the L1 of the learners, but after purchase and download the PowerPoint can be edited, so all Chinese can be removed or changed into any language.
🎒 First Day of School – Getting to Know You ESL PowerPoint Lesson
Grade Level: 5–6 | Duration: 45–60+ Minutes | Slide Total: 60+
Start the school year with a fun, organized, and highly interactive ESL lesson designed specifically for Grade 5–6 students! This ready-to-teach PowerPoint helps teachers introduce classroom expectations, establish a team points system, introduce themselves, and get students speaking English through engaging “Getting to Know You” activities and games.
Students practice asking and answering a wide variety of personal questions while reviewing useful vocabulary and sentence structures from previous years. It’s a great way to learn more about your students while helping them feel comfortable speaking English again after the summer break.
Perfect for:
- Grade 5 ESL
- Grade 6 ESL
- First Day of School lessons
- Back-to-School ESL activities
- Large ESL classes
- Public school ESL classrooms
- Speaking and conversation practice
📚 What’s Included?
✅ Classroom Rules & Expectations
Introduce or review important classroom rules such as listening to the teacher, raising your hand, speaking English, and paying attention.
✅ Team Points & Rewards System
Set up classroom teams and explain how students can win points, lose points, earn stars, and receive rewards throughout the semester.
✅ Teacher Introduction – “2 Truths and 1 Lie”
Introduce yourself with a fun Two Truths and a Lie activity. Editable slides allow you to add your own photos, facts, and information so students can learn about their new English teacher.
✅ Student “2 Truths and 1 Lie” Activity
Students create their own truths and lies before sharing them with the class. This provides an easy, low-pressure way to get students speaking and learning about one another.
✅ Getting to Know You Spinning Wheel Game
Students answer a variety of personal questions selected through an interactive spinning-wheel activity.
Questions include topics such as:
- What year were you born?
- How tall are you?
- What is your favorite subject?
- Do you have any siblings?
- Do you have any pets?
- What are you scared of?
- What are your hobbies?
- What do you do at the weekend?
- What do you want to be when you grow up?
- How do you come to school?
- When is your birthday?
- What did you eat for dinner yesterday?
- What are you good at?
- What musical instrument do you play?
- What city is your family from?
- Where did you go on your last vacation?
✅ Full-Sentence Speaking Support
Each question includes sentence starters and visual support to encourage students to answer using complete English sentences rather than one-word responses.
✅ Writing Activity
Students record their answers in their notebooks and use them to complete a structured “Getting to Know You” paragraph about themselves.
✅ Speaking & Sharing
Finish the lesson by giving students the opportunity to share their writing and introduce themselves to their classmates.
🎯 Skills Practiced
🗣️ Speaking & Conversation
👂 Listening Comprehension
✏️ Guided Writing
📖 Reading
❓ Asking & Answering Questions
🧠 Vocabulary Review
🤝 Getting to Know Classmates
🏫 Classroom Rules & Routines
🌟 Why This Lesson?
This lesson is designed to make the first English class of the school year easy to teach and enjoyable for students. Instead of spending the entire class simply explaining rules, students quickly move into games, speaking activities, personal questions, and writing.
The lesson also gives teachers a chance to learn important information about their new students while informally assessing their English speaking ability at the beginning of the year.
🎒 Perfect for the First Day of School
🎮 Interactive Games & Spinning Wheel Activities
🗣️ Lots of Student Speaking Practice
✏️ Includes Speaking + Writing
👥 Works Well with Large Classes
🏆 Built-In Team Points & Reward System
🖼️ Editable Teacher Introduction Slides
🇨🇳 Includes Chinese Support Where Helpful
A complete first-day ESL lesson for Grades 5–6 that helps establish classroom routines, build a positive classroom atmosphere, and get students speaking English from day one!
Watch the video to see the full lesson and how to teach it.
Slide total: 63
