Anne and all:

There are several activities that I used.  
ICE-BREAKER:  The first is a well-known ice-breaker:
versions of it are often found in workbooks or
textbooks, but a teacher can also make her own. 
Students are given a list directing them to find
information about other students by asking questions. 
For example, "Find a student who has three sisters" or
"Find a student who likes to play football."  The
teacher can adapt the difficulty and focus of the
questions to suit the class (more or less, as this is
usually a first-day activity).  Students must write
down the names of those who fit the description, and
afterwards the teacher can lead a class review of the
information gained.  After the teacher collects the
papers, she has gained quite a lot of information
about the students, and they feel more comfortable
with each other.

CIRCLE MEMORY GAME.  I used a simpler version of the
circle game already posted to learn their names and
help them learn each other's.  I usually taught
students with extemely limited English or none at all
before coming to the class.  In a circle, the teacher 
demonstrates by starting with one student, next to the
teacher.  "Her name is Moua and she is from Laos.  My
name is Jillian and I am from Oregon."  The teacher
gets the next student to start with Moua and continue
with Jillian, and then himself.  With slightly higher
level students the game can be played thusly:  "My
name is Jillian and I like potatoes"  and so on around
the room, cumulatively.  However, as I was inspired to
"invent" this game from a Victorian parlor game
alluded to in Alice in Wonderland, I required that
everyone alliterate, so that the thing liked began
with the same letter as the student's name.  "My name
is Jillian and I like jumping."  Students always
enjoyed this game, dissolving into giggles as the
answers were so silly and the list one had to remember
got longer and longer.  Of course, by the time it's
the teacher's turn again the list is extremely long.

YOU ARE A STAR. There is another activity that I read
in a book--I don't even think it was an ESL book--and
I have used it in both ESL and non-ESL classes.  Alas,
I haven't been teaching for awhile and forget the
exact way I did it.  Students are given blank paper
(large, if possible) and colored markers.  Each
student draws a big five-pointed star.  Each section
of the star is for a certain notion.  In one section,
something you like; in another, something you don't
like; in another, your goal or amibition.  Etc.  The
stars produce interesting information, and usually
turn out to be colorful enough to post around the
room. The teacher can use them as a basis for other
activities also.




 
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