When you use immersion the first few days of school, there are several guidelines that you should follow when creating your lesson plans:

1. Name Activities

This is for you, the teacher, to learn everyone’s name, not for students to learn each other’s names, so don’t do the overused and frustrating activity where students have to say everyone’s name who went ahead of them, or anything similar. Here are some name activities I do the first three days, so that I can learn everyone’s name by the second or third day:

• Introduce how to say “My name is…” in the TL and have everyone say their name. After each person says their name, encourage everyone to respond with “Hi, (student’s name).”
• Inside/outside circles. Students say, “Hi, my name is…” 
• Write the letters of the alphabet on the board, saying them as you write them. Then, write whatever you want students to call you on the board. I write “Madame,” then I underline the “A” in Madame and explain that if anyone has the letter “A” in their name, to stand up. Anyone who stands up says, “My name is…” again. Repeat their name after they say it. Do this for every letter, so students will be standing up for each letter of their name and you get the repetition of them saying their name and you saying their name each time. (FYI: Some students resent having to stand up so often for each letter of their name, so have your attendance list handy and double check that everyone stood up when they were supposed to. This is also a good way to set the expectation on the very first day that everyone will be participating when you ask them to.)
• I also teach colors on the first day, so later in the class. I have students repeat, “My name is… I like (color).”
• Pass an object—I use a bean bag—and again, have students say “My name is…” at random. Repeat this as many times as you want.
• The second day, you can introduce “What is your name?” and have everyone say “My name is…” (repeating the question after each student says their name and encouraging students to say it with you).
• Pass a bean bag. You ask, “What is your name?” and throw to students at random for them to say, “My name is…” Students throw the bean bag back to you each time for you to repeat the question and to throw it to the next student.
• Pass a bean bag. This time, students say “My name is… What’s your name?” then pass it to the next student.
• Inside/outside circles. Students say “What’s your name?” Partners respond with “My name is… What’s your name?”

2. Basic Language

Especially for level one, the easier the activities and/or games, the better. Think kindergarten. The students are babies in the language, after all. You want the students to feel successful since they are dealing with the difficult task of immersion. 

If they don’t understand an activity at first, don’t worry about it, though. I do an activity on the first day where I show “Ours brun, dis-moi,” then I go through the colors in the video and I have students stand if they like that color. Sometimes, students think I want them all to stand and it takes them several rounds of me asking and them sitting back down for them to realize that they’ve misunderstood. That’s ok!

3. A Lot of Short Activities

All activities should be short and you should have many activities planned. This keeps them engaged and reduces the amount of English they would be using if there was a lot of down time. Plus, they don’t know a lot of language anyway, so activities are less likely to take a long time. You can spend 10 or so minutes on an authentic resource—like I do with “Ours brun, dis-moi”—but do multiple activities with that resource to keep it interesting.

Also, as discussed in “How to Set Up Your Classroom for Immersion,” use easel pads at the end of class to review what students learned and to make sure there is no down time before the bell rings. 

4. Lots of Brain Breaks/Games

Again, keep the down time to a minimum, so after a learning activity, do an easy brain break and/or game. This will show that your class is going to be fun, even though it seems difficult because of the immersion. Some brain breaks I do the first few days are below:

• A command circle. The first day, I just teach “To the right,” “To the left,” “Front” and “Back” (repetitively for several minutes) before I do inside/outside circles, so that I can direct students using the terms they just learned. The first few days of school, I do a command circle each day, adding new words each day.
• Do the wave.
• Going to various areas of the room based on what color students like.
• Clap several rhythms. Students repeat.
• Play “Red light, green light.”
• Pencil flips.
• Make letters with body.
• Touching different colors around the room.
• Call out different numbers. Students get in groups of that size.

Doing silly brain breaks also primes students to be willing to be silly in the TL—because speaking in a different language will feel silly to a lot of students if they’ve never been in a language class before.

5. No Computer or Notebook Activities

First off, students may not have computers yet and/or know they need a notebook for your class, which you will go over with them during English week. Second, until you train students to act it out, draw it or use circumlocution, you do not want students tempted to translate anything. Computer use should be rare until that time, which usually takes a very long time, in my opinion.

6. Do Not Go Over School Rules, Even if Your District Requires It

Do not feel obligated to go over school rules even if you are required to. Students are going to learn these rules because they are enforced every day—not because you told them about them on the first day of school. And how boring! …to go to every class on the first day and have to sit through different aspects of school rules. Make your class fun and memorable. And the immersion and games will definitely leave an impression on their first day—your class will be what they tell their parents about, not the other classes where they had to listen to what the rules were.