Recent scholarship emphasizes the potential of outdoor education within EFL contexts. Moving instruction beyond traditional classrooms facilitates experiential, contextualised, and holistic learning aligned with second-language acquisition theory. Moreover, outdoor learning can turn out to be a powerful tool for teachers to build rapport in EFL classes. Activities like nature walks, scavenger hunts, or group projects conducted in a relaxed natural setting can foster a sense of community among the students and can help them get to know each other and their teacher better. Consequently, this will eventually lead to increased participation, motivation, and a more positive learning experience.
Not all classrooms have four walls. – Margaret McMillan
We know from experience that the first week of school can be one of the most challenging times to build classroom rapport, as both teachers and students are navigating unfamiliar territory. Students may arrive with varying levels of confidence, prior experiences, and expectations, while teachers feel the need to balance authority with the desire to create a welcoming and approachable atmosphere. Names are still being learned, personalities are just beginning to emerge, and the necessary trust for effective learning has yet to form. The following article proposes a model for building early relation in class, using a series of outdoor activities which have been tested in practice and proved to be effective in fostering open communication, mutual respect, and a sense of belonging, right from day one. All activities follow the basic principles of outdoor learning: an experiential task, a collaborative approach and a reflection in the end.
1. Yarn of friendship
Learning students’ names in the first week is a simple but powerful step in building classroom rapport. Using a student’s name shows recognition, respect, and genuine interest. It can help create a sense of belonging from the very start and signals that every learner is seen as an individual rather than just part of a group. This personal connection lays the groundwork for trust and positive relationships throughout the school year.
The activity can take place in the schoolyard or a close park during fair weather, and a ball of yarn is all the necessary material. The students stand in a circle. One student holds one end of the yarn, says his/her name and something they like that starts with the same letter and their name, then throws the ball to another fellow. The student who catches the ball has to say the previous name and preference of their fellows, and so on following the lines of the web created by the yarn. After all students have told their names, they do the same thing in reverse until the ball of yarn is gathered.
A short reflection should conclude the exercise. This can be done following some guided questions such as ”How many names could you remember?”, ”What did you discover you have in common with your fellows?”
2. Speaking in Circles
Sharing small pieces of personal information, such as hobbies, goals, or interesting experiences can help the teacher understand students beyond their academic abilities on the one had. On the other, it can foster connections between classmates and create a warm, trusting environment, which will finally strengthen the classroom community.
The activity can also take place in the schoolyard or a close park during fair weather, and the necessary materials are slips of paper with questions, a hat, post-it notes and pencils for reflection. The teacher organises the classroom into two circles, an inner circle and an outer circle, so that each student from the inner circle faces a student from the outer circle.One student draws a slip of paper with a question from the hat and everybody has to talk about the topic and give personal details or share opinion on a subject within a time limit of 1-2 minutes. Teacher circulates and takes notes on language use, both mistakes and good examples. At the end of the time limit call out “Thank you! Change places please.” At this point the outer circle students move one step clockwise. The students follow the pattern until all the questions have been answered.
Example Questions: What does your name mean? What makes you happy? How would your best friend describe you? What did you do last weekend? What kind of movies do you like? What would you take with you to a desert island? If you had to be someone else for a day, who would you be and why? What superpower would you like to have? What do you hate the most about people around you? What was your best weekend this year?
As reflection at the end of the activity, the students write a note to self on a post-it – ”What did you learn about yourself?”, ”Think of yourself and how you felt, how you behaved, what you discovered about yourself or your partner(s).”
3. Scavenger Hunt
A classroom scavenger hunt is an engaging, interactive way to improve rapport, especially in the early days of a school year. By working together to find items, or complete challenges, students naturally communicate, collaborate and break down social barriers in the process. This fosters a sense of shared accomplishment and community for future lessons. The apparently leisurly activity shifts the focus from formal academics to teamwork and also gives the teacher valuable insight into students’ social dynamics.
The teacher creates groups of 4 students. One student should be the team leader and will share the task among the team members and make sure all items are collected. One student should be the secretary who will collect the items/pictures. Another one should be the time keeper and the fourth should be the reporter who will present the list to the teacher.
Each group is handed a list with the items to be found and challenges to perform. The list can range from STEM tasks to vocabulary (e.g. nature idioms), ecology or even photo essays.The students walk around the park and find the objects, if they can be carried alomg or just take a picture of them. They have 20 minutes to complete the assignment. When the time is up, the teacher checks the photos of each team and ticks on the list what they have found. The team with the most objects ticked is the winner or all teams that complete a specific number of items get a small sweet reward.
The reflection can be a group discussion lead by the teacher: Did you find objects that you did not expect in the park? Which of the items on the list made you look at the world around you differently? What did you learn new from this activity?
To conclude, outdoor activities in the first week of school can be a powerful catalyst for building classroom rapport. The fact that they provide a relaxed and open environment allows students and teachers to connect beyond the constraints of the classroom set a positive tone for the entire school year ahead. Never underestimate the power of fresh air, movement and shared experiences!
Sources
www.onestopenglish.com/download?ac=592
erasmusefl.cnva.ro/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/EFL-e-collection.pdf
www.frominsideout.net/book2