As we are going into the new school term, for any teachers in elementary school an activity I loved doing with the students when I taught at elementary school was business card exchange.

It’s a good way for the students to introduce themselves to each other and to by pass the awkwardness of a new class and new classmates.

For this activity the students need a piece of paper, some colored markers, and scissors. On the teacher’s part you just need to prepare a list of professions and a sample dialogue. Normally I start by teaching the students about different professions. To make it fun I would add in really obscure professions. This can range from normal jobs like doctor, teacher etc to more out there jobs like famous actor, president, astronaut, athlete etc. Be sure to give the Japanese name of these jobs so that the students can easily understand.

First, I would have the students practice the pronunciation of the jobs and to check understanding of what kind of job it is.

Second, give the students time to make their own business card. Their card should have their name, what their job is, and any other information that the student wants to add. Students can also decorate their cards anyway they want.

Third, to get the students to practice the name of the jobs and speaking, I make sure that the students make 3-4 different business cards each with a different job.

Fourth, beforehand I would have a sample self introduction dialogue that would allow the students to say their name, their job, how long they’ve worked at their job, age, and birthday.

Fifth, students would walk around the classroom and using the sample self introduction and their own business cards, speaking and exchanging cards with their classmates.