Entrance/Exit Activity

The Entrance/Exit Activity can double as a way to get information/feedback from students and to take roll.

Preparation

Prepare the question you will use for the Entrance/Exit Activity ahead of time. This should be based on the feedback or the topic you’d like the students to respond to, e.g., Write the activity you liked best today and explain why; Write a question about today’s topic that you’d like to learn more about; Write one thing you learned today that you didn’t know before class; Write five past participles; etc.

Procedure

1. Hand out slips of paper if necessary. 2. Give the instructions for the feedback requested for that day. 3. Students write their name and feedback on the paper. 4. Students hand the slip of paper in as they leave the classroom.

Variations

Use laminated name cards/magnets/clothespins (as described in Roll Call/Attendance on page 5) with students’ names on them. Students can put their feedback in their clothespin and drop it into a basket or slip it under their name magnet. The feedback can also be collected verbally before students leave the room.

When to Use It

• To take attendance • To get feedback from students • To check on understanding of a concept for the day’s class (before or after)

Level

Skills

Practice

Materials

Slips of paper, magnets, clothespins, name cards (see Roll Call/Attendance activity on page 5)

Preparation Time

5 minutes

Activity Time

5 minutes

Other

This is also good to use during multiple-day training sessions to get feedback from participants about what activities are going well and how things in the training might be altered, etc.

Contributors: David Malatesta, Spanish/French/ESL teacher, Niles West High School, Chicago, Illinois, USA, with additional ideas from Maria Snarski, Regional English Language Officer, and Monica Wiesmann-Hirchert, EFL/ESL/ESOL instructor, teacher trainer, Senior English Language Fellow, Turkey (2006/2007) and Brazil (2010/2011)