The original activity is described here and the poem ‘Go and Open the Door’ by Miroslav Holub is here. This is a very powerful poem and will work really well with teenagers on the first week of the term.

Here is a variation with the poem for the new comers to your classes.

Materials needed

Music

The poem

A big poster of a classroom door (or any other door)

Introduce some vocabulary if you think they will cause problems when you read the poem.

Tell them you will read a poem, they can close their eyes if they want.

Before you begin reading the poem, play a relaxing

Tell them they are about to open the door of their new classroom. They don’t know what they will find there. First focus on the followings:

What are their expectations?

Why are they in this class?

How will they improve themselves?

What are their expectations from their teachers?

When and how will they have fun?

Stop the music and read the poem.

Tell them to open the door of the classroom and step in, meet the people, the teacher and find a seat. Now tell them to open their eyes and jot down the things they thought.

Ask the volunteers to share their ideas.

Give them post-it notes and ask them to write what they’ve found when they opened their classroom door.

Stick the door poster on the wall.

Get students’ post-it notes and stick on the door.