Community Building Activities 

Rose, Bud, Thorn: The class goes around and each says one good thing about their day/week (rose), one thing they're excited about for their day/week (bud), and one thing they're upset about with their day/week (thorn). 

Would You Rather: Teacher makes up a few different would you rather questions and assigns different parts of the room to each answer. After the students have picked their side, they will discuss with their peers why they chose it and/or why they didn't choose the other option. Extra points for making the questions related to content area (i.e. different book genres, different ways to write, etc.). 

Four Corner Debate: Similarly to Would You Rather, the teacher assigns four different options to each corner and lets the students pick which one interests them the most. Some examples of corner options could be: fruits, colors, animals, genres, subjects, and candy. Once everyone has chosen their corner, the students will have a few moments to come up with a reason for why their choice is the best one and present it to the class. 

Silent Sequence: Using only their facial expressions and gestures, students have to order themselves in a predetermined time-frame. Some of the options for ordering could be by birthday, height, or number of siblings. 

Alliteration Attributes: The classic name game; teacher and students go around and choose an adjective that describes them using the first letter of their name. For example, Awesome Austin or Serious Skylark. 

Two Truths & A Lie: From past experience, this one can either be a hit or miss so it's important to do it in a way that's fun and engaging. The best way I've seen it played is through passing out small sheets of paper and having the students write their two truths and a lie prior to starting. Then everyone goes around and reads theirs out and the class votes on which one is a lie. I've often seen this game last a few days with a handful of students doing theirs each day to begin the class. 

Kahoot Teacher Quiz: This is a great one to get your students to know YOU. Prior to class, make a Kahoot with trivia facts about yourself that you want them to know. Then, during the first week of class, have them take the quiz. My mentor teacher even said it could be fun to have them take it again towards the end of the year as a sort of send off to your classroom. 

Promote Your Partner: This is one I learned at a camp I worked at and it's a great way of promoting interpersonal connections. First, pair the students together and give them a list of questions to ask one another. Make sure to instruct them to pay close attention to what their partner says. Then, once the interviews are over, have each of the students go around and introduce their partner to the class using their answers as a jumping off point. 

Class Contract: See Rules & Procedures for full details on this. However, in short, a classroom contract is a great way to build community and get a cohesive understanding for what's expected in the classroom. Make sure to get the students' input and to focus on both behavior and content items when applicable. Once the contract is made, have all of your students sign it as well. 

Book Selfies: This is one I learned at the Michigan Reading Association conference and is great for English teachers like myself. At the start of the school year, have your colleagues and/or parents send in pictures of them reading a book. Then, show your students these and challenge them to take one themselves sometime during the year. Extra points if you build a collage you can hang up in the classroom.