Two truths and a Lie
Each student writes or shares two truths and one lie about themselves
The class votes on which is a lie
Class Poll
Share a list of questions on the smart board (i.e- if you could have a superpower would it be a. To fly or b. To breathe underwater? Could also include questions relative to course)
Students vote
Share the results with the class
Draw Your Alien Avatar
Give each student a piece of blank paper and explain that they will be drawing their personalized alien avatar based on their answers to a set of questions.
Some example questions could be:
If your birthday is in an even month, draw 2 eyes. If your birthday is an odd month, draw 1 eye.
Which do you prefer, spaghetti or pizza? If spaghetti, give your alien 8 limbs. If pizza, give your alien 4 limbs.
If you have pets, draw a gymnosperm for your alien. If you don’t have pets, draw an angiosperm. << this ties in some vocab for a science class
When finished, display the alien avatars in your classroom. Make names optional. Students can browse the gallery and see how many of their classmates share similarities (ex. prefer pizza over spaghetti) without singling out individual students.
How are you today? Emoji style!
Invite students to share how they’re feeling today with an emoji. Remote learners can post the emoji in the chat. Students meeting in person can draw their emoji on paper and hold it up. (This is also a great option for students in a video classroom.)
Categories
Each player will need a piece of paper and a pen or pencil to write with.
Players must divide their paper into 6 columns. At the top of each column, they'll need to write the six categories that are chosen. These should be chosen by the leader in advance.
To start the game, a random letter from the alphabet is chosen and a one minute timer is started. All players must fill out their page as quickly as possible by coming up with a word that starts with the designated letter for each category. Once one player has a word for all six categories, or the time is up, all players must stop writing.
The scoring phase involves each player reading out the word they came up with for each particular category. Progress through each category, one at a time. If a player comes up with a word that no one else has written down, they get a point. If another player has written down the same word, then no points are given. If no word was written down, then no points are given. Other players may challenge a word if they believe it doesn't fit the category or is made-up. A majority vote may be cast to decide after evidence is given. (This can actually be a really fun part of the game)
Category Ideas: - Job titles, Color, Fruit, Vegetable, Country, Animal, Movie, Celebrity
Rank it!:
Have students rank 10 things from best to worst. Use the activity to get ideas for further discussion and lessons. (For example, students can also chart or graph these answers.) Suggestions for things to rank include pizza toppings, holidays, Disney movies, and vegetables.
Question of the day:
Pose a question each day for students to write their responses. (Younger students can draw their responses instead.) They can then share their answers with the whole class, in small groups, or with a partner. Here are some example questions: Who is the funniest person you know and why? What skill would you like to learn this year and how can you make that happen? What food could you eat every day and how would you prepare it?
Rose and Thorn:
At the start of class, the teacher and students take turns sharing one rose (something positive) and one thorn (something negative) each. The process takes about five minutes. “A low-stakes thorn might be ‘I feel tired.’ Yet many students choose to share more personal items, like ‘My thorn is that my dog is sick and I’m really worried about her,’” writes Alex Shevrin Venet, a former school leader at a trauma-informed high school.