Break the back-to-school ice!

Data de publicació: Oct 05, 2015 6:13:32 PM

This is our third week back at work and holidays already seem to be a fading memory. Hope you all had a good summer holiday.

The following information is about ice breakers. It may seem it arrives a bit late, although ice breakers games can be used not only at the beginning, but in the middle or at the end of any lesson.

Some ice breaking games can be considered cheesy, but they allow class cohesion and participation, plus they are an excellent way to get students to know each other having fun.

Check our list of icebreakers and use them whenever you feel like it. Most of them work for any age and group size. We are sure they will make your class laugh and break the ice fast!

1. THE TOILET PAPER GAME Get the students as they enter on the first day and ask them to take some toilet paper. (They will feel a bit confused…) Tell them to take as much as they think they will need. Once they all have toilet paper, explain to them that they will use it as a “getting to know you” tool. They have to share one fact about themselves for each square. Giggle and moans!! Tell them anticipation is the fun part! (Jennifer Miller)

1. TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE Give each student 3 post-it-notes. In 2 notes, the student writes something true about him/her; on the third –something false. Students share in groups of 4.5 and try to guess which statement is each player’s lie.

1. QUESTION MIXER  Write the name of a well-known person on a sticky note. Stick a note to each student’s back. Students ask classmates 1 yes/no question at a time until they have figured out who is on their back.

1. WHERE ARE YOU FROM? For a class of internationals, give each student a sticky flag to place on their home country on your classroom world map. After everyone has place their flag, students try to guess whose note is whose.

1. ALL-STAR CLASS Have each student draw a self-portrait and display them on a bulletin board in class. Each person writes a positive adjectives describing each of his classmates. Do this activity in one day or over a period of time; let students take their portraits home.

1. WRITE AN ACROSTIC POEM Students use each letter of their names to find an adjective that describes them. Don’t forget to demonstrate the activity using your name and bring dictionaries!

1. PIECE IT TOGETHER Gather a stack of documents from your life (postcards, pictures, maps, receipts, letters, etc.) Ask your students to use that information to create a timeline and deduce what these documents say about you as a person.

1. MAROONED Give your students a few minutes to mull over this question: If you were stranded on a deserted island, name three people not in this room (dead, alive or imaginary) you would want to be with you and explain why.

1. SPILL THE SKITTLES, NOT THE BEANS Pass out five or ten Skittles or M&Ms to each student and explain that for each piece of candy the student has, she/he must tell the class something about him/herself. Each colour corresponds to a category.

1. INSIDE MY MIND Have students draw their head and then fill it with words and pictures showing what’s going on in there.

1. SETUP FOR TELEPHONE CHARADES Telephone Charades or “Charades Down the Line” is an active icebreaker that combines charades with the “telephone down the line” game.   To prepare for the game, write a list of humorous actions to be acted out (a pantomime, a nerd’s first date, a cat bathing itself, going skydiving, fishing and catching a huge fish, etc.) Choose five or six people (or ask for volunteers) and ask them to line up in a row, facing the left side of the room.  Ask the first person to turn around to see the first clue to be acted out.  Reveal the clue to the person, and display the clue to the audience as well. The first person turns around and taps the next person in line on the shoulder.  He or she then acts out the clue using classic charades rules (no talking or noises permitted).  The second person then taps the third person and acts out his or her understanding of what was acted out.  This process continues until it reaches the last person in line, who must guess what the action is.

1. THE SENTENCE GAME Give everyone a piece of paper and sit in a circle. Everyone write a statement about themselves in the room. Tell your students don’t share the statements with anyone else! Then they fold the paper back on the line and pass the paper to the person on the right. That person turn the paper over and read the statement the person wrote and they have 60 seconds to draw it. They fold it over again – burrito style. They need to cover the previous sentence. And pass it to the next person. And so on...Unravel the papers and have a good laugh!

1. THE SILENT LINE Students are given a criteria (height, shirt color, etc.) and must get themselves organized into a line as quickly as possible –without talking,

1. SNOWFALL FIGHT! Each student writes one thing he/she is excited about, one he/she is nervous about, and one thing he/she wants to learn. The papers are crumpled into balls and put in a pile. Each student then picks a ball and must find the person it belongs to.

1. FOODIE FRIENDS Each student states their name and then a food that begins with the same letter as their name. The next person must repeat the previous names and foods, and then add their own!