Ice Breaker Activities
I try to incorporate ice breaker activities into my first day lesson plan. Usually, I spend a lot of time introducing the class, the course objectives, grading criteria (i.e. the syllabus).
Then, I do one or more ice breaker activities. I have many in my teaching bag of tricks, but I am always looking for new ideas.
What are some of the ice breaker activities that you have effectively used? What makes an ice breaker activity worthwhile? Is the goal merely to get students to interact and establish classroom climate / rapport? Do activities have to be tied to the curriculum you teach to be effective? What are your thoughts / insights?
Hi Leslie,
Great icebreaker! It really helps in getting to know your students and them getting to know each other. I use M&M's instead of tissue. Students love it.
Patricia Scales
The one Ice Breaker Activitie that I have done with younger students was: I would tell them to take as many square of toitle paper they would need. Once all the students had their toitle paper sqaures, they would have to tell one fact for each square they took.
One thing that I've done that is a bit different than the typical "tell us a little about yourself" activity that all students dread, is to ask them to give us the top ten items on their buckets lists. In other words, they discuss the top ten things they want to accomplish before they die. This usually gets a chuckle out of them and, often, stimulates further discussion whens someone reveals something out of the ordinary.
Hi Leslie,
I use this same icebreker with M&Ms. I have a bag of M&Ms, and I have the students take as many M&Ms as they like. Once the students have all received some M&Ms, they count them, and they have to tell one fact about them for each M&M they took.
Patricia
When I did my student teaching in a 5th grade classroom that was the first time I have seen ice breakers done. Since then I have been doing some ice breakers before I start a new class. The one that I have done is:
* I have a roll of toitle paper and I have the students take as much as they think they need. Once the students have all received some toitle paper each square they have to tell one fact about them self.
Hi Maureen,
Ice breakers work well with all sizes of classes. You can have the students pair up to interview each other and have them introduce each other based on their findings.
Patricia
Hi Annabelle,
I use a similar icebreaker except I have my students write down three things about them. No name is on the paper, and we mix the papers, and I have students guess the student based on what was written.
Patricia
I suggest everyone write one to two paragraphs about themselves. Do not put names on them and then put all the sheets of paper in a pile. Everyone picks a paper that is not about them and takes turn reading...at the end of the reading everyone has to guess who it is about...this continues until all papers are read...people will get to know each other and remember!
What if the class size is limited to 4 or less? Any ice-breaker suggestions?
In my experience, ice-breakers work the best if they involve hands-on instruction in a peer to peer activity or lab. This is one reason why the paper plane scenario is effective since it splits the new class into teams that must get to know one another in order to complete a final product.
Other ideas is simply to form teams of 3-4 students immediately within a class and assign a "team" assignment that is due at the end of the course. The team can be instructed to elect a "team leader", and design a "team" charter that outlines team expectations.
Hi Jacqueline,
I am not a big ice breaker kind of instructor. I spend quality time on Day 1 sharing the requirements of the course and how students can benefit from the course. If I do an ice breaker, it is just your common ice breaker. I do not have any unique ice breakers. I use my ice breakers to merely break the ice so that students are less nervous and so that they can bond with each other. My ice breakers typically do not have anything to do with the curriculum/lesson.
Patricia
