Although ice breakers can seem frivolous, they are an important first step to getting student buy-in. unless a student is emotionally connected to school, they will lack motivation to learn. Fostering feeling of trust and acceptance is difficult, if not impossible, when students don’t know each others’ names. Here are a few icebreakers that you can use in your classroom.

 

Crossword Connection

                This activity includes visual symbols of connection and self-introductions.

 

                The teacher prints their name on the board leaving some space between each letter and tells the class something about herself. The they pick a student to come to the board, tell something about themselves, and print their name crossing the teacher’s as in a crossword puzzle. Students take turns telling something about themselves and adding their names. Volunteers copy the completed puzzle as a poster. To save time, the puzzle could be written on paper taped to the board and left up in first draft form.

 

New Friend Scavenger Hunt

                This activity allows students to learn cool things about each other. Students find individuals who fit descriptions listed on the worksheet. The individual who gets the most matches wins!

 

TP Surprise

                Students will know you are full of fun with this one. The teacher welcomes students at the door while holding a roll of toilet paper. They instruct students to take as many sheets as they need refusing to explain the purpose. Once class begins, students are instructed to write one interesting thing about themselves on each sheet .when students are finished, they introduce themselves by reading their TP.

 

Take A Stand

                Then purpose of this questions is for students to get a feel about their peers’ positions on various matters. Unless you make the survey aspect of the exercise clear, students may think it is ridiculous despite their enjoyment of the physical activity.

 

Birthday Lineup

                Students are instructed to line themselves up around the perimeter of the room according to their birth date. The challenge is to do it without speaking or writing.

 

Jigsaw Search

                Students especially enjoy the search aspect of this activity. The teacher prepares construction paper jigsaw puzzle shapes of several different colors. The shape may be symbolic of a topic being introduced. These are cut as a jigsaw  puzzle with the number of pieces matching the desired group size from two to four.

 

By: Florilyn C. Malit | Master Teacher I | Pantalan Bago Elementary School | Orani, Bataan