Icebreakers for Every Occasion

1. Two Truths and a Lie: Students write down two truths about themselves and one lie. Then, they introduce the three "facts" to the rest of the class or group. Student try to guess which one is the lie. 2. Birthday Partner Have students walk around and identify the person whose birthdate (not year-just month and date) is closest to their own. Find out two things they have in common. 3. Icebreaker BINGO (see template page 4) Make copies for each student in the class. The objective of this game is for students to wander around the room and obtain the signatures of people who have the facts listed on the bingo sheet. Each person you talk to can only sign your sheet once. Once a student successfully obtains a full row (5 in a row), whether horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, he or she shouts BINGO! and wins. Once a person shouts BINGO everyone returns to their seats and the winner introduces the people who signed his or her sheet. 4. Coat of Arms (see template page 5) Make copies of the template for each student in the class. It is best if the teacher prepares one as a model. Put students in groups sharing colored pencils, scissors, etc. so they get to know each other. Have students decorate the coat of arms with any of these variations: an animal that represents you favorites (hobbies, foods, sports, etc.) a country or state where you live or have lived representation of family members a symbol of your role as a student 2-3 adjectives that describe your personality Provide time to share their projects when completed. Post around the room. 5. Whats My Name Have a hard time remembering names? This is a variation of the old ABC game. Start at one end of the room. The first student states their name and one interesting fact with a verbExBilly plays hockey. The next student has to repeat all the names and facts leading up to them. Keep going. Of course this will be most difficult for the person at the other side of the room. With classes over 20 it is a good idea to break up over two days. The repetition is a fun way to learn a lot of student names in just a few days. 6. Ice breaker Scavenger Hunt(see template page 6) Put students in pairs. Pass out the Scavenger Hunt and give them 30 minutes to complete the list. This scavenger hunt requires them to ask lots of questions and provides a comfort level with their environment. So that all students are not bottlenecking on the same question, be sure to tell them they DO NOT have to go in order. 7. The Superlative Game Split students into groups of 8-10 each. Ask players to line up in ascending order for various categories (e.g. height, birthday etc.). Front person raises their hand when the team thinks they are finished. This is a fun way to get students talking to one another on those first few days of school. Consider the following variations: No talking allowed. All players must rely on body language and hand gestures to get in the proper order. Head and feet only. You can only use your head and feet to signal where to go. No talking or use of arms/hands to communicate.
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8. Unique and Shared Students form groups of four to five people. Each group needs a sheet of paper and a writing utensil. A notetaker creates a list of traits or qualities that members of the group have in common. Avoid the obvious such as we are all human, we are all in this class. The goal is for everyone to dig deeper than the superficial and see which group can come up with the most. Allow about five minutes and then have a spokesperson from each group read their list. The second half is the unique part. Now have them record unique traits and ualities; items that only apply to one person in the group. Instruct the group to find at least two unique qualities and strengths per person. Again, go beyond the obvious. Allow another five minutes. When time is up, share again. This activity promotes unity as students realize they might have more in common than they originally thought. They also learn the unique talents and characteristics of others. 9. Comic Strip Chaos Prepare individual frames of several comic strips. Have the same number of frames for number of students. Each student takes one frame and searches for others with the same comic strip. After the participants have found everyone in their group, they must arrange themselves so that the sequence of frames is in the correct order. Upon completion of sequence, the newly formed group sits down together and if correct, they win. 10. Self Introduction Mad Libs Style (see template page 7) Make copies and pass one out to each student. Students complete and share. 11. Make a Date (See template page 8) This is a great activity to use throughout the year as a way to group students. Give each participant a copy of the clock (page 8). Then students walk around and find a date for each hour, writing their name by the hour on each others paper. No one can make a date with more than one person per hour. After everyone has made their dates, the teacher asks a question for discussion on each date. The pairs will have a chance to get to know one another. You can use this for different peer work throughout the year. Share with your 3:00 appointment. 12. Name Tag Match Maker Give each student a 5 X 7 card then give the following intstructions (or variations of your choosing: Put your name in the center. In the upper right corner, write your four favorite songs or bands. In the lower left corner write your four favorite movies. In the lower right corner, write four adjectives that describe you. When everyone is finished have students walk around and try to find others with cards similar to theirs. Call time and have them visit with one person for a few minutes. Start walking around again. This time try to find someone whose card has the most differences as yours. Stop and talk to them for a few minutes. 13. Find the missing piece Make copies of strips of compound words, but divide them by individual words: Cocoa Butter, Mile Stone, Ice Cream, Horse Fly, etc. Each student picks a piece of paper and then walks around to find his or her match. Once everyone has found someone, partners introduce each other to the group.

14. Whats the Question The teacher writes some facts on the board. EXAMPLE: Purple, 16 months, Kenya Students try to think of the question that matches each fact. Purple - What's your favorite color? What color is your car? What color is your favorite clothing? 16 months - How long have you lived in this city? How old is your child? How long have you been married? Kenya - Where were you born? Where have you worked? Where are you going on vacation? Once students have discovered all of the questions, place them in small groups and repeat steps 1 and 2, then they introduce each other to the class. 15. My ExpectationsYour Expectations Give students a letter explaining your rules and expectations and then ask them to write you a letter about their expectations of you. 16. A Poetic Introduction Use the popular poem by George Ella Lyons, Where Im From, as a poem for students to model. See http://www.georgeellalyon.com/where.html 17. My Name Use the excerpt, My Name, from House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros as a model for students to talk about their names. Ask them to write a piece about what their name means to them and how they got it (if they know). See http://theliterarylink.com/mangostreet.html 18. Summer Theme Song Instead of the traditional What I Did on My Summer Vacation essay, have students consider their summer theme song. Students need to choose a song (school appropriate) that represents their summer, or their recent place in life. Bring in a copy of the lyrics and paper explaining why they chose these lyrics, in what ways do they represent their summer. 19. Writing Folders Give every student a manilla folder. Have them decorate the outside with their name and a timeline of events from their life. Draw pictures to represent important memories. Let them work in groups while they share pencils and get to know one another. For the last ten minutes, have them select one of the memories and write about it. This will be the first of many to go in their writing folders. These folders, and this timeline, can be used throughout the year. The act of drawing often stirs the creative juices and preps for creative writing. 20. Where Im From Map If your student population is transient consider this icebeaker. Pass out sticky notes and have students write their name on it. Then display a US and world map. Students take turns telling the class their name and where they were born, placing their sticky note on the location.

Icebreaker BINGO

has never been on a plane

has more than four siblings

lived in another country

plays more than two sports

speaks more than two languages

is a morning person

has a job

plays a muscial intrument

has never broken a bone

has a yellow highlighter

has red hair

owns more than four pets

FREE SPACE

loves to read

is wearing yellow today

went out of the country on vacation this summer

is wearing earrings

has a birthday this month

has green eyes

eats fast food more than three times a week

is an artist

has lived in this state his/her whole life

is an only child

has been to a concert in the past two weeks

likes to write

The same person cannot sign the sheet more than once.

Icebreaker Scavenger Hunt TEAM: __________________________________________________________

1. What is a sentence fragment? _____________________________ 2. How tall is the teachers desk? ____________________________ 3. How many wastebaskets are in the class? ________________ 4. What is the 2nd word of the 2nd classroom rule? ______________ 5. Find someone who likes cauliflower. _____________________ 6. Everyone in your group, introduce yourself to the teacher and tell him/her your favorite book. Get teacher signature when complete. __________________________ 7. What is the first poem that appears in the textbook? ___________________ 8. How many student desks are in the class? ________________ 9. Find someone in the class with a special talent. (not from your group) Write their name and talent ________________________________________________ 10. How many students are in the class? ______________ 11. Find a student whose name begins with a vowel. They have to sign below. (they cannot be from your group) ________________________.
12.

Whose birthday is closest to today? _______________________________ (name & date)

13. Ask your teacher a yes or no question and write the question and answer here. ______________________________________________________________ 14. What is the topic on the top of page nine of the student handbook? ____________ 15. Write one UNUSUAL thing everyone in your group has in common. ________________ (Will be used as a tiebreaker. The most UNUSUAL wins)

Self Introduction Mad Lib Style Hello, my name is __________. I am ____ years old. My favorite subject is ___________. My home is _______________________________ because _____________________________. I always dreamed that someday I would _________________________________. I feel ________________________ about ________________________________. I like to _____________________________________________. If I could change one thing about myself it would be __________________________________. Still, I am really glad to ____________________________________ because ____________________________________________________________. The one thing I want to be remembered for is _____________________________. As far as future plans are concerned, I hope to _____________________________ _________________________________ someday.

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Write in another students name for each hour.

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