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SIP Goal: Success for All

Making Connections!!! More Icebreakers…

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 feelings 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.

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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. Then 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. This activity can be extended by asking each student to write their name and a statement about themselves on a sheet of paper. The teacher can then use the statements as clues for a class-names crossword puzzle which can be made with crossword puzzle software.

Find Your Kind This activity requires a handout containing questions and places for signatures. Students answer the questions in ink to reduce answer changing later. When everyone is finished, students find others who have the same answers on any question and get their signatures under the answers they had in common.

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. Variation: Students write one thing they hope or expect to learn in the course this year on each sheet.

Take A Stand The purpose of this question 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. The teacher puts one long line of tape down the center of the room, pushing desks out of the way so that students can stand on either side of the tape. The teacher reads statement with "either-or" answers such as, "I prefer night or day," "Democrats or Republicans," "lizards or snakes." Statements can range from silly trivia to serious content. After hearing each statement, students agreeing with the first response move to one side of the classroom and those agreeing with the second, to the other. Undecided or middle-of-the-roaders, straddle the line.

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 jig saw puzzle with the number of pieces matching the desired group size from two to four. The teacher allows students to select one puzzle piece from a container as they walk into the room. At the designated time, students search the room for peers who have puzzle pieces that fit theirs and then team up with those students to perform a task. Some interesting tasks might be introducing a partner, making a poster to define a concept, decorating puzzle pieces, and making a mobile. Having students print their names on both sides of their puzzle piece might facilitate name learning during the search activity. The names could be erased or crossed out if puzzle pieces are reused.

Note: If the number of puzzle pieces does not match the number of students in the room, some students will not have a complete group. Left over puzzle pieces can be placed on a table for students to check to see if their group will be short members. To avoid groups being short members you could use two-piece puzzles and participate with a student left out yourself.

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'LAY DOWN THE LAW' AND THEN... Like many teachers, Suzanne Meyer feels compelled to use part of the first day of classes to "lay down the law." She shares her plans for the year ahead as well as class rules and expectations. A few years ago, however, Meyer, the K-12 instructional technology coordinator in the Hilton (New York) Central School District, decided to turn the tables.

"After doing my 'routine,' I asked students for their expectations of me," Meyer told Education World. "For three years in a row, I have found that this approach builds powerful bridges to understanding between me and my students.

"Because adolescents are in 'take in' mode early in the school year, you will have their undivided attention as they try to size you up," suggested Meyer. "Tell them you're interested in their opinions and you're asking them these questions as a way of finding out about their learning styles and preferences. Ask them to write, using as much detail as possible, their responses to questions, such as

• Now that I've told you my expectations of a good student, what are your expectations of a good teacher?

• Tell me about the best teacher you've ever had. What made that person such a good teacher?

• Now that I've told you some of my ideas about how we will go about learning this year's material, tell me about how you learn best. Give me an example of a project or unit where you learned a lot. Describe the project in detail.

Chain Reaction

Begin by asking students "Who can do something really well?" After a brief discussion about some of the students' talents, pass out paper and ask students to write down five things they do well. Then provide each student with five different-colored paper strips. Have each student write a different talent on separate paper strips, then create a mini paper chain with the strips by linking the five talents together. As students complete their mini chains, use extra strips of paper to link the mini chains together to create one long class chain. Have students stand and hold the growing chain as you link the pieces together. Once the entire chain is constructed and linked, lead a discussion about what the chain demonstrates -- for example, all the students have talents; all the students have things they do well; together, the students have many talents; if they work together, classmates can accomplish anything; the class is stronger when students work together than when individual students work on their own. Hang the chain in the room as a constant reminder to students of the talents they possess and the benefits of teamwork.

      Kimberlee Woodward, substitute teacher, Waterford, Michigan

Fact or Fib?

This is a good activity for determining your students' note-taking abilities. Tell students that you are going to share some information about yourself. They'll learn about some of your background, hobbies, and interests from the 60-second oral "biography" that you will present. Suggest that students take notes; as you speak, they should record what they think are the most important facts you share. When you finish your presentation, tell students that you are going to tell five things about yourself. Four of your statements should tell things that are true and that were part of your presentation; one of the five statements is a total fib. This activity is most fun if some of the true facts are some of the most surprising things about you and if the "fib" sounds like something that could very well be true. Tell students they may refer to their notes to tell which statement is the fib. Next, invite each student to create a biography and a list of five statements -- four facts and one fib -- about himself or herself. Then provide each student a chance to present the 60-second oral biography and to test the others' note-taking abilities by presenting his or her own "fact or fib quiz." You can have students do this part of the activity in small groups.

      Mitzi Geffen

Circular Fact or Fib?

Here's a variation on the previous activity: Organize students into two groups of equal size. One group forms a circle equally spaced around the perimeter of the classroom. There will be quite a bit of space between students. The other group of students forms a circle inside the first circle; each student faces one of the students in the first group. Give the facing pairs of students two minutes to share their 60-second oral "biographies." While each student is talking, the partner takes notes. After each pair completes the activity, the students on the inside circle move clockwise to face the next student in the outer circle. Students in the outer circle remain stationary throughout the activity. When all students have had an opportunity to share their biographies with one another, ask students to take turns each sharing facts and fibs with the class. The other students refer to their notes or try to recall which fact is really a fib.

      Contributor Unknown

Another Poetic Introduction.

Ask students to use the form below to create poems that describe them.

Name ______________________

Title (of poem)_______________

I will never _______________,

I will never ________________,

and I will never ______________.

I will always ______________.

This activity lends itself to being done at the beginning of the school year and again at the end of the year. You and your students will have fun comparing their responses and seeing how the students and the responses have changed.

      Contributor Unknown

Personal Boxes

In this activity, each student selects a container of a reasonable size that represents some aspect of his or her personality or personal interests, such as a football helmet or a saucepan. Ask students to fill that object with other items that represent themselves -- for example, family photos, CDs, dirty socks, a ballet shoe -- and bring their containers back to school. Students can use the objects in the containers as props for three-minute presentations about themselves. The teacher who provided this idea suggests that you model the activity and encourage creativity by going first -- it's important for students to see you as human too! She included in her container a wooden spoon because she loves to cook, a jar of dirt because she loves to garden, her son's first cowboy boot, a poem she wrote, a rock from Italy because she loves to travel, and so on. You'll learn much about each student with this activity, and it will create a bond among students. As each student gives a presentation, you might write a brief thank-you note that mentions something specific about the presentation so that each student can take home a special note to share with parents. It might take a few days to give every student the opportunity to share.

      Valerie Braun

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Ice Breaker - Super Powers

Wouldn't it be great to have super powers? If you could have one super power, which one would you choose?

Ice Breaker - Three Words

If you had to describe yourself in three words, which three would you choose?

Ice Breaker - Personal Flag

Flags have a way of making everybody feel good, especially when they’re waving in the breeze. Ask your students to make their own personal flag and present it to the class.

Ice Breaker - Fortune Cookie Writer

Everybody loves a fortune cookie, especially if they get a good fortune. Some love it even more if the cookie is a little sassy. Learn something about your students when you ask them to write fortune cookies. Are they gurus? Or wisecrackers?

Ice Breaker - If You Won the Lottery

Money is pretty powerful. How’s that for an understatement! It’s easy to think having a lot of it would solve all our problems, but history shows otherwise. If you won the lottery, what would you do with all the cash?

Ice Breaker - Time Capsule

What message would you put in a time capsule to be opened by your ancestors in 100 years? Assuming we haven't destroyed our planet by then, of course. We’re thinking positive here. Do you have advice? An admonition? Or would you make them laugh?

Ice Breaker - The Movie of Your Life

If they made a movie of your life, what kind of movie would it be and who would be cast as you? Are you Bond...James Bond? Or more the Ahnold type? Maybe you’re like Scarlet in Gone With the Wind. Or Cat Woman. Is your life an adventure, drama, romance, or horror flick? Entertain us.

Ice Breaker - Photo Scavenger Hunt

A picture is worth a thousand words. Almost everyone has a photo or two in their wallet, especially when you’ve got a room full of adults, or even better, baby boomers with grandchildren. The photo scavenger hunt is on!

Ice Breaker - Would You Rather...

Would you rather find true love or win the lottery? Would you rather be bald or completely hairy? Would you rather tell your best friend a lie or your parents the truth?

Ice Breaker - The Name Game

You may have people in your group who hate the name game so much they’ll still remember everyone’s name two years from now! Ha! You can make it harder by requiring everyone to add an adjective to their name that starts with the same letter (e.g. Cranky Carla, Blue-eyed Bob, Zesty Zelda). You get the gist.

Ice Breaker - 2-Minute Mixer

You may have heard of 8-minute dating, where 100 people meet for an evening full of 8-minute dates. They talk to one person for 8 minutes and then move on to the next. Eight minutes is a long time in the classroom, so we’ll call this ice breaker a 2-minute mixer. Ready? Go!

Ice Breaker - People Bingo

People Bingo is one of the most popular ice breakers because it's so easy to customize for your particular group and situation, and everyone knows how to play it.

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LOGOS Each person is given a blank name tag. Explain to the group that corporations are recognized by a specific logo or symbol. (McDonalds arches, 3M, Apple Computer's Apple, etc.) They are given 2 minutes to draw their personal logo. This logo should reflect their personality, their interests, major or any thing they would like other people to know about them. Then give the group time to mingle and see what each others logo looks like. When it looks like the entire group has mixed, instruct everybody with a similar logo to form a small group. You may be surprised at how many similarities there are in your group.

Color Jacuzzi: The object of this small group exercise is to get the group to quickly meet the other members. The facilitator calls out a color of the rainbow: - for example RED:

Red typically is the stop/turn- off color - so each member of the group quickly tells what is the one thing (that they can disclose in public) that is really a turn off to them.

Orange: is the motivation color - what motivates them

Yellow: is the inspiration or creativity color - what was the best idea they've had

Green: is the money color - what they plan to do for money, or the dumbest thing they ever did for money.

Blue: is the sky's the limit color - what is your favorite dream about your future

Indigo: is an odd, or different color - what is the most daring thing they ever did.

Purple: is the color of royalty - if you were ruler of the universe for a day - what is the first thing you would do?



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