Five ways to break the ice with your new students
Mixed feelings are a normal part of the new school year. You’re eager to meet your new students, but the first few weeks can take a toll on everyone. Make learning about each other fun by incorporating games, interactive opportunities, and finding ways to connect your students through shared interests.
Need help breaking the ice? Check out these five quick and easy ice breakers to help learn about each other and warm up your classroom for 2023 and 2024:
Two truths and a lie
Have each student write down or type on their devices two true statements and one false statement about themselves. Then, go around the room and allow each student to share their statements on the ActivPanel with Screen Share while the other students guess which one is the lie.
Name bingo
Create bingo cards with different characteristics or experiences students might have, like “has traveled to a foreign country,” “speaks more than one language,” or “has a dog.” Students mingle and ask each other questions to find someone who fits each characteristic and fill in the squares on their bingo card. This could also be a front-of-class activity using the Promethean Whiteboard. Incorporate the Spinner to create custom lists with bingo choices. The goal is for the class to fill out the entire bingo card.
Human scavenger hunt
Create an Activity in ActivInspire for each month. For every student that has a birthday that month, gather one interesting fact about them. Students can work in stations or as a class to match the interesting fact to the student.
Student-led ice breaker
Take turns having students create their own ice breaker game or lesson and teach from the ActivPanel. This fosters leadership skills and encourages students to get to know each other and take control of their learning.
Digital vision boards
Use the blank infinite Whiteboard canvas and have each student import a small piece of artwork to the collaborative project. This can be a symbol, a word, or an image that represents their hopes and goals for the school year. As students work together on the artwork, they can chat and share their visions for the upcoming year.
Getting to know your students before getting serious about your lesson plans for the year is a great way to learn about them as individuals and make any tweaks to your teaching style to fit different personalities.
Learn more about other ideas you can implement in your classroom.