Icebreakers
Name Game :
Students form a circle. Teacher chooses the student to his/her left to
begin the game. The student chosen should say his or her name with a
descriptor starting with the same letter (like "Curious Chris"). The next
student repeats the descriptor and name of the first student, and then states
their own descriptor and name ("Curious Chris", "Smart Sally").
This process continues clockwise around the circle with each person listing all the
previous names and descriptors and adding their own to the end of the list.
The teacher ends the game by repeating the full list of names and descriptors.
Interviewing :
Students interview each other in pairs. Then each student introduces
his or her partner to the group, with the order of introductions based on
common characteristics between the person just introduced and the next person
to be introduced. For example: Sarah introduces Nicole: Nicole is 13, goes to
Durham School of the Arts and likes pizza, the color blue, and reading science
fiction. Ryan then speaks up to introduce Mike, who also likes pizza, likes to
skateboard and play soccer, and is 12... Continue through the room until
everyone has been introduced.
Line Up :
Students attempt to line up in order of their birthdays without using
words or sounds. The object is to see how close they can come to being in
order. Variations include alphabetical order by first or last names, shoe
size, height, etc. This is a good quick method to randomize for pairing up
students to work in groups.