What is an easy ice-breaker for your first day of school?
Do you want a no-prep, easy activity to engage your students on the first day of school? Seriously, this takes no preparation at all, which is why I loved starting the school year this way.
Whenever I went into a new class as a student, I would always have a million questions going on in my mind. Most of them weren’t about the actual class. I wondered why something in particular was hanging on the wall. I wondered if the teacher loved dogs as much as I do. I wondered if the teacher was married. I wondered if the teacher had a good sense of humor. I wondered if this was my assigned seat. I wondered the cute boy’s name sitting next to me. 🙂
However, most of my teachers wouldn’t talk about this stuff, and I left class with just as many questions as I had when I entered. This is why I love this activity.
Ask Me Anything: The Teacher
After attendance, I would sit on a tall stool in front of the classroom, and tell the students that in a moment, I am going to set a timer for five minutes. I told them that they needed to think of at least one question that they wanted to know the answer. Do they see something in the classroom that they wonder about? Do they have a question about the class and what it involves? Do they have a question about me personally? (I also told them that I can refuse to answer any question.).
I teach middle school, so they always asked me my social security number and address. If they asked me age, I told them I was 80, and then said, “Don’t I look great for my age?” Of course, you would find out the instant charmer who would reply that they thought I was only 25. Then I would start the timer and call on people. If there weren’t a lot of questions, I gave them the challenge that I was looking for the most creative person in class. The hands instantly went up, but then I had to be prepared for some weird questions.
Ask Me Anything: The Students
Next, the students are going to do the same activity with each other. My students already sit at tables, but if yours don’t, put them into groups of four. I have them figure out who is the oldest in the group, or whatever question you want to use. Have that person raise their hand. This is a good way to see when each table is ready.
Tell them that as a group, they are going to ask the person with their hand raised any question that they want for one minute (or two minutes if you have enough time). Obviously, that person can refuse to answer a question. I also tell them not to refuse every question, or the people at their table will think they are lame. I role-play this with one table because I also want them to see it isn’t about talking about yourself, if you are the one asking questions. As a teacher, you need to stress that the whole table should ask questions to only the person answering the questions.
Before You Begin
Before you begin, you might want to brainstorm possible questions. I also put up a list of possible questions on the whiteboard, in case they can’t think of any. I usually use my list of attendance questions. I wrote about my attendance questions here: https://judiholst.com/teaching-tip-build-your-culture-and-climate-with-attendance-questions/. You can find a link to the questions at the bottom of the blog post. If you don’t to use the overhead, you could give them examples such as:
- What job would you like to have when you turn 16?
- What. is the best thing that happened to you last week?
- What is your favorite thing in your bedroom?
- Who do you wish was in this class, but isn’t?
After Each Student Goes
Then I start the timer for 1-2 minutes, and when the timer stops, I call on a student from each table. They have to tell me who they interviewed and one thing they learned about them. Yes, I make them say the student’s name because it’s important to learn each other’s names as quickly as possible. Then you tell them that the next person to go is sitting clockwise of the last person answering the questions and you start over.
Wrap It Up at the End of Class
At the end of class, you could wrap up this activity by calling on a student and telling them to raise their hand. I use my attendance sheet, since I don’t know their names yet. “Mary Kay, raise your hand. Okay, who can tell me one thing they learned about Mary Kay?” I try to call on people that are not sitting at Mary Kay’s table.
The “Why”
It’s important for students to feel comfortable as quickly as possible in your room. There is time to go over the rules and syllabus another day. This stress-free ice-breaker doesn’t require students to walk around the room and talk to a bunch of people that they don’t know. My introverted side cringes when I have to do this on the first day of anything. Many students have said that they became friends with another person in my class just from this very first activity. As a bonus, you don’t even have to prepare any materials!
If you would like to read about more first day activities, you can find my blog post here: https://judiholst.com/?s=first+day
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