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Icebreakers1

Social Icebreakers: Getting to Know You

Simple Self- Introductions

Students introduce themselves. Works best in a small class.

Three-Step Interviews

Students share information with another student (how theyre alike; how theyre dissimilar) and thenshare with class.

Class Survey

Ask students to raise their hands in response to some general questions. (How many traveled abroad?How many are married?)

Then proceed into some opinion questions, perhaps relevant to the course materialsScavenger Hunt

Give students a list of requirements and tell them to move about the classroom seeking fellowstudents who meet each one. A student can be used only once.

Requirements could be: traveled to South America,has a birthday the same month as you do,prefers dogs to cats, born outside of the USA,speaks more than one language fluently. You may

elect to give prizes to the top three finishers.

Human Bingo

This is a variation on the scavenger hunt. Inside of a list of requirements. Make a page-size 4X4 tablewith a different requirement in each box, and give one copy of the table to each student. Be sure your

class as a whole can meet all the requiremetns.

The first student who has all boxes signed by a fellow student shouts out, Bingo! and is given a prize.The Circles of ________

Give each student a sheet of paper with a larger central circle and other smaller circles radiating fromit.

Students write their name in the central circle and the names of groups with which they identify themost (gender, age group, religious, ethnic, racial, social, political, ideological, athletic) in the satellite

circles.

Students move around the room to find the three classmates who are the most of the least similar tothemselves.

1Nilson, L. Teaching At Its Best: A Research-Based Resource for College Instructors. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.: San Francisco.

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This exercise not only helps students appreciate the diversity in the class but also generateshomogeneous or heterogeneous groups of four if you need them for another activity.

Subject Matter Icebreakers

Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs)

These are ungraded activities and exercises that you can assign to your students (often anonymously) so you canappraise their academic skills, intellectual development , reactions/understandings of the material. These techniques may be searched online for more detailed examples.

Problem Posting

Ask students to think about and jot down either problems they expect to encounter with the course or issuesthey think the course should address.

Then, act as the facilitator, recording their responses on the board or a slide. Tell students which of the questions the course will addressthis gives them something to look forward tobut

also be honest about the ones it will not.

Commonsense Inventory

First, have students respond to a brief inventory or pretest. Assemble 5 15 commonsense statements directly related to the course material, some or all of which run

counter to popular beliefs or prejudicesfor example Suicide is more likely among women than men.

Then have students individually mark each statement as true or false and share their answers in pairs or smallgroups.

You can then let students debate their differences among themselves, or try to have a group reach a consensusand share with the entire class.

You can then give them the correct answers or let them unfold throughout the semester.Drawing Class to a Close

Ask students to write down their reactions anonymously and hand them in to you. Pose general questions such as: What was the most important thing you learned today? What are still unsure

about?