Fourteen Interesting Ways* to Get to Know

Your New Class

*and tips

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial Share Alike 3.0 License.

Explore more shared ideas by searching Twitter for the hashtag >> #newclass

#1 - Coat of Arms Ask the children to create a coat of arms or shield design that best represents them. Encourage them to draw images or symbols that show:

• Favourite subjects• Sports• Hobbies• Family• Places• Something they are good at

Use each child's shield in a class display.

#2 - New Class BingoGive the children a bingo card each with different statements about each other. Such as:

• has a brother• walks to school• has two sisters• does martial arts• etc

Give the group time to talk to each other and get a signature in each box.Full house wins a prize! Was his name by jaycoxfilm

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License

#3 - Facts about meHand out a couple rolls of toilet paper and ask the students to take a few sheets ... whatever they think they are going to need. 

Of course you tell them you can't tell them why. When everyone has some, make them share one fact about themselves for each sheet of t.p. they took. 

You can do the same thing with M&M's or other candy.

Bonjour606

M&Ms by FlyNutAA Attribution License

#4 - Post-It Power!

Give everyone 5 post it notes and tell them to write one fact on each post it note and stick it to their bodies. 

Children walk around and meet each other.

Bonjour606

Post-It Note Art Collage (PINAP) by Adrian WallettAttribution-NoDerivs License

#5 - SMARTIES Game Take a handful of smarties & tell the following about yourself:  • Red - 1 fact about your childhood• Pink - job/volunteering • Yellow - dreams & aspirations• Brown - last vacation• Purple - fav. past-time • Orange - tell 1 random fact per candy

 Lots of fun, especially with food & you can adjust the categories.  ccampbel14

#6 - Just Like Me 

Get students to stand in a circle with the teacher.  Teacher begins with a statement like, "I like computers." Any students who do too stand up and say in unison "Just Like Me."  Teacher or students continue with other statements.  ccampbel14

#7 - Who's There?Split the class into two groups.

Hold up a large blanket or sheet and ask 2 or 3 children to line up facing the sheet on each side.

Make sure each team doesn't see who has moved.

When the sheet is dropped children have to name the person opposite them as quickly as they can. kristianstill

#8 - Hardest Test of the YearSet up classroom for test. Tell pupils this is hardest test they will do all year (works well with Y6 as can compare to SATs).

Tell them you'll start with an easy question... such as, 'What is my favourite colour Midget Gem?' - after a few doubtful glances around, one brave person will ask how they're supposed to know that. But keep up the pretence that this is a serious test. Ask other questions such as:What is my dog's name?   How many cm from my house to school?Which 16 countries of the world have I visited? What is my car number plate?   What is my favourite colour? What is my favouriteanimal?

 This creates a lovely opportunity for them to find out some ‘secrets’ about you so they feel special and privileged.  The winner could get a small prize, or give a small treat to everyone as they have all done well if they get even one correct! If you have a learning platform, follow it up by asking them to post  a quiz about themselves for others to answer over the holidays.  MadameRosbif

#9 - GatekeeperCreate a 'gate' from a couple of chairs or tables in the middle of your room, with the students on one side. Call out a category (eye colour, favourite food, pet etc) and students have to find someone else who matches their response. They can only pass through the gate as a pair. Once two students have come through together, they can't make a pair for any of the other categories.Dave Stacey

Image cc licensed from Flickr by flyman

#10 - Name tagsIt can be hard in secondary to find the time for 'getting to know you' activities - these next two are designed to work on limited time. Give each student a sheet of A4 coloured card which they fold lengthways. They then have five minutes to create a name tag with their name, and images that tell you something about their interests / hobbies / favourite topics from the previous year.

Dave Stacey

Image cc licensed from Flickr by hugovk

#11 - Who am I (and other ideas)This sheet comes from the 'firstday' wiki which was started by Dan Meyer a couple of years ago. There are some great subject specific ideas there as well as more general ones such as this. This activity can either be done in class, or as a homework. It can also be given to new staff and displayed in the staffroom!

Dave Stacey

#12 - Guess Who?Each student is to write, on a card, the following:1. Something I have in common with everyone in the class is….– Something I have in common with several people in the class is…– Something I have in common with a few people in the class is…– Something I have in common with no one in the class is….

The teacher collects the cards and picks one at random. All students are standing and the first sentence is read by the teacher. Students try to guess who the writer is. The second sentence is read. If the common topic doesn’t apply to some students, those students sit down. Students guess again who they think the writer is. The third sentence is read, and again, those that don’t have the issue in common, sit down. Now with only a few left standing, the guessing continues. After the fourth sentence is read, only the writer should be left standing.

This activity can continue for the rest of the week. @hdurnin

Something that has worked well for me over the years is to learn every student's name the first day. I used to hand out a list of 100 hardest jobs to fill, but the list is not really necessary. I tell the class that everyone has to be employed before leaving and that there is a catch. 

They have to figure out that they need to choose a career starting with the first letter of their name. So, Tom the truck driver. Jim the judge, etc. If one kid does not figure out the catch, I ask other class members to help find the student a job. As each student says his/her name and job, I repeat it back and repeat every name and job given so far. By the last person to become "employed", I have names learned. 

Note I teach high school. They love it! There is always some discussion and joking throughout the process and always a prize for the student who can name the entire class. There is always one student who can do it. 

Warning - after learning over 100 names and repeating them back so many times, your voice could start to go!

#13 - Names

#14 - PhonemesSit the class in a circle and have them figure out their first name's phoneme (e.g. 'Sss' for Sally, 'Sh' for Charlotte - emphasis on the sound, not the letter).

Pupils then pick an adjective that with the same phoneme (e.g. 'Silly Sally' or 'Short Charlotte').

You start by saying your own (e.g. 'Moody Mr. Clarkson') and the pupil next to you repeats it and states his/her own. The 2nd pupil repeats yours, then the 1st pupil's, then their own, and so on.

It's surprising how quickly pupils can manage 20 or 30 names in a row and even those who have had their turn are eager to see how well the others do.

Mark Clarkson - @mwclarkson

If you would like to: • Contribute your ideas and tips to the presentation.• Let me know how you have used the resource.• Get in touch. 

You can email me or I am @tombarrett on Twitter

Thanks for helpingTom Barrett 

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