Ice Breakers give students the chance to express their knowledge of themselves. They are the first foray into an active and engaged class community.
Ice breakers are fun, person-focused, and have the purpose of requiring learners to find something in common with the learning community.
Whether you are teaching an in-person, remote, or online asynchronous course, consider leading with an icebreaker. Zoom meetings could start out with a game of “popcorn”. You call on the first student to answer a fun question about themselves and then instruct them to call on the next student. Maybe you are playing two truths and a lie. Maybe it’s Pictionary using the Zoom whiteboard and a word generator. Maybe it’s desert island items. At the very minimum add an “introduce yourself” discussion topic for week 1.
Here are some other ideas…
Bingo
Pair an “introduce yourself” discussion or activity with a class member bingo card! Have your students play bingo based on the introductions, crossing off each square as you determine the correct name.
Classmate Quiz
Pair an “introduce yourself” discussion or activity and hold a classmate quiz in the second week of class. This will reinforce the activity of posting personal introductions and reading through each participant’s posting. BONUS, it familiarizes the students with the Brightspace test environment in a low-stakes, fun way.
Lineup
Have your students score themselves on a scale of 1 to 10 on categories, such as…
- I consider myself a sports expert
- Cooking is one of my hobbies
- I love to read
- I am interested in the subject matter of this course
- I love nature
Have students share their self-assessment in a discussion or breakout room, where they can meet people with common interests.
Lost in Space
Prompt = Imagine you have been living on a space station for a period of one year. Suddenly the computers malfunction, and you have fifteen minutes to evacuate to a space shuttle before all life support systems fail. You will be allowed five items to take with you. As quickly as you can, type your name followed by the five items in the chat. This is not the time for reflective thought. Just type as quickly as you can.
Once all participants have entered their list, read through what has been entered. Facilitate a course discussion on the items.
Name that Movie
Day 1: Post a 2-3 sentence response to the following: If you were to write the score to the movie of your life, which two songs would you pick and why?
Day 2: Based on the answers to #1, suggest a movie title for each person followed by a one-sentence explanation of why you chose that title.
Day 3: Consider all the suggested titles for your movie. Select the one title that would best fit your movie followed by a 1-2 sentence explanation.
One Word
Have your students think of one word that describes them our their life, then give them these instructions.
Asynchronously: Enter your word and your name in the subject line of a discussion, then explain why you chose that word in the body. Review the entries of others and find someone else whose word resonates with you. Reply to their post and try to find at least two additional words that the two of you have in common by the end of the week.
Synchronously: Post your word in the chat. Once everyone has posted their word, review the words and send a private message introducing yourself to an individual whose noun resonates with you. Try to come up with two more words that you have in common with that person.
Portrait
This is a playful way for students to get to know each other. Ask students to create a self-portrait to share. Artistic ability is not essential. They can use crayons and paper, or a graphics program, or even a collage of magazine images. In the end, share your creation and describe your decisions in creating your portrait.
Room with a View
Describe (in vivid detail) the view from your favorite window. Weave some autobiographical information into your “ view. ” For example, “I’m looking out over our pool where my son learned to swim this weekend. It also overlooks a lake. When we lived in Arizona we dreamed about living by the water and now that we are here in Florida that has become a reality.” Read what others have written and respond to two peers’ postings indicating why you would like to trade places for a day.
Snowball
Have one person enter a basic introduction of himself or herself, including his or her interests. A second person must then enter an introduction of himself or herself and find one thing in common with the first person. A third person then enters his or her introduction and finds one thing in common with the first person and the second person. Each of the rest of the class members then enters an introduction and must find something in common with at least three other people in the class. The first person, in turn, must respond to at least three people with whom he or she has something in common. The second person must respond to at least two additional people. The third person must respond to at least one additional person.
*NOTE* Best in small groups (under 10 ppl), for using this activity with a large group will turn a Snowball into an Avalanche!
Things
Find an object or a digital image that represents who you are or why you are taking this course or even what your research interests might be. Post a description of the object on the discussion board and explain why you chose that particular object. Attach a digital image of your object: a scanned image, digital picture, or Web-linked image, for example. Include a brief description of your expectations for the class in the explanation of your object.
Truths and Lies
Enter two truthful statements and one falsehood about yourself onto the discussion board (or into the chat room). Each member of the group should then try to distinguish the truths from the lie. What makes this activity fun is to be as outrageous as possible while sharing a bit of who you really are with your fellow participants. Once all responses have been received, post your truths and explain why you chose them to share.
Why are we Together
Send out a profile survey, with several questions about your students. Based on the results, assign groups of four to five people. Using the discussion board or Zoom breakout room, have the group discover why its members were put together. Also, are there any other things that group members have in common that were not included in the profile survey?
Examples of group categories
- Students identified as having leadership skills
- Students that are very comfortable with technology
- A coin toss
Conrad, R., & Donaldson, J. A. (2011). Engaging the online learner: Activities and resources for creative instruction. ProQuest Ebook Central https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.geisel.idm.oclc.org