Back to School Icebreakers to Try Now

Okay, it is back-to-school time and new faces are looking back at you, and a bunch of new personalities are in your classes. You might be wondering if there is anything new you can do with your classes that will help ease them into your class to help them get to know their classmates and help you get to know them. The first week of school is a big "get to know your students" time. Here are 5 things you can do with your classes to break the ice with them and get to know them better!

1. In my TPT store I have a free Meet and Greet Icebreaker you can try with your classes. It's a good way for students to meet each other and a fun way to start off the first week of school. It comes in two different versions. I revised my first Meet & Greet Icebreaker. I finally got around to changing it up a bit. In the new Meet & Greet 2, some of the boxes are different than in the original one. Both versions are available for you in this free download. My students have enjoyed doing these. I think yours will too. It is an activity definitely worth trying out.

   
   

2. Personalized Attendance Check-Tell students that instead of saying "here" when you call their name, have them instead answer a question that you post on the board. You can do this from time to time throughout the year, not just the first week of school. Personalized attendance questions make the class more interesting and gives students an opportunity to share about themselves. 

   
   

   Here are some attendance questions you can use:

-What is your favorite holiday?

-What is your favorite band?

-What is your favorite food?

-Where were you born?

-What would rather, visit a waterpark or an amusement park?

-Would you rather be rich or smart?

-Would you rather be 20 feet tall or 2 inches tall?

-Would you rather solve a math problem or write a paper?

-What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

-Would you rather build a sandcastle or a snowman?

-What is your favorite pizza topping?

-What is your favorite city?

-What is your middle name?

-Are you afraid of anything?

-What is something you are good at?

-Would you rather see a movie at home or at the theater?

-Would you rather order food in or go out to eat?

-Would you rather the power to turn invisible anytime or to fly?

-Do you like pickles on your hamburgers?

-What is your favorite place to eat at?

-Would you rather eat a salad or eat cut up fruit?

-What is your birthday month?

-Do you prefer to do a science lab, or take notes while listening to a teacher talk?

-Do you prefer to shop online or in a store?

-Do you like to go to bed before midnight or after midnight?

-Do you have a favorite Christmas song? If so, what is the name.

-Do you prefer hot weather or cold weather?

-Do you want an extra day of school or a "no school-bad weather" day?

-Would you rather go to space, scuba dive deep in the ocean, or do none?

-Do you prefer a hamburger and fries or pizza?

3. Do You Know Your Teacher? Post 5 questions about yourself/your life, each with three answer choices on the board, with one of them being a correct answer and the other two being incorrect answers. Choose a student to tell you which answer they think is the right answer. Before they choose their answer, have them say their name and one thing about themselves. For example, one question about yourself could be, I am fantastic at: a. cooking, b. painting, c. playing guitar. The student who guesses the answer will say their name to the class and say one thing about them before saying their answer. If they get the answer right, you can give them a small prize if you want.

   
   

4. Class Hangman- Play class hangman, taking turns to call on students to give you letters to the word or phrase they are trying to solve. The answer can be something that pertains to a class rule or procedure in your class (Maybe after going over these with them), or something about your subject, or something fun and inspiring.

   
   

5. Cup Stacking Challenge- Have students get in groups of four. Give each group at least 30 plastic cups neatly nested into a single stack like in the picture below.

Each group starts off with a neatly stacked group of plastic cups.

Tell them the teams they are to work together to build a pyramid tower out of the

plastic cups. Once the tower is standing on its own, with no one touching it, then

they will deconstruct the tower and return the cups to the neatly, nested stack they

were given. The group that completes the challenge the fastest wins. They must call

you over for you to check that they are done. You can give the group that wins a

small prize or homework/ restroom pass. This activity helps promote team building

and social skills.