Whether you are back to school full-time with social distancing measures, using blended learning, or creating fully distant classrooms, you’re going to need some icebreaker ideas to start the year off right. Here are a few ideas that can be used no matter what kind of learning you’ll be doing next school year.
Google Slides Introductions: Use the icebreakers you love, but move them to Google Slides. For instance, pair students up and have them interview each other then create a slide about their partner. Put all of the slides on one presentation so students can see all of the answers. You could also have students create individual slides about themselves and use the same process.
Letter to the Teacher: As an ELA teacher, I almost always start with this one. It allows me to get to know my students, but also gives me a quick reading sample. Move this to Google Forms. You can still easily complete the activity and compile the answers in one quick spreadsheet.
Class Kahoot: Allow students to submit questions about themselves via Google Forms and then create a quick Kahoot game to quiz the students on each other. This would be fun on the first day or even for a quick warm up on the second!
Enneagram Project: Want to try something new this year? Try my Enneagram Project! Students learn all about ennegrams and create a profile for themselves. The project includes reading, comprehension questions, and writing, so it combines academics with the icebreaker. Once they’ve created their profiles, you can combine them for everyone to see. This is a fun way to shake it up.
Take a Stand Game: If you want to get kids up and moving, try the “Take a Stand Game.” Ask a question and if students agree, they stand. You can switch it up by having students take turns asking questions as well. This gets the kids moving, but also keeps them at a distance.
No matter how you are going back, it is going to be a challenging year. Let’s continue to make the most of it by providing the best educational experiences for our kids as possible.
If you’re looking for more ideas, try the distance learning tag in my store.
Happy teaching!
Krissy says
Can you share more about take a stand game? What are some of the best questions to ask on day one?
Samantha H. says
Hi there! I think this could really go in two directions. In my ELA classroom, I might ask content-specific questions like if anyone has read a certain book or remembers what a noun is. For more general classroom culture, I might ask about favorite colors or movies. You could also do some combination of the two depending on your personal preference. Students could even elaborate after standing up. Hope that helps!