Here are five of my favorite activities to put students at ease when they walk into GT class on the first day.
FIRST DAY TEACHER POEM (K-3)
The idea behind this poem is to surprise and have a little fun with students as you introduce yourself and the GT class. Play through these slides in “present” mode, and you’ll see that the final word doesn’t appear right away. Students expect the words to rhyme – at least until you read one or two stanzas! The teacher slide elaborates on how the poem can reinforce class norms, and a link is provided if you’d like to make your own editable copy. If you incorporate the tools of Depth and Complexity, this is a great way to introduce or reinforce patterns and rules.
WHICH ONE ISN’T TRUE? (all ages)
Here is a fun way to share about yourself in a game-like fashion. Create a slide show about your experiences, your family, your pets, etc. Have students guess which ones are true and which are made up. This is a version of “3 Truths and a Lie,” but I prefer calling it “Which One Isn’t True?” I’ve found that it helps put students at ease to share about yourself first and it also helps them get to know you. Here are a couple of example slides:
You can have students indicate which one they think is NOT true by raising their hands as you read each one. The great thing is that it leads to a little more storytelling as you go through the truth, or near-truth, of each statement.
If the majority of your students already know you, or you’ve used the above icebreakers before, an impossible challenge can be a fun way to get kids talking.
Set it up so that students work in pairs or teams to be the first to successfully execute the goal! You can find my favorite first-day challenges here. My 5th graders have always participated in an outdoor first-day challenge related to our studies. You can find it here.
SPEED PAIRING
You’ve heard of speed dating and speed debating; this is a version of those except that it does not involve arranging your desks in a certain way. It will get your students moving and talking and hopefully laughing. I used this technique often with middle-schoolers as we discussed literature or poetry, but it can be a great “getting-to-know-you” activity as well. The students will love it if you also participate in the activity.
Here’s how it works:
- Remove cards from of a deck of playing cards so that you have one for each student in your class. You want to have all four suits of each number. So, if you have 20 students, pull out all the 2s, 3s, 4,s, 5s, and 6s. If you have an odd number of students, remove one joker card. The recipient of the joker may join any pair to make a group of three, but must choose different students with each directive.
- Have students pair up according to these directives:
- Find someone who has the same number.
- Find someone who has a suit of the same color.
- Find someone who has a suit of a different color.
- Find someone whose number is even if yours if even, and odd if yours is odd.
- With each pairing, students can: (1) find something they have in common; (2) answer “Would You Rather” questions (such as these); or (3) answer “This or That?” questions from this post, which also has some fabulous icebreakers!
- You can use the same four directives multiple times in the activity. Just tell students to choose different people than they did in the first round. I always had someone trade cards with the student who has the joker after one round of directives, too.
You can use the scenarios presented in this book as a fun icebreaker for students in grades 4 and up. Simply make a copy of several of the scenarios, put them in sheet protectors, and place one at each table. Students work together in table groups to come up with as many ideas as they can for what might be happening in the story. Have them list them on paper rather than just discuss them orally. Then, have students rotate to the next table or switch the scenarios so that each group has a new story. When all groups have seen all scenarios, go through each one and allow volunteers to share what might be happening. Then, share the hints provided in the book until students guess what’s happening or you reveal the mystery!
I’d love to hear about it if you try one of these activities with your students. You can find additional ideas under August/ September on the Holiday/ Seasonal page! See also Sneak Preview Activities and Back to School 2020: A Few Ideas to Surprise and Delight.
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