Idées pour la rentrée - Here are about 30 free activities and ideas for back-to-school icebreakers. I have been accumulating these ideas over the years. Only a few are my own ideas; I regret that I don’t have the original sources for most of these. Many are common ice-breakers teachers have been doing for years. They are a great way to start the year, but also a good way to continue feeling connected throughout the year. At the lower levels, I always strive for 90% or more target language, but giving the students a chance to bond in English can be really meaningful and help break down affective barriers that might prevent them from learning. What are your favorite Back-To-School activities to build community and review a little target language?
Though many examples are in French, you can easily adapt these to other languages. Any google docs or google slides should be viewable, just make a copy and edit for your students, your school, your targeted learning goals. Wishing you all a great start to the school year!
Enjoy,
Katy
Explore my Resource page for Teacher Resources on Senegal!
Day 1 / Birthday Seating Challenge: Greet each student at the door and make sure he or she is in the right classroom. Next, before he or she has a chance to sit down, direct the student to follow the posted instructions: “Sit in birthday order so that the person with the birthday closest to January 1 sits in Seat 1. The year you were born doesn’t matter. Don’t skip seats. When everyone is seated, the student in Seat 5 will raise his or her hand and report that the class is ready to begin.”
Observe the interactions: Look for organizers, active and passive participants, refusers and disrupters. Be mindful that some students would rather be invisible and that the activity is probably something they haven’t experienced before.
If anyone asks you what to do, redirect him or her to classmates and the posted instructions. Encourage students and remind them that you don’t know the answer.
When Seat 5 reports in, do a couple of spot checks, show them where your birthday lies (just for fun!), and begin your lesson. By the end of this activity, every student will have interacted with other students and many will have reported to the whole class in a safe, nonthreatening way. (Ok, Seat 5 is under some pressure.)
Boule de neige / Snowball: Have some plain white copier paper. Every student writes a unique sentence about themselves that they think no one else would write. Crumple it up, throw it, read them, find the person. If I do this with a group I know, or the vibe feels right, I let them throw their papers at me lol. If not, we throw towards a spot near the whiteboard.
Moi aussi: To get ready / refresh memories. Write down a list of things you like. Students can brainstorm with a partner using a Venn diagram too. Then, everyone stands up in a circle. Put someone in the middle, They say a sentence of something they like, and if others like it, they have to switch places with others in the group. Like musical chairs. (Add sentence starters on a chat mat, word wall, or quickly jot some on the board, so every sentence isn't "J'aime." Teachers should play too. Have a few statements ready that will get everyone moving.
Connected web: Take a large piece of paper (bulletin board paper or poster paper) and then every student gets a marker. All students and teacher sit around the piece of paper and then write their name down in front of them. A student will then share something they like or dislike, if you agree with their statement you draw line from your name to their name. You then go around the paper until everyone has shared. In the end you will have a spider web image on your paper showing just how many things you have in common with each other. (borrowed idea from someone else)
Everyone lines up in birthday order: You have to greet and learn the names of the two people next to you. Ideally, everyone starts by introducing themselves before they say their birthdate. Review: numbers 1-30 je suis né-e le 30 décembre, mon anniversaire est... tu es avant elle, après lui, début d'année / fin d'année.
Nonverbal Birthday Lineup: Ask everyone to line up according to the month and day of birth without talking. Helps students realize they can communicate without words.
Name, like, gesture: Say your name, something about yourself, and a gesture to represent it. Then repeat the people who went before you. If you have a large class, you might prefer to do this in small groups, then mix up the small groups and do it again. Maybe then do as half the class? Got this idea when I was participating in the teacher program at CAVILAM in Vichy, France.
Mes personnes/endroits favori-tes: Longer prep - good for the first quarter: Share a google slides with each of your classes and be sure every student has editing rights. Each person puts two photos of their favorite people/pets and their favorite places (could be a corner in their room, where they practice sports, a place they visited on vacation, a relative’s home, their own home, etc. Students should not write any words nor their name on the slides. (Quicker prep - if you are allowed to use phones in class, have them find a photo of each of these sorts on their phone, and share via speed dating or in their groups of 4.) Here’s a Google slides with samples and directions with sentence starters.
Guess the American song, based on translated lyrics in French. Then listen to a cover of that song. Here's an example. Credit to the amazing person who made it (not me)!
Categories:
In small groups, challenge them to get the most... foods, clothes, school subjects, rooms in the house, drinks, colors, people in the family. Give stickers or trinkets, or raffle tickets to allow them to "buy" from a magic stash you have ready.
Find someone who (prepare a bingo board in advance) Here's one in English for beginners. Here's one in French for getting to know each other. Here's one in French about hobbies/sports.
Two truths and a lie: (about yourself, or about the syllabus) - I find it so boring to review the syllabus; this makes it more interesting)
We all have things in common (need a better name for this!): Start in groups of 4 and students need to learn each others' names, and then determine one thing they have in common. Then, group two groups of 4 together, and they have to come up with one thing they all have in common. Keep merging groups until the entire class is in a large circle and they have to find one thing they have in common. You may want to say that they can't use where they attend school, town they live in, school subjects. Once they have determined something, maybe you will now have a class mascot or emblem based on this item. It shows we all have things in common.
Find a picture book: Get a hint at their personality. All this requires is a lot of different picture books spread out. Tell the students that they should find a picture book that speaks to them in some way, perhaps the cover reminds them of something, perhaps they remember it from their childhood, perhaps the story connects to them? Once everyone has found a book, have them gather in groups and share why they selected the book they chose. Students get a chance to speak about themselves and it is a great way for them to get excited about the books they will have access to. (Only works if you have enough books and readers in class for the students to choose from.)
Find a picture: This requires some prep, but once done, you can reuse them. Print a variety of random photos and if you can, laminate them for reuse. You have to have at least one photo per person, but having some extra options is nice so even the last people have choices and aren't stuck with what's left. Ideas: domestic and wild animals, landscapes, foods, sunsets, water scenes, toys, clothes/shoes, locations around the world. Everyone chooses a photo, and then in small groups, they share why this photo resonated with them or appealed to them today. You can share out or not.
This or that - Use this student-centric icebreaker idea from the Cult of Pedagogy
Start out by posing a harmless question that prompts people to choose a side. Consider simplifying the choices or adding slides with visuals for language support. Here are some examples:
Which food is better: pizza or tacos?
Would you rather go on a hike or to a movie?
What skill is more valuable: creativity or logic?
Which is worse: being bored or being too busy?
Would you rather live in the country or the city?
Should all students be required to learn a second language?
Which is worse: bad breath or body odor?
Would you rather be indoors or outdoors?
Which is better: Playing sports or watching sports?
Would you rather travel every single day or never leave home?
Have everyone physically divide into sides—pro pizza to the right; pro taco to the left. Let all the like-minded people discuss the virtues of their position for a while, and then have a representative try to sell the other side of the room. This will give everyone a chance to see things from different perspectives.
Blind Drawing:
Time: 10 - 15 minutes
Number of Participants: Two or more people
Tools Needed: A picture, pen, and paper.
Do it in English with beginners, and in target language with more advanced students. I think this requires a chat mat or word wall with words like: above, below, next to, line, circle, square, curvy/wavy, straight.
Rules: Divide everyone into groups of two. Have the two individuals sitting back-to-back. Give one person the pen and paper and the other person the picture. The person with the picture describes the picture to their teammate without actually saying what it is. For example, if the image is a worm in an apple, do not say, "Draw an apple with a worm in it." The person with the pen and paper draws what they think the picture depicts, based on the verbal description. Set a time limit for 10 - 15 minutes.
Objective: This is an activity that focuses on interpretation and communication. Once the drawing is finished, it's always interesting to see how the drawer interprets their partner's description.
This is Better Than That - ceci est mieux que cela (une île, un naufragé)
Time: 15 - 20 minutes
Number of Participants: Any
Tools Needed: Four or more objects
Rules: Pick four or more objects that are different (or the same objects that look different). Split all your participants into even teams. Describe a scenario where each team has to solve a problem using only those objects. This can be anything from "You're stranded on a desert island" to "You're saving the world from Godzilla!" Have each team rank the objects based on their usefulness in that specific scenario, along with their reasoning.
Objective: This exercise inspires team creativity in problem solving. The idea is to not make the scenarios too easy so it becomes obvious which objects are most useful.
Think, Pair, Share:
Each student is given a 4 x 6 Index card. They are to write: Name; Home town & state; Something they like to do; What they did last summer; Intended Major; Favorite Food, Book, Superhero. Your Choice! Pair off & share what each has written. Start with yourselves, then each person will introduce their partner to the groups indicating what they have learned about that person.
Who am I?
(Might need to save this activity for later in the year, or with more advanced levels; works with well-known francophone or well-known celebrities, politicians, people in history, even educators in your building) It gets them talking and having fun.
-For this activity you will need one sticky note per person. On each note write the name of a celebrity, political figure, cartoon character, book character, etc. You can choose one category or mix them up. Use a different person for each note. Place a sticky note on the back or forehead of each participant. The participants are to figure out who they are, but can only do so in the following manner. Find a partner and read each other's stick notes. You may ask the other person three questions to which they are yes or no answers. Once your questions have been asked and answered, make a guess as to your identity. If you are correct, move the sticky note to your chest and you become a "consultant" who gives clues to those still trying to figure out their identities. If you are not correct, find a new partner and repeat the process. SPECIAL NOTE: Be sure to choose characters that are appropriate to the age of the participants to avoid "generalization gap frustration."
I've done something you haven't done:
(needs past tenses) Have each person introduce themselves and then state something they have done that they think no one else in the class has done. If someone else has also done it, the student must state something else until he/she finds something that no one else has done.
Introductions with a twist:
The master plan of this ice breaker is to give people an opportunity to learn something silly about each other and to divulge something personal about them. As a kick-off to the class, everyone is asked to introduce themselves by telling something informational (name), something silly (where you'd be if you could be anywhere right now, your favorite dessert), and something reflective (what you hope to get out of this class). Facilitators should, during the rest of the class, spontaneously recall specific things people said as a way of maintaining humor and giving members opportunities to connect.
Involvement Game
(Great link to SEL. You may need a list of school teams, clubs, honor societies, school newspaper, or allow them to research on the school website)
Encourage and show students how they might be able to get involved on campus. This exercise works best if students are placed in groups and are encouraged to find as many organizations and ways they can get involved. Allow 15 minutes for groups to make lists and then allow time for each group to report to the entire class. This helps individuals realize that organizations come in every shape and size. Give assignments at the end of one class to have students bring to class a list of every possible way they could get involved on campus.
Suggest they write down information on flyers, stuff they find in the newspaper, websites, etc. Offer a prize to the student that brings in the most opportunities and have each student present his or her findings. This also works as a group homework assignment too.
52 Card Shuffle (adapted from idea from Cathy Sork, Ft. Vancouver H.S) (For Large Groups)
This activity helps a large group of people mingle and meet new people. You can pair it down, but limiting which cards are used. Each person receives a card from a normal deck of cards; include the jokers as wild cards. If the group is more than 54 people, add as many decks of cards as needed.
TO LEAD ACTIVITY:1. Have all group members stand in an open area, holding their cards.2. Instruct the group to move into a variety of configurations and introduce themselves to the new person or group of people. Give the group a short topic to discuss, such as favorite food, book,movie, etc.
Ideas for configurations: Cards with the Same Number, Suits, Straight, Full House (Note that some people could be left without a match. The group leader should help these singletons to make a group of their own or join an existing group.)
Group Juggling:
Have participants stand in a circle. The leader tosses a ball to the person across the circle saying his/her name, then puts their hands behind their back. This repeats until everyone has been tossed the ball and had their name said. The leader throws the ball again to the same person, and everyone must throw the ball in the same pattern as the first time, calling out the person's name and throwing the ball. Each time the ball returns to the leader another ball is added in. Continue adding balls and see how far the group can get without messing up. This can be tried nonverbally if everyone knows each other's names, and other objects in addition to balls may be used.
Paper Bag Fashion Show:
Advanced levels, but could be used with a clothing unit-Group size should be 4 to 5 people per group. Each group will need a paper bag filled with stuff (roll of toilet paper, construction paper, markers, scissors, miscellaneous stuff, and an index card). The task is to create a garment on someone in the group using all the materials except the card in 10 to 15 minutes. Then the group will write a description of the garment on the card which will be given to the fashion show commentator. Everyone but the models will become the audience and the fashion show begins. The commentator reads the descriptions as the fashions are modeled. This can be adapted to fit a topic, such as make a garment that a great leader might wear, and so forth.
Interview:
Everyone is sent off in pairs to "interview" their partner. They're each given 3 to 5 minutes to ask questions, such as "what resources on campus have you used since school began" or "what was the hardest transition for you coming to our school." Let students share their interviews with the class.
Life Boxes:
Intermediate or Advanced (or do in English with lower levels). Take a sheet of paper and fold it in half and then in half again. Unfold and you have 4 boxes. Have markers or crayons available and have people write the following headings in the 4 boxes 1) Childhood 2) High school 3) College 4) Future. In each of the boxes they are to draw a simple picture that represents an event or action that was extremely important to that particular time of their life. Have people go around and share their experiences.
Hobby Huddle:
The group sits in a circle. Person #1 says his name and favorite hobby. Person #2 (to his right) repeats Person #1'sname and hobby, then states their own. Person #3 states Person #1's and Person #2's names and hobbies, thenadds his own. Go around the entire circle. Encourage people to help each other when needed.
Value Discussion:
Have participants find two people who are wearing the same color as them. Have them find a spot where they can talk together. Instruct them that they will be talking about some issues and you will give them new topics every few minutes. Here are some samples:
Talk about the most important thing you learned last year. What do you want to be doing in five years? What is one goal you have for this year? What is the greatest challenge you are facing? What do you value most in life?
We welcome your ideas too! Please share your ideas and favorite activities n the comments.
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