

Classroom Management and Co-Creating RulesĪlthough you may want to run your classroom on your own terms, giving your students a say can be empowering for them. This is a great game to offer up prizes to the winning group. Make sure there's a way to collect the items to prove they've found them, or leave different colored dot stickers so they can stick them on their paper instructions.įor ease of flow, order the items differently for each group, so they are not on the same route.
WOULD YOU RATHER FOR MIDDLE SCHOOLERS HOW TO
How to Play: Group students together and give them a list of clues to find items in the classroom. They can share what they find most interesting or list what they’ve learned. Then have them tell someone in their own group what they have just learned.Įach student will then tell the class what they have learned about someone else (that they didn’t interview). How to Play: Divide the class into 2 equal groups and have students from each group interview another person in the other group, coming up with their own 3-4 questions. You can leave the students' creations up in the classroom afterward.

Teammates need to work together to make a single paper creation. How to Play: Divide students into groups of 3 or 4 and give each group the instructions for an origami design. For Round Two, have them arrange themselves in order of birth. They can hold up fingers or use other gestures. How to Play: Secretly give each student a number and get them to arrange themselves in numerical order without speaking. Check out this list of “would you rather” questions. You can also hand out questions to groups and let them ask each other. If there’s a particularly divisive opinion, encourage students to defend their point of view. How to Play: Make a thumbs-up sign for each student and have them hold it up for the option they would choose when you say it out loud.

It can also lead to some funny conversations.

It also encourages them to be honest and reflect on some of the things that rub them the wrong way. This is a great exercise for learning what attitudes or actions get under your students’ skin early on. Get your new students to introduce themselves and say both their favorite thing to do and their biggest pet peeve. If you want to discuss any behaviors you find particularly annoying, try introducing them as pet peeves, i.e., “one of my pet peeves is when I’m stuck behind a slow person… I dislike dawdling.” Tell your students that the first few days are about getting to know each other and reinforce the idea that you need to know them and they need to know you for everyone to get the most out of the year. Acknowledging that this year is obviously different and explore some of the challenges that lay ahead. You can start by emphasizing with them what they've overcome and where they’re going. It’s always a great idea to be upfront and honest with your new students. This article will cover some things you can do differently to make breaking the ice fun and rewarding. First days can be a little awkward, but they can also be filled with excitement as you get to know everyone in your class. They’ve been through enough first days that most of them will come into the classroom with certain expectations-positive or negative. Middle school students will see right through a lazy, regurgitated lesson plan. Middle School Ice Breakers Students Won't Hateįor most teachers, the first days in the fall are focused on presenting the syllabus, going over expectations, and getting to know your students. But are your tried and true ice breaker activities getting more eye-rolls this year? Maybe it’s time to switch things up a little.
