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AuLoblography oem: 1he flrsL day of school, Lell sLudenLs LhaL Lhelr flrsL asslgnmenL wlll be Lo
wrlLe a poem. ?ou wlll usually hear moans and groans aL Lhls polnL, especlally lf you Leach a sub[ecL
llke MaLh. 1ell sLudenLs LhaL Lhls wlll be Lhe easlesL poem Lhey have ever wrlLLen because lL wlll be
abouL Lhemselves. 1he flrsL llne ls Lhelr flrsL name, Lhe second llne ls Lhree words LhaL descrlbe
Lhemselves, Lhe Lhlrd llne ls Lhree Lhlngs Lhey llke, Lhe fourLh llne ls Lhree Lhlngs Lhey do noL llke,
Lhe flfLh llne ls Lhree movles Lhey have seen (could do books Lhey have read, buL movles usually geL
a beLLer response), Lhe slxLh llne ls Lhree fears Lhey have, Lhe sevenLh llne ls Lhree Lhlngs Lhey llke
abouL school, Lhe elghLh llne ls Lwo goals Lhey have, Lhe nlne llne ls a place Lhey would llke Lo vlslL,
and Lhe LenLh llne ls Lhelr lasL name. ?ou could ad[usL any of Lhese llnes Lo sulL your classes. 1hen
collecL Lhe poems and read Lhem aloud. Pave Lhe sLudenLs guess whlch poem goes wlLh whlch
person. As you read Lhe poems, omlL Lhe flrsL and lasL llnes. ?ou can glve bonus polnLs Lo Lhe one
who geLs Lhe mosL correcL.

Snowball llghL: Clve everyone a whlLe sheeL of paper. Along wlLh Lhelr name, ask Lhem Lo wrlLe
one Lhlng Lhey are exclLed abouL, one Lhlng Lhey are nervous abouL, and one Lhlng Lhey would llke
Lo learn. (1hey can draw a plcLure lf Lhey aren'L able Lo wrlLe yeL.) 1hen have Lhem wad lL up and
have a snowball flghL wlLh Lhe oLher sLudenLs. nexL, everyone should plck up a snowball and read
Lhe lnformaLlon. llnally, everyone should work LogeLher Lo flnd who lL belongs Lo. 1hls ls greaL for
geLLlng Lo know each oLher and seelng whaL Lhelr fears and expecLaLlons really are. AL Lhe end of
Lhe year, lL's usually whaL Lhey remember mosL.

1eacher 1rue/lalse Culz: AbouL a week afLer school sLarLs, pass ouL a Lrue/false qulz abouL
yourself. CreaLe approxlmaLely 10 sLaLemenLs whlch deal wlLh Lhlngs you'd llke Lhe sLudenLs Lo
know abouL you, and some random Lrue facLs LhaL Lhey always Lhlnk are false. Cnce Lhe sLudenLs
have sllenLly Laken Lhe qulz, go Lhrough Lhe sLaLemenLs LogeLher. Ask Lhem Lo ralse Lhelr hand lf
Lhey Lhlnk a sLaLemenL ls Lrue, Lhen, lf Lhey Lhlnk lL ls false. 1hls parL wlll help you seen whaL
lmpresslons Lhey have abouL you. llnally, Lell Lhem Lhe correcL answer. 1hey love lL! 1helr
homework asslgnmenL LhaL nlghL ls Lo wrlLe a Lrue/false qulz abouL Lhemselves, whlch you can
Lhen Lake. 1hey can Lhen grade how well you dld on Lhelr qulz. ?ou wlll learn qulLe a blL abouL
Lhem by Laklng Lhelr qulz.

name 1haL lood: lcebreakers for hlgh school sLudenLs need Lo sLlr some fun ln Lhe room. CaLher
all Lhe sLudenLs and make Lhem slL ln a clrcle. Lvery person slLLlng ln Lhe clrcle has Lo lnLroduce
Lhemselves and Lhen name Lhe food Lhey llke, whlch has Lo sLarL wlLh Lhe flrsL leLLer of Lhelr name.
lor example 'My name ls Mandy. l llke M &M'. 1he nexL person has Lo remember whaL Lhe
prevlous person sald, reclLe Lhe whole Lhlng and Lhen lnLroduce hlmself/herself. lL's hllarlous fun
when Lhe game reaches Lhe lasL person.

Llne-up: ulvlde Lhe group lnLo Lwo. Lach Leam wlll compeLe agalnsL each oLher Lo see who can geL
Lhe challenge done fasLer. Challenges could be llne up accordlng Lo blrLhdays, alphabeLlcally by flrsL


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name or lasL name, age, eLc. uo Lhe challenges agaln aL Lhe nexL meeLlng. Cr, Lry Lhe same
challenges wlLhouL Lalklng.

Self-dlsclosure lnLroducLlons: Ask each Leam member Lo sLaLe hls/her name and aLLach an
ad[ecLlve LhaL noL only descrlbes a domlnanL characLerlsLlc buL also sLarLs wlLh Lhe person's flrsL
name. Lxamples: Serlous Susle, nlce naLalle, and Lovlng Lauren.


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All Aboard: ?ou need an lLem LhaL ls foldable and preferably noL Loo sllppery, llke a large Larp or
rug. lL should be large enough so LhaL Lhe enLlre class can easlly sLand on lL wlLh boLh feeL. SLarL
Lhe game by spreadlng Lhe Larp (rug) ouL and explaln LhaL when All Aboard" ls called, everyone ls
Lo geL boLh feeL onLo Lhe plaLform." 1hen call Cff laLform." Lveryone should sLep off Lhe Larp.
now fold Lhe Larp Lo decrease lLs slze. Announce All Aboard" agaln. 8epeaL Lhls cycle unLll all of
Lhe sLudenLs can'L flL onLo Lhe Larp. Along Lhe way, Lhe sLudenLs should begln Lo cooperaLe and
sLraLeglze abouL how Lo flL more people lnLo a smaller space.

Puman knoL: Lach person grabs hands wlLh Lwo dlfferenL people across a clrcle. 1hen Lhe group
works Lo unLangle lLself. 1he only rule ls LhaL everyone musL nC1 leL go of Lhe hands of Lhe Lwo
people Lhey are connecLed Lo.

keep Lhe 8all up: uslng a beach ball, have Lhe sLudenLs sLarL hlLLlng lL around and Lrylng Lo keep lL
off Lhe ground. 1hen challenge Lhem Lo keep lL ln Lhe alr for 20 hlLs, or 30 hlLs, eLc. Lncourage
Lhem Lo develop some sLraLegy Lo Lry Lo keep Lhe ball up for as many hlLs as posslble.

l'll 8e ?our Culde: 1hls acLlvlLy Leaches sLudenLs Lo communlcaLe well wlLh one anoLher by boLh
glvlng good verbal dlrecLlons and llsLenlng well Lo dlrecLlons. An obsLacle course needs Lo be seL
up. SLudenLs need Lo be ln parLners ln whlch one sLudenL ls bllndfolded, whlle Lhe oLher ls Lhe
gulde. 1he gulde musL verbally glve dlrecLlons for Lhe bllndfolded parLner Lo geL Lo Lhe opposlLe
slde of Lhe obsLacle course. 1hls ls a loL harder Lhan you mlghL Lhlnk! !usL for fun, have Lhe
sLudenLs lead you Lhrough Lhe obsLacle course bllndfolded.

CompllmenLs Came: 1hls ls a greaL acLlvlLy Lo do wlLh chlldren afLer Lhey have had a few weeks Lo
geL Lo know each oLher. Lach sLudenL wlll have a plece of paper LhaL Lhey wlll wrlLe Lhelr name on.
uL Lhe papers on Lhe desks. 1he sLudenLs Lhen wlll roLaLe seaLs unLll Lhey have Lhe chance Lo vlslL
every oLher sLudenL's desk and paper. Whlle Lhey are aL each desk, Lhey are Lo wrlLe a compllmenL
Lo LhaL person. 1hey are noL Lo wrlLe anyLhlng mean. Share loLs of examples wlLh sLudenLs
because Lhey are Lyplcally noL famlllar wlLh glvlng compllmenLs Lo one anoLher and may have some
dlfflculLy comlng up wlLh unlque compllmenLs. CfLen you hear, "?ou're a greaL frlend," or "?ou're
nlce." 1each Lhe sLudenLs how Lo elaboraLe on Lhese concepLs. 1hls ls a keepsake for chlldren LhaL
Lhey wlll Lreasure, Lhe klnd compllmenLs from Lhelr classmaLes. 1he Leacher can parLlclpaLe Loo. lL
feels greaL!

SculpLlng: ulvlde Lhe sLudenLs lnLo Lwo groups. Clve each group dlfferenL supplles such as
newspaper, sclssors, consLrucLlon paper, gllLLer, sLraws, Lape, sLrlng, eLc. and Lell Lhem Lo creaLe a


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sculpLure LhaL represenLs Lhelr school's splrlL. Pave each group explaln Lhe slgnlflcance. lf Lhe
school's splrlL ls low, use Lhls opporLunlLy Lo dlscuss how Lhey can lmprove Lhelr school's splrlL ln a
way LhaL unlLes Lhe sculpLures.

8all of SLrlng: Whlle sLandlng ln a clrcle, pass a ball of sLrlng from one member Lo anoLher. 1he
rules are only Lhe person wlLh Lhe sLrlng can Lalk. AfLer everyone has had Lhelr Lurn Lo speak and
share Lhelr feellngs, Lhere wlll be a web of sLrlng. 1hls web lllusLraLes Lhe lnLerconnecLed naLure of
group process. LveryLhlng Lhey do and say affecLs Lhe Leam. now Loss a balloon ln Lhe mlddle and
have Lhem Lry Lo keep lL. 1hey are noL allowed Lo Louch lL. 1hls symbollzes Leamwork".

Crder CuL Cf Chaos: Lach person ls asslgned a number. (1,2,3 eLc.) 1he group ls Lhen bllndfolded
and lnsLrucLed Lo geL Lhemselves ln numerlcal order, wlLhouL speaklng. Scorlng ls by subLracLlng
Lhe number of seconds used from 120. 1lme allowed: 2 mlnuLes maxlmum.