Icebreaker Assignment: Get To Know Your Students

Purpose: Community-building activity that builds rapport

Outcome: The students will be more connected to you, each other and contribute to a positive
learning community.
Activity Elements:
1. Activity Title: The Name Game or The Bennett Buddy Game
2. No link
3. Materials needed:
a. Space to spread out and form a circle
b. Could incorporate a ball or bean bag to pass around but not necessary
4. How will I model:
a. Once we circle up, I will go first to give an example. I will choose an appropriate
example but also not the first one students think of so they are encouraged to be
creative. As we go around the circle, I will also model how to participate by
loudly saying, “Hi (student name)” to lead the group.
5. Hook: “Okay students, we’re going to play the name game now! This is one of my
favorite games I used to play at summer camp growing up. The last time I played it,
someone was able to recite all the names in the group after two times of going through
all of them. Do you think you can beat that?”
6. Activity:
a. Circle up facing the middle.
b. Starting with the teacher, everyone will go in a circle and say their name or what
they want to be called. They will also come up with a signature to go with their
name. This is typically a physical movement (ex: clapping, kicking a leg out, doing
a dance move).
c. After a person introduces themselves with their signature, the class will respond
by saying “Hi (name)” and doing their signature move back at them.
d. Continue this and go around the whole circle.
e. Depending on time, now is the time to do variations. A great one is to start with
one person and have everyone say their name and signature, then let that
person say someone else’s name and signature in the circle to “pass” it to them.
Now, the whole class says the new person’s name and signature and then that
new person gets to pick someone else. Do this until everyone is picked.
f. Another fun variation after going through names a few times is to ask for a
volunteer who feels like they could go around the circle and say everyone’s
name and signature by memory. You could give a prize if they are able to do it.
This is also a fun activity to revisit and see how many students are able to say
everyone’s name by memory in a few days from now.
7. How to adapt for students with special needs/language barriers/paras:
a. Students who are not able to move physically or are uncomfortable doing so can
come up with an appropriate nonsense word or sound to say with their name
 instead of a movement (ex: “yeah” or “woohoo” or “nah”). If students cannot
speak or are uncomfortable doing so, they can also phone a friend or para to do
so for them.
8. Debrief:
a. Ideally, this will allow students to get to know each other and get more
comfortable with each other. It is not only a great way to learn names, but also a
great way to just loosen up and “break the ice”. It will also get them up and
moving.
b. Some things that could go wrong are that students could flat out refuse to
participate. Students could also give a fake name as a joke or a way to make fun
of someone who prefers a name that is not what is written on the roll sheet.
Students could also do a movement that is either too difficult for everyone else
to repeat, or do a movement that (intentionally or unintentionally) hurt
someone.