Ice Breaker Activities

Transcription

1 These Ice breaker activities can be used within fully online courses to stimulate debate in forums, online lectures, social media or using a variety of supported learning technologies. 20 Questions In a discussion forum students have twenty yes/no attempts to guess the concept/term/object. A to Z game Ask students to write down as many key/related words for the current topic area and each word can t repeat the starting letter. Abstract Thinking In a vuws discussion forum ask students to jot down responses to such questions as: What shape is grief? What is the colour of emptiness? What is the texture of a rainbow? Art and life Use a relevant poem, piece of art, sculpture etc. to inspire students thinking/empathising about the topic. Use responses to draw out themes. This can be done as a starter for a Collaborate session, or in a vuws discussion forum. Big Picture Ask students to reflect on what the bigger picture is in relation to education, the particular subject, the current topic or in the media. Draw this out and present it in a vuws discussion forum or create a blog post at the end of the unit. Bingo Sheets Ask students to create a bingo sheet with key words/phrases from the topic discussed the previous week or create your own and read out definitions during a Collaborate session. The winner clicks on the hand icon when their sheet is complete. Compare and Contrast Put trigger images in a PowerPoint Presentation during a Collaborate session and ask students to respond in a chat window about differences and similarities. Concept Map Give students a list of words related to your chosen concept in a vuws discussion. They must then turn these into a map, where each connection can be explained and justified and an image uploaded for discussion.

2 Connections Start by writing a word in a discussion forum related to a topic. Ask a student to suggest a related word. (For example: if the word is football you might say goal ). The next student says a word connected with the previous word. (For example: goal, net and so on.) Students take turns. They are allowed thinking time, but can be challenged by any other student to explain the connection between their word and the previous word. Creative Influence In a Collaborate session or discussion forum, use random words to see how students might influence each other in some way. Explain the influence. Creative Writing Allocate students ten minutes in a vuws blog post to write creatively about the topic. What they write must include at least three key terms from the unit. Definition Match In a vuws Quiz, ask students to complete a match-the-word to the definition quiz. E.g. Network AI Internet Computers trying to think... A connected global network Connected group of objects Different shoes Ask students to put themselves in the position of another in a forum using a vuws discussion forum, blog or even a Collaborate session. E.g. You are an oil executive You are a member of the Greens party You are a consumer Dissonance Try to encourage students to experience dissonance in their thinking using a vuws discussion forum, blog or Twitter. E.g. Imagine a square egg. Why does school exist? Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division why isn t there another one? This could be used to disrupt or question habitual ways of thinking. It can also challenge reasoning or encourage students to reason more deeply and carefully.

3 Draw me the answer A) Show me what democracy looks like. B) Draw fairness. C) What does change look like? These drawings are then posted in a vuws discussion forum, or via Twitter using a unit hashtag Empathybuilder Using a vuws discussion forum create a big question such as Taxes for the rich will be scrapped tomorrow and replaced with voluntary philanthropy. Then stir debate by asking: How might a millionaire feel about this? A person on average income? Someone receiving government benefits? Fact or Opinion? Ask students to share newspaper article and ask them to highlight facts or opinions in a vuws discussion forum. Flow Chart Draw a flowchart, take a photo and post in a vuws discussion forum to stimulate a discussion. Freeze Frame For projects that require creativity, either individually, in pairs or group students and ask them to produce a freeze frame showing a scene using a digital camera, and to upload it to a unit Twitter hashtag, vuws discussion forum or blog and annotate it using 140 characters or less. Get In Character Set a few questions ready for a Collaborate webinar. As students come in, allocate them characters such as a politician, comedian, celebrity, doctor or sportsperson and ask them to answer the forum debate in character. Home Improvement Using a vuws discussions open a forum about change. How can be improved? Why would your changes be an improvement? Who for? How long would they last?

4 Inside the Octagon 8 way thinking comes from Howard Gardner s multiple intelligences. The simplified octet is Numbers: How many? Words: Where does the word come from? People: Who? Feelings: What emotions? Nature: How does the environment affect? Actions: What do people do? Sounds: What songs have been written about it? Sights: What images represent? (from Two ideas: 1. Ask students to come up with questions around a topic/key word from each angle. 2. Use the octet to frame their own questions and post them in a vuws discussion forum, blog or social media platform. Instructions Ask students, in a vuws discussion forum or blog, to write and share intricate instructions for a specific task. Can be peer reviewed or commented on a vuws discussion. List -O-Mania In a Collaborate session or discussion forum, ask students to list as many rights/responsibilities/policy areas/taxes/items as they can. List to definition Using a vuws discussion forum, ask students to: 1) List all the words you associate with climate change 2) Then join these words together to make a definition for global warming. Mystery Guest Use Collaborate to stimulate debate by inviting a mystery guest to inspire and enthuse. Encourage students to ask questions requiring a yes/no response to ascertain who the mystery guest may be. Name that tune Play students a mp3 file and then initiate a discussion about media, expression, identity, politics, language etc. New Inventions Devise a new invention that relates to what is being studied or a current issue. Ask students to share using a vuws discussion forum.

5 Noises Play a noise/sound in Collaborate and ask students to respond to it or work out its relevance to the lesson/unit. Odd One Out Pose a question to students in a vuws discussion forum, e.g. Which is the odd one out; Tourist, Interpreter, Refugee or Asylum Seeker? Odd One Out Pictures Only Show pictures to break the ice at the beginning of a Collaborate session. Peer Assessment Students swap their response to a question and peer assess using the vuws Self and Peer Assessment tool. Pictionary Give students concepts/ideas/things to draw whilst others have to guess what they are. They can use their ipads to draw their picture and submit it to a discussion topic in vuws or share on Collaborate. Picture in time In a vuws discussion forum or at the start of a Collaborate session, share an image and pose the following questions: What might have happened before the photo was taken? What might be happening now? What may happen after? Political Power In a vuws discussion thread give students some key words: Special Support Active Death Empire Students then have to use these words to increase the political power of a party, or turn them into policies or slogans. They must also explain their rationale behind their policy statement or slogan. Questions to the Academic At the start of a unit set up a vuws discussion forum with the a prompt such as: In this unit we will begin studying fuel sources. Write down any questions you would like answered.

6 Rapid Questions Pose a series of questions in a vuws discussion forum or Collaborate session. E.g. 1) What does consumer mean? 2) Are you a consumer? 3) Why? 4) What rights do consumers have? 5) Who protects them? Ridiculous Arguments Teach the language of argument by getting students to justify a ridiculous statement during a Collaborate session or vuws discussion forum. Say what you see Place a thought-provoking image on a PowerPoint slide while waiting for students to enter a Collaborate session. Scenario Set students a scenario that relates to their unit of study and ask them to respond in a vuws discussion, survey, blog or social media platform. E.g. The Australian Government has suspended Human rights. Politicians have given party members license to judge what is right and what is wrong. How would this make you feel? What would you do? Show me the answer! Using Nearpod, Collaborate, GoSoapbox, or Slide Idea, ask students to post answers to a series of topical questions. Slogans Using vuws discussions, ask students to create slogans for an image, concepts from their previous lesson or a specific part of a topic. Stimulus Begin by placing a mashup of stimulus material on a PowerPoint slide at the beginning of a Collaborate session for students to review. The stimulus material could take on the form of poems, articles, images, experiment results etc. Then instigate synchronous discussion using the stimulus as a means to initiate thinking about the topic.

7 Student as a teacher One (or more?) students take on the role of teacher and are required to summarise a textbook chapter or partial unit summary to produce a case study to their peers. This can be in Collaborate or via a vuws blog. Summary Ask students to provide a summary of what they learnt last session or across the unit as a blog post or as a discussion thread in vuws. Develop this by asking for the outcome in different formats i.e. a newspaper report, movie, 60-second news-flash. Taboo In a Collaborate session or forum, ask students to describe a key word without using that word (it is taboo!). Tell me three things In a discussion forum or Collaborate session ask students to share three things about: the topic they are studying what they learnt last lesson/session how to explain inflation how refugees might feel the most important things about citizenship what they would like to change in the world. Thunks Use vuws discussions to ask: Can you teach creativity? Are computers more intelligent than humans? If you turn off an AI system is that murder? Time/Place Lapse Students select a role or character and write a narrative transporting them to a different time or place. This lapse then becomes a means to think about a topic, idea etc. and the role it plays in our (everyday) lives. Ensure you signpost the fact that the time or place you have been transported to does not have whatever it is you want the students to think about. Top Ranking Using a vuws forum or the chat facility within Collaborate ask students to rank a series of issues in order of importance. Let students know they will be expected to justify their answer.

8 Treemendous Use the outline of a tree given or drawn by students to order information or learning and provoke questions in vuws discussion forums. The tree can be split in half with the right hand side showing basic concepts of the topic at the bottom, then more specific information along the trunk and branches followed by questions students would like answered on the leaves. On the left hand side of the tree would be statements about what students have learned so far and list topics they would like to know more about. True or False Using Collaborate or other polling/quiz tool, ask students to respond to a statement. The statement could be about material students have already covered, or are about to cover. Venn Diagram Ask students to create a Venn diagram about a unit topic. They can post the diagrams on Twitter or a vuws discussion forum. What do you know? Ask students to collect and post information about what they know about the unit topic to a vuws discussion form, blog or wiki. What if? Set up a discussion topic with a thought provoking question such as: What if no one was responsible? What if there were no laws? What if everyone stopped paying taxes? What if all journalists were anonymous? What if citizenship didn t exist? What if school only opened at night? What if you were invisible for a day? What's the topic? In a discussion forum or using Collaborate, ask students what topic they may be studying next week? What s being said? Or What s being thought? As a starter to a Collaborate session or choose a picture as stimulus and ask students what they think may be being said or thought. What s The Question? If this is the answer, then what s the question? Put this in a vuws discussion forum or on a fun hashtag on Twitter.

9 What s the Story? Give students cards with words or pictures on and ask them to sequence this to tell a story using imovie or vuws discussion forum What s This? Use an image: What do you think this is? What s your opinion? Ask students to post to a vuws blog, discussion forum, journal or wiki explaining their opinion about a topic. What s Your Reply? Use a controversial statement as a starter in a vuws discussion forum and ask students to come up with a reply. For example: Education should not be compulsory. Who am I? For a Collaborate session, display an image in full or in part, and ask students to note down whom or what the picture is of. If you don t have a picture use clues, such as: I am a politician I was the first female to be elected to government I am an important Australian