Five tried-and-true First Day of Class (and beyond) Activities for Building Classroom Community
If you spend half a year to a year with a group of students, your classroom will become a community whether you like it or not. It's up to you as the teacher to decide if it becomes a healthy community for a dysfunctional one. Here are five methods that I have used with success in the past to start off a course.
1. Two Truths and a Lie
I break my students into groups of three or four for this activity. In two truths and a lie, each individual makes three statements; two of the statements are true and one is a lie. The other members of the group listen to the three statements and then guess which is a lie. Many students will tell interesting & memorable stories as a result of this activity, and usually the students' lies provide some humor that can be mined for the first couple weeks of class. Students will often share truths that they might not otherwise reveal because of their desire to make statements that could appear to be lies. I usually have group selects the person who had the best three statements to share out with the larger group when sharing out with the larger group, and we then have the larger class gas again which statement is the lie. Finally, I end this activity by sharing my own two truths and a lie. To build some anticipation, I don't reveal which statement is a lie until the next class day.
2. Name Stories
I've also had good luck having students share name-related stories in small groups. Students can explain what their first, middle, and/or last name means, or tell why they were given their particular name. This activity often generates interesting stories and reveals aspects of students' personalities, families, and cultures. This activity can be powerful in particular in our modern diverse classroom; sometimes immigrant and refugee students may feel badly about their names because of a history of mispronunciation or lack of understanding of their names. The opportunity to explain some about their names is often empowering and is a way for the class to make sure they were saying people's names correctly.
3. Things In Common
I learned this technique from legendary Baltimore area educator Doug Strebe. I don't know if it's originally his idea, but he's the one I stole it from. The idea is that before we expect students to work in small or large groups, it's a good idea to help them recognize that they are not as different as they may think. Things in common activities helps students realize shared interests. When moving students into groups, it's easy to ask them to quickly identify something that they all like; for example, easy options are ice cream flavors, restaurant, TV shows, sports teams, websites, etc. With high school students, it can also often be fun to have them identify things in common that they don't like. Things in common sheets or activities can be quite simple and can take anywhere from 15 seconds to several minutes. I've had my students write down these things in common or just discuss them. If you are having a group work on an extended task, the things in common information can then serve as the basis for a fun team name that will further contribute to student rapport.
4. Student Interests Survey
The first day of class I always hand out a survey of some sort that allows me to gather information about students interests and lives. I ask them to share with me a list of favorite books, TV shows, websites, bands, etc., and to tell me a little bit about what they do with their time outside of my class. This is away for me to show that I'm interested in the students not just as consumers of my academic content, but as whole people. I then keep the survey information in a binder on my desk. It's easy throughout the year to randomly open the binder, pick out some information about a student, and connect with them in a spare moment before or after class, at lunch, in the hallway etc. The survey is also a good way for me to keep in touch with the pop-culture floating around the students. I hear about websites, books, celebrities, bands and movies that I would not otherwise be aware of. I can then possibly connect classroom experiences or content to these things that are important in the students lives. You can also ask students questions on the survey about more directly academic matters such as their learning styles, past teachers, favorite assignments.
5. Identity Bingo
Another activity that is good near the beginning of the semester or school year is identity bingo. This involves a simple creating a simple bingo like grid on 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper and filling each grid with statements that represent at least a couple students in the class and will get students talking. For example, good "speaks Spanish;" "has two dogs;" or "traveled outside the U.S." The phrases should be things that will allow students to learn something interesting about their peers, and like the things in common activities, maybe help them realize they are not so different from some other classmates as they might have thought. Students find peers who can sign the different boxes of the grid that represent them. I give the students 10 minutes to mill around trying to get as many signatures as they can. After this time, I call on individuals and ask for something interesting they learned about a peer as a result of the activity.
It is important as teachers that we foster and build strong relationships with our students and also facilitate strong relationships between those. Classroom community is not just about teacher-student relationships, but also about student-student bonds. It's worth our time and effort as teachers to regularly do activities that support the healthy functioning of our classroom communities.
If you spend half a year to a year with a group of students, your classroom will become a community whether you like it or not. It's up to you as the teacher to decide if it becomes a healthy community for a dysfunctional one. Here are five methods that I have used with success in the past to start off a course.
1. Two Truths and a Lie
I break my students into groups of three or four for this activity. In two truths and a lie, each individual makes three statements; two of the statements are true and one is a lie. The other members of the group listen to the three statements and then guess which is a lie. Many students will tell interesting & memorable stories as a result of this activity, and usually the students' lies provide some humor that can be mined for the first couple weeks of class. Students will often share truths that they might not otherwise reveal because of their desire to make statements that could appear to be lies. I usually have group selects the person who had the best three statements to share out with the larger group when sharing out with the larger group, and we then have the larger class gas again which statement is the lie. Finally, I end this activity by sharing my own two truths and a lie. To build some anticipation, I don't reveal which statement is a lie until the next class day.
2. Name Stories
I've also had good luck having students share name-related stories in small groups. Students can explain what their first, middle, and/or last name means, or tell why they were given their particular name. This activity often generates interesting stories and reveals aspects of students' personalities, families, and cultures. This activity can be powerful in particular in our modern diverse classroom; sometimes immigrant and refugee students may feel badly about their names because of a history of mispronunciation or lack of understanding of their names. The opportunity to explain some about their names is often empowering and is a way for the class to make sure they were saying people's names correctly.
3. Things In Common
I learned this technique from legendary Baltimore area educator Doug Strebe. I don't know if it's originally his idea, but he's the one I stole it from. The idea is that before we expect students to work in small or large groups, it's a good idea to help them recognize that they are not as different as they may think. Things in common activities helps students realize shared interests. When moving students into groups, it's easy to ask them to quickly identify something that they all like; for example, easy options are ice cream flavors, restaurant, TV shows, sports teams, websites, etc. With high school students, it can also often be fun to have them identify things in common that they don't like. Things in common sheets or activities can be quite simple and can take anywhere from 15 seconds to several minutes. I've had my students write down these things in common or just discuss them. If you are having a group work on an extended task, the things in common information can then serve as the basis for a fun team name that will further contribute to student rapport.
4. Student Interests Survey
The first day of class I always hand out a survey of some sort that allows me to gather information about students interests and lives. I ask them to share with me a list of favorite books, TV shows, websites, bands, etc., and to tell me a little bit about what they do with their time outside of my class. This is away for me to show that I'm interested in the students not just as consumers of my academic content, but as whole people. I then keep the survey information in a binder on my desk. It's easy throughout the year to randomly open the binder, pick out some information about a student, and connect with them in a spare moment before or after class, at lunch, in the hallway etc. The survey is also a good way for me to keep in touch with the pop-culture floating around the students. I hear about websites, books, celebrities, bands and movies that I would not otherwise be aware of. I can then possibly connect classroom experiences or content to these things that are important in the students lives. You can also ask students questions on the survey about more directly academic matters such as their learning styles, past teachers, favorite assignments.
5. Identity Bingo
Another activity that is good near the beginning of the semester or school year is identity bingo. This involves a simple creating a simple bingo like grid on 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper and filling each grid with statements that represent at least a couple students in the class and will get students talking. For example, good "speaks Spanish;" "has two dogs;" or "traveled outside the U.S." The phrases should be things that will allow students to learn something interesting about their peers, and like the things in common activities, maybe help them realize they are not so different from some other classmates as they might have thought. Students find peers who can sign the different boxes of the grid that represent them. I give the students 10 minutes to mill around trying to get as many signatures as they can. After this time, I call on individuals and ask for something interesting they learned about a peer as a result of the activity.
It is important as teachers that we foster and build strong relationships with our students and also facilitate strong relationships between those. Classroom community is not just about teacher-student relationships, but also about student-student bonds. It's worth our time and effort as teachers to regularly do activities that support the healthy functioning of our classroom communities.
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