On the first day of school, students need an icebreaker. Taking fifteen to twenty minutes to complete and share interviews can settle the class and allow students to relax a little.
Students can learn a great deal about each other through the interviews. It will be the beginning of creating a wonderful learning environment.
Preparation and Grouping
Before the class arrives, the teacher will need to make copies of the following questions. Students can be paired up in a variety of ways. For example, students can just interview their neighbors.
However, to make it even more fun, here are a few more ways to pair up students. A little more complicated way to group students is to have each month of the year typed and taped up in separate sections of the room. When students arrive, they can go to the month when they were born. Next, students need to find another person who is at least two months away from their birthday month.
Directions for Interview
The following list of interview questions can be given in whole to the students. Or, teachers can pick and choose questions. This should be fun and it is helpful if a handout or paper copy is made for the students.
Each student will need to interview a person in the class who is not a friend. Students will need to write down the person’s answers and be prepared to introduce the person to the class. Participants are allowed to use notes.
- What is your full name? Were you named after a particular person? If so, who?
- Do you like your name? Why? What do you wish your name was?
- Do you like the school mascot? Why or why not?
- When snacking, do you prefer chips or candy? Why?
- What is your favorite hobby or past time? Why?
- What frightens you most, spiders or snakes? Why?
- What is your favorite television show or movie? Why?
- Are you a fan of Phineas and Ferb, Poke’mon, Spongebob Squarepants, Scooby Doo, The Jetsons, Speed Racer, or Tom and Jerry? Why?
- What is your favorite type of music? Why?
- Are you a fan of Nascar, college sports, NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, HGTV, HSN, or Food Network? Why?
- Do you have any brothers and sisters? How many and ages?
- Who is the most influential person in your life? Why?
- Did you participate in any extra-curricular activities in high school? What ones? Why?
- What is your favorite restaurant? Why?
After Interview Completion
After the interviews are complete, students need to stand up and introduce each other. These introductions should be casual.
After the interviews are complete , the teacher can ask random students questions from the material presented. The more unique the information that the students give, the more interested the students will be during the presentations.
This activity should be a group building one. Students can learn about each other and start working together.
Kellie Hayden - She is a 19 year veteran teacher with a master's degree in education and NBCT, 2000. Kellie teaches 8th grade language arts, TAG and ...
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