Collective Storytelling

This is a great activity to fill up 10 minutes at the end of class if your lesson ends ahead of schedule.

1. The teacher starts off the story and sets the mood. "On a dark and stormy night, Mark set off into the night..."
2. Next, the teacher either throws a paper ball at or uses a hand guesture to signal to another student. This student then must continue the story before passing the storyteller role to another student and so on and so forth.
3. When time is up, the teacher should tell which ever student is selected next to make up an ending to the story.

Notes:
1. You can practice the concept of this by doing a modified written version of the activity before trying the oral version. Write down an opening phrase on a piece of paper and fold it down so that only that line is showing. Pass this around during class having each student add to the story based on only the line written by the previous student. At the end of class, collectively read the story.
2. Emphasize that the students should just add whatever comes to mind. There should be no, or few, "uhhh.. ahhh... I don't know!!" pauses. This activity practices spontaneous language. When a student runs out of something to say, he or she should pass to the next student.

Another Great Icebreaker

Another fun icebreaker...

1. Explain the term icebreaker (and the expression "to break the ice")

2. Have everyone write down 3 facts (could be modified to 1 to save time) about themselves. Give examples: "I am left-handed." "I speak three languages." "I had a pet ferret growing up."

3. Collect all the pieces of paper and redistribute them.

4. Choose a random student and have him or her read (in a loud, clear voice) what is written on his or her paper. This student then has to guess who the paper belongs to.

5. The person who wrote it will identify him or herself and explain one (the most interesting) fact. You can stimulate discussion by asking questions (ex: wow? three languages, huh? which ones? why those languages? etc.). This person then continues the game by reading what is on his or her paper.

This icebreaker works well both on the first day and later on in the semester once students already know one another. It can be shortened (by using one fact) to fill in the last 10-15 minutes of a class.