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PRACTICAL IDEAS 

Icebreaker activities
Phil Keegan has a few ideas to break the ice with new groups of learners.

ost people sitting in a


classroom at the start of a
new course with a new group
of people and a new teacher will be
feeling a degree of uncertainty, even
anxiety, as they sit and wonder what
the teacher and the other students
will be like. In foreign language
classes, it is also very common for
students to worry that their own
level of English will be inadequate
and they will embarrass themselves,
thus creating further discomfort,
even stress.
Most teachers are aware that it is
important to break the ice and help
a new group to gel in some way.
Getting to Know Activities like Find
Someone Who questionnaires
are widely used and really do help to
break the ice and start the process of
allowing the group to bond.
Here a few ideas/variations on
icebreaking activities which I have
used when starting with new groups.
The students will need to be at preintermediate level or above for these
activities to work.

Speed friending
Line up chairs in two columns so that
one student faces another. An even
number is essential for this activity so
if there is an odd number of students,
the teacher has to take part as one of
the group.
Tell students that they have two
minutes to find out everything they
can about the person in front of them
by asking questions and exchanging
information (two minutes in total, not
two minutes each). Dont let them
take notes, they should concentrate
on speaking and listening to each
other. The teacher should use a timer

July 2013 Volume 22 No. 3

to make sure that the time limit is


adhered to (most mobile phones and
tablet devices have these).

simultaneously drawing and being


drawn. Ring a bell or hit a buzzer at
the end of 60 seconds.

After two minutes, people change


partner (the students on one side can
move along one seat, with one person
from each side changing sides).
Repeat as above until everyone has
spoken to each other.

Allow the students to show each


other their drawings (there will be
much laughter, embarrassment and
apologizing). Tell everyone to mill
around and show each the drawings.
The teacher should emphasize that
this was not a drawing competition
and no one should be ashamed of
anything. Ask them to try to explain
what they were trying to express, not
what they actually drew.

Come back together as a class. Pick out


a students name and ask the other
students what they learned about him/
her. If the teacher was a participant,
he/she should join in with this as well
as moderating the round up.

60 second portrait
Line up students in two columns
facing each other. An even number
is essential for this activity so if there
is an odd number of students, the
teacher has to take part in this as one
of the group.
Tell students to have a blank sheet
of paper ready and a pencil (a
pencil if at all possible, not a pen,
preferably with an eraser on the
end. It is a good idea to bring a
supply with you).
Tell students that they have exactly
60 seconds to draw a portrait of
their partner. The students will
immediately start complaining that
they cant draw and it is important
to reassure them that it doesnt
matter if they cant draw as it is not
an art project, but a language task.
Any further complaints/objections
need to be calmly but firmly swept
aside. Once the objections have
subsided, start a timer or stopwatch
and encourage the students to draw
rapidly. The students should draw
at the same time, so that they are

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Depending on how this goes, you


can repeat the activity with students
drawing different partners.

Liar liar
Students sit in groups of five or six
and take it in turns to talk about
themselves for a minute. They
should basically tell the truth about
themselves except that they should
tell one lie (and one lie only). They
can have a few minutes preparation
time and can make a few notes, but
they should not write out a text and
then read it.
The other students have to work out
what the lie is, not by guessing but
by asking further questions until it
becomes clear what the lie is. It is
important to emphasize that the lie
should not be something outlandish
or bizarre but something they can
tell quite convincingly, for example,
I have three brothers when they
really only have two, or My hobbies
are stamp collecting, dancing and
cooking when they never, in fact,
cook. These types of lie can be
detected with some further questions
as the lie will be exposed though
hesitations and contradictions.

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PRACTICAL IDEAS
This activity works best if the teacher
demonstrates first by talking about
him/herself and including one lie and
then encouraging the students not to
just guess the lie but to question in
the manner of a police officer trying
to catch someone out.
A class round-up can be conducted
where the lies are reviewed, the
correct information is discussed and,
if appropriate, the class can decide
who was the best liar (though it is
important to stress that this is not
at all serious and not in any way
a judgment on the students real
character or integrity but just a bit of
harmless fun).

Old, new, bottled and blue


Ask the students to note down
Something Old:
(A possession they have owned for a
long time or their oldest possession)
Something New:
(Something they recently bought or
were recently given)
Something Bottled:
(Something they like which comes in
a bottle, for example something to
drink or shampoo or olive oil, etc)
Something Blue:
(Something they own which is blue or
something they like which is blue)
When they are ready, the students sit
in groups of five or six and take it in
turns to talk about and ask each other
questions about the objects. Lively
discussions usually follow.
As with the other activities, a class
round-up and information exchange
can be done, asking the students to say
what they found out about each other
and asking follow-up questions.
This activity also works well with a
group who already know each other,
especially if the students actually
bring all or at least some of the objects
to class with them. The presence of
meaningful realia adds a healthy spice
to the activity.

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Modern English Teacher

My motto
Check that students understand the
word motto and give an explanation
if necessary (e.g. something along the
lines of a short phrase which sums up
a persons attitude to life).
Write your motto on the board. I
actually have a few examples that
I draw on depending on my mood
and the atmosphere. Some examples
are Always be true to yourself, or
if I am feeling lighthearted and it is
appropriate for the group Life is too
short to drink cheap wine.
Invite the students to ask questions
about the motto and be prepared to
explain why you chose it and give an
example or two of how it has been
part of your life.
Now ask students to think of a motto
for themselves, reminding them that
it needs to be fairly short and certainly
not longer than one sentence. At this
point it is good if the teacher circulates
and helps if the students need some
help with vocabulary or with the
phrasing of the motto.
Put the students into groups of four
or five and have them talk about their
mottos and ask each other questions.
A whole class round-up can be
conducted at the end.
A further development of the activity
is to put students into small groups
and have then decide on a motto for
the English class they are now in, and
then, using A3 paper, to make a poster
which each group presents to the
whole class. These posters can then be
used to decorate the classroom if this
is appropriate.

not allowed to talk, only shake hands


and use body language to express
themselves. Every thirty seconds or so
the teacher calls out a scenario and
they should adapt how they shake
hands accordingly. For example:
Youre meeting the President/King/
Queen/Leader of you country.
Youre meeting very good friends
you havent seen for a long time.
Youre meeting some grumpy, old
aunts and uncles you dont like very
much but who have a lot of money
which they might leave to you.
Youre meeting your new
boyfriends/girlfriends parents for
the first time.
It is quite a nice touch to play some
music while they are doing this. You
may need to remind them that they
are not supposed to talk, only
mime/gesture.
Note: Bare in mind that, for cultural
reasons, this activity is not appropriate
for all students. Muslim women, for
example, are not supposed to shake
hands with men who are not
family members.

Pot luck
Ask students to write down the
following things:
An everyday task or activity that
they regularly have to do but really
dont like doing (for example,
doing the washing-up, taking the
bus to work and so on)
The most expensive thing, except for
a house, that they have ever bought

Handshakes
I am pretty sure I adapted (or possibly
just stole) this activity from Drama
Techniques by Alan Maley and Alan
Duff. An excellent book!
Ask the students to stand up. Tell
them they are going to walk around
the room and shake hands with
other students. However, they are

The name of a person from history


that they would like to meet if
they could
Their favourite colour
The students sit in small groups and
talk and ask questions about what
they have written. With a bigger
class, it is a nice touch if, several

July 2013 Volume 22 No. 3

PRACTICAL IDEAS 

times, you ask students to change


groups and resume the conversation
with other students (a simple way
to do this is to allocate letters or
numbers to each student and
then call out all As change group
and later all Cs change group
and so on).

Phil Keegan

It is quite surprising how much


information can be exchanged as
the students talk and ask questions.
As with the other activities, a whole
class round up can be conducted.

Conclusion
Although the activities I have
described here were designed as
icebreakers, most, if not all, also
work with groups who already know
each other. For the most part, the
students are required to talk about
various aspects of themselves and
their lives making the activities
relevant and meaningful, yet
nothing private or too personal
needs to be said. Thus the ice is
broken but no one is in any danger.

Phil Keegan is the Director of


Studies at Katherine and Kings
College of London, having
previously worked as a teacher
and/or teacher trainer in France,
Germany, the USA, Turkey, the UK,
Malaysia and Austria. He is the
author of In My Opinion, which
was published in 2009 and he also
presents the KKCL ELT podcast at
http://www.kkcl.org.uk/podcast/
Email: phil.keegan@kkcl.org.uk

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