RUNNING HEAD: ICE BREAKER

Class Jigsaw Puzzle Ice Breaker

Samantha Hess
Raritan Valley Community College
February 7th, 2019
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Class Jigsaw Puzzle

The first day of first grade can be nerve-wracking, not only for the students, but the

teachers as well. Creating an ice breaker for the class is a great way for the teacher to get to

know their students on a more personal level. In the beginning of the day, the whole class will

participate in creating a class jigsaw puzzle. This will bring each student’s individual personality

together to complete the puzzle.

Some of the materials required will be provided by the teacher. Other materials such as

pencils, crayons, colored pencils, and markers should be brought in by the students for them to

keep in their desks all school year. Beforehand, the teacher will use tagboard to make a jigsaw

puzzle. Make sure there are enough pieces for each of the students. The teacher will number the

back of each piece to keep track of how many pieces, and to help the students put the puzzle

together if needed. The teacher will hand out a worksheet including instructions and suggestions

on what the students can include on their puzzle pieces. This activity will not only give students

the opportunity to tell us about themselves, but it will also be practice for them to write, use their

creativity and draw, and give the teacher the opportunity to do a quick observation/evaluation on

their fine motor skills.

I got the idea for this ice breaker online. A teacher in Minnesota, Ellaine Barthelemy

came up with this idea to use as an ice breaker for her elementary class. For this activity, the

teacher will pass out one puzzle piece to each student. Then go back around and pass out the

worksheet that the teacher has already made. The worksheet will explain the instructions on what

we are doing for this activity. It will also give suggestions on what the students can include on

their puzzle piece. It will encourage students to draw, write, and express their interests openly.

The teacher will read the instructions aloud to the class as they look at the worksheet. As the
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students are working on their pieces, the teacher can go around and help children think of ideas,

help them with any spelling, and encourage more ideas for their piece if needed. Once everyone

is finished, the students will share what they put on their puzzle pieces and why. The class will

then put together the pieces to create one whole puzzle. The teacher can put it on a bulletin board

or the classroom wall. This puzzle depicts how each student contributes to the class class, and

they all come together as a whole.

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Class Jigsaw Puzzle Instructions:

Each student will receive a puzzle piece. I would like you to write your

name on your puzzle piece. Next, I would like you to draw and write on

your piece. You can draw things about you such as your family, or your

favorite colors, or your favorite animal. You can write words that you

think describe you like happy, funny, silly, good listener, helpful,

respectful.

My puzzle piece example:

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References:

Classroom Activities: First Day of Elementary School Icebreakers | Scholastic. (n.d.). Retrieved

from https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/classroom-activities-

first-day-school-icebreakers-grades-kx965/