Warm Up Activities

Warm up activities

TALK TO ME THIS WAY: Before getting started, write sentences on a post-it note, such as: "Ask me questions", "Laugh at me," "Be angry at me," "Disagree with me,"Ignore me," etc. You will need one note for each student in the class. Stick one note on each student's back, so he/she can't see what is written. Students must go around the class and talk in pairs. The teacher canchoose the topics of conversation (holidays, dates, pets, etc). When the students converse, they must speak according to what is written on their partner's note. For example, if student A's note says: 'Tell me lies," then during the conversation, Student B tells lies. After a minute, the students switch pairs and repeat the activity. They should switch several times. At the end, students mustguess what is written on their notes based on how people acted while talking to them.

AGREE or DISAGREE: Write the words "agree," "disagree," "strongly agree," and "strongly disagree" on separate pieces of paper and post them on four different walls of the room. Then make a statement such as "our organization can change the world" and have everybody move to the part of the room that matches theiropinion. Have the group discuss why they chose their response. Statements about community service or making a difference in the world may keep the focus on your organization/agency, but bringing up other issues could spark interesting debates.

I'VE DONE SOMETHING YOU HAVEN'T DONE. Have everyone introduce themselves and then state something they have done that they think no one else in the classhas done. If someone else has also done it, the student must state something else until he/she finds something that no one else has done.
FIND SOMEONE. Each person writes on a blank index card one to three statements, such as favorite color, interest, hobby, or vacations. Pass out cards so everyone gets someone else's card. Have that person find the person with their card and introducethemselves.
PUTTING PIECES TOGETHER: Procedure: Cut one large square(about 8 in. x 8 in.) out of colored cardboard for each student. Cut each square into 8 smaller pieces of various shapes (rectangles, triangles, pentagons, etc.) Each square should be unique. Divide the class into groups of 5 and give each group the scrambled pieces for 5 of the squares. Each member of the group must be given 8 pieces.Their job is to put the squares together again without talking. Students cannot ask for someone else's piece. They can only take another student's piece without asking and give that student one of theirs. Students continue giving and taking pieces until everyone in the group has made a square. This should take about 5-10 minutes. When they finish they can talk about what they just did (they shouldhave a lot to say). If the activity is successful and moving along quickly enough, have groups swap squares and repeat the activity.
TRUTH OR PRETEND? Have each person tell one thing about themselves that is true and one thing that is false, without revealing which is which. Then have all participants try and guess which one is the truth.
PATTERN BALL: You will need four to six balls for thisexercise. First ask everyone to raise one hand. Tell everyone that all that they need to remember is who they got the ball from and who they threw it to. Then throw the ball to someone who has raised their hand, and have them do the same until everyone has been passed the ball. When the last person has received the ball, have him/her throw it back to the facilitator who started it. Repeat the patterna number of times with one ball and then slowly introduce the other ones. End the exercise by slowly taking the balls out of circulation.
BROWN BAG: Have each person bring three things in a brown bag that symbolize them or are important to them. Share the objects with the group.
Variation: Put all bags in a pile and draw them out one at a time, guessing which person brought which bag.
SHOE...