Part of being a great teacher is really getting to know your students. This can be incredibly difficult when you find yourself looking at thirty new faces on the first day of school. Arming yourself with some great getting to know you activities can help you get to know your students, as well as help them get to know each other.
Human Scavenger Hunt
A human scavenger hunt is one of my favorite activities to do with my high school students, but it would work well with any age group. To prepare, you need to create a worksheet with a list of different qualities, likes, dislikes, etc. on it. Preferably, you should have as many options as you have students in the class. These can be things like "plays football" or "likes broccoli" or "has a sibling." To increase the difficulty, put things on the sheet like "can recite the alphabet backwards" or "is wearing socks that aren't white." Then, have your students walk around the room finding people who fit these descriptions. Tell them to sign their classmates' papers next to the description they fit, and that each person in the room can only sign their paper one time. If you play, too, you can use that time to talk to your students and learn about them.
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