Building+Community


 * ~ [[image:students2.png]] ||~ ==Share tips and resources on how to build community in your classroom!== ||




 * Play Classroom Bingo to help everyone get to know each other a little better.
 * Have students partner up with someone they do not know and find out three things about each other. Partners then introduce each other to the rest of the class.
 * Have each student write something about themselves on a piece of paper, crumple it up and toss it in a pile. One by one have each student select a piece of paper from the pile and introduce that person.
 * Take a piece of paper and write 3 things you did this summer. (Don’t write your name on the paper) Then, crumple it up. After that, the students will throw the crumpled papers around the room for 20 seconds. When the 20 seconds is over, the students should pick up any piece of paper that’s not their own and read it. Then they should try and find the person who the paper belongs to. When they find the owner, the student will need to ask them one question about one of the things on the paper. Then give the owner back their paper. When a person finds your paper, they should come to you and ask you one question also. Then they will give the paper back to you.
 * Never Eat Soggy Waffles ~ For this game, you will need to label your four walls North, East, South and West. (Just take a piece of paper and write N on it and tape it to the wall. Then do the same thing with the three other walls. Write E, S, and W, on a piece of paper and tape it to the walls.) After labeling the walls, pick one student to be ‘it’. This person will be blindfolded and will stand in the middle of the room. The teacher will slowly count to 5 and while she’s counting, the students will split up and pick a wall to stand by. (N, S, E, or W) When the teacher gets to 5, every student must be standing by a wall because the blindfolded person will then call out North, South, East, or West. For example, if he/she called out “North,” anyone standing by the North wall would be ‘out.’ The game would basically repeat over and over again until only one person is left. Then, that person is ‘it.’


 * Initiative games**
 * Group Juggle: Put students in a circle next to each other standing up with plenty of space outside the circle. Use a throwable object such as a nerf ball or something else soft and have the students toss the ball to people across form them. The idea is to make a pattern from one student to next until all the students have caught and thrown the object. They need to remember who threw to them and which student they chose to throw to. The object should end up back to the first person. You can time the route and seek to decrease the time. You can start the sequence and add other objects. Debrief in this game can lead to lots of discussion about achieving group goals, playing together, setting goal, planning strategy, etc. If this explanation is too vague, or if you'd like to see this game played, see Terry Taylor!

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