Classroom Web

Classroom Web
Kind of activity: Ice-breaker Aim: to get to know each other Level:intermediate/upper-intermediate Number of Students: up to 15-16 students Ages: Teenagers/Adults Time: one hour Materials: Ball of String

Step 1
Sit with your students in a circle. It's a good idea to sit on the floor.
 * 1) Take the ball of string. Hold the end of the string, tell you students something about you and throw the ball to a student, who does the same: holds the string, gives personal information, throws the ball to somebody else. The activity is repeated until everyone has spoken at least twice (you included). A sort of string web is formed in the middle of the circle.
 * 2) Conduct a short discussion on what the web can represent.
 * 3) See how much factual information they remember about each other.



Step 2
Number the students. You can do this just by distributing numbers or by asking them to make a line ordered by their birthday dates or the distance they live from school, etc.


 * 1) Student one writes a short note to student two. Student two to three. Three to four. They have to give some relevant information about themselves, just a couple of sentences. (Remember you are part of the group.)
 * 2) They answer the notes they have received commenting on the information and adding something personal, too. So this time four writes to three, three to two and two to one.
 * 3) After students have read the answers, collect them and distribute them at random. Students write answers to the person who signed the note they have received.

Step 3
Get them together in a circle again. By now they have collected quite a lot of personal information.

Give the ball of string to the student (St.1) on your right, ask the group what they know about St.1, the one who speaks gets the ball and gives it back to St.1, if another one remembers something else, repeat the procedure. Remember students have to hold the string before throwing the ball.

Conduct a discussion comparing this web with the first one.