Being a classroom teacher myself, I know how much kids love to share about what they did over summer vacation. But how to channel this motivation to talk or write into something that helps teach valuable routines and expectations vital in the beginning of the school year? All About My Summer Vacation Ice Breaker Bingo is a great way to start building community in your classroom. Bingo items like I went camping, I visited my grandparents, I cooked Dinner… are sure to get kids talking and building relationships. And when used with the excitement of a game of bingo, your class is now a place your students can’t wait to be a part of.
Here are some tried and true lesson ideas perfect for those crucial first few days and weeks of school.
Collaborative Conversations
Build collaboration by playing team bingo. Using the cut-apart call list included, pull out an item one at a time. Students and the people in their team get to cover the item on their card only if it applies to someone in their group.
Introduce Speaking and Listening Skills
To practice turn and talk skills that you will use year-round, have students partner up. Students take turns finding items on their card that they did over the summer. To mark the space, they must make eye-contact and use a complete sentence. Their partner must then ask one follow-up question.
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Roam the Room Bingo
Set a timer for 5-10 minutes. Students must walk around the room and collect initials from different students based on things they did over the summer. Make a rule where students must tell 1-2 details about what they did before signing their initials in a space.
Writing Journal Prompts
Paste a bingo card inside each student’s writing journal. Use as first week of school journal prompts. As a warm-up or independent work activity, students must practice narrative writing by choosing a different prompt each day to describe in detail.
Create Your Own
Have an idea for a back-to-school icebreaker? BingoCardCreator.com makes it easy to go from idea to print! In just 3 easy steps, you can create your own custom bingo game using words and pictures.
