Always looking for new getting to know you activities for your middle school math classes? Me too!
I’ve got a few getting to know you activities for you and your middle school math students, for the beginning of the school year of even the beginning of a new semester or marking period!
I used this game for many years…..many times I’d plan not to, but then I couldn’t stand not knowing kids’ names right away, so we’d play:-)
Students and I get into a big circle, and I ask students to come up with an adjective that describes them and begins with the same sound as the beginning of their first name, like ‘Energetic Ellie.” The first student to my left shares his/her name; the 2nd student repeats the 1st student’s name and then shares his own. The third student repeats the first two names/adjectives, and adds her own. The activity continues in this way around the circle until we get to me, and I get to repeat all the names.
This game helps me to get to know all the students’ names during the first class session. It also helps me learn about the students – it tells me who seems to have a good memory and who has more difficulty. I can see who appears to be confident and who is more hesitant; who’s willing to accept help (I always prompt if they want/need) and who isn’t. And of course, their adjectives usually tell me something about them:-)
Students get to learn a little bit about each other too. They come from quite a few different elementary schools, so many of them don’t know anyone….this helps them learn at least a few names and faces to start off the year.
Truth or Dare….students are intrigued when they hear the name! Especially in math class!
“Math Truth or Dare – Getting to Know You” is a set of 30 questions you can use to get to know your students and to help your students get to know each other
This particular Footloose version has two purposes:
1) It’s a short pre-assessment to see what students know coming into the year (geared toward 6th grade), AND
2) It includes getting to know you questions….even if students answer the math question incorrectly, you’re still learning a personal fact about them:-)
Math About Me
T his getting to know you activity is a series of math-related questions for students, to help you understand more about their math ‘status’ – how they feel about math, what they like/dislike, etc.
Who Can You Find?
This one is great for helping students get to know each other . Many of the questions again tie into math.
You can grab the free Math About Me and Who Can You Find here .
This is an easy way for students to share a little about themselves in math world!
At least a few of these getting to know you activities should fit perfectly into your first days of math class, when you head back to school or into that new marking period!
