A Good Icebreaker
By Susan Mandel Glazer

At the beginning of each school year we try to think of ways to get to know our students. Events that each learner believes are important in and out of the classroom are meaningful. Moving to a new house, the arrival of a sibling, getting new furnishings for one's bedroom, visiting a grandparent or anticipating the arrival of a pet, new bicycle or a special birthday celebration are among those circumstances that spur enthusiastic discussions. Powerful memories can also drive kids to use wonderful language for sharing ideas. It's well-known that each of us writes more easily and skillfully when the content is about things we've experienced. So, it makes sense to lead children to write and talk about things, ideas and events in which they've already been involved.

Add to your collection
Kids and adults alike love collecting things like stones, bottle caps, ribbons, stamps, even magazine photos of favorite people. In order to keep these collections orderly, they need some sort of container. A container also gives the collector the feeling of power that ownership, especially with physical objects, provides. Personal connections to the contents also facilitates discussions about what's inside. These events are shared through stories about personal involvements.

My treasure box
It's usually best to begin with one child in an informal situation that permits time to talk. This is particularly important with those who might feel reticent about speaking in front of a group. Begin what appears to be a spontaneous discussion about one of your collections – be sure to have your collection of "stuff" in your possession. For example, I collect buttons and have jars and tin containers filled with them. Each represents an event when I wore the garment to which the button belonged. Discussing objects and the events that they are connected to is an activity that facilitates storytelling. Once the talk about things and events begins, ask your students to find a container in which to collect small objects that remind them of something they can use to tell as a story. Be sure to provide a daily time and ask for volunteers to share a treasure from their "Treasure Box." This will guide the children to understand that an object can represent an entire story.

Telling stories
Continue this activity for at least a month. Then move from objects to words. You can create a series of 3" x 5" index cards with one word written on each. Every word must represent an event, theme, idea or an object that facilitates storytelling. Toss these into a shoe box. You might even try having several of these word boxes containing words associated with the current science, social studies or math unit located around your classroom. Here's how to begin:

1. Pair your students.
2. Ask each child to select a card, without looking, from the box.
3. Each of the children looks at his or her word and tells a story to his or her partner.
4. After telling the story, each child writes it down. They can draw or write about it or use a combination of both.
5. Each child then uses the selected word as the story's title and explain why the story and its name are appropriately matched.

A part of each other
There are many skills being developed during this activity. Students have to collaborate and listen to their classmates. The concept of random selection resembles risk-taking experiences. Taking risks in school is safe and prepares children to take risks that can be more challenging when outside of the classroom. Telling a spontaneous story assists in the development of working one-on-one with people. Sensitivity to the other's likes and dislikes, wonders and fears will help your students get to know one another.

Oral and written skills are difficult and challenging to develop. The more one writes and talks about events, the easier it becomes to then talk and write succinctly. Finally, knowing that one word can represent entire events, stories and situations can assist those in the classroom to store information and then label it appropriately.

Telling stories can be difficult, but using objects to spur ideas will guide learners from one idea to the next and in telling their stories. These shared stories are the "ice breakers" that can permit children to become part of each other's lives.

Susan Mandel Glazer is the Director of the Center for Reading and Writing at Rider University in Lawrenceville, NJ.