Words From Your Names

Activity

Community building activities, Introductory activities

Words From Your Names

Ahmed Shalaby

This icebreaker activity can be used when meeting students for the first time.

Tech needed: Video conferencing, Breakout rooms, Shared online space

Synchronous

Accessibility: Text-based

Duration: Variable

Student preparation: None

Educator preparation: None

ACTIVITY PURPOSE

This activity can be used in the first lesson of a new term or course when students meet with the teacher for the first time for an online or face-to-face class. The purpose of this activity is to break the ice and help students get to know each other.

USEFUL FOR

Introductions, bonding, and rapport establishing with students. It also helps in recalling vocabulary learnt from previous levels.

PREPARATION

In face-to-face classes, no preparation is required. In an online session, the teacher needs to create 3-4 Google documents (according to the class size) that students can write and edit.

INSTRUCTIONS

Tell students that they will be broken out into rooms, and that each room will receive a link to an editable Google document;
Students write all the letters of their names in the Google document, even if the letters are repeated;
Then, tell students that they have 5 minutes to write as many words as possible by mixing those letters in any order; words can be nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and prepositions, but no names of people, countries, cities, or brands;
Make it very clear for students that they cannot borrow letters other than the ones they have from their names;
Instruct students to help each other, and that all group members need to write (if possible);
After 5 minutes, close the breakout rooms, and share the document of each group on your screen to review the words. Give 1 mark for every correct word; and
Tally the correct words, write the total on the group document, and announce the winner group.

DURATION

The activity time depends on the students’ level. The teacher might want to give more time to lower proficiency levels. However, a minimum of 5 minutes should be suitable for all levels.

ADAPTATIONS AND EXAMPLES

Several versions can be developed from this activity. Four adaptations are introduced here:

Beginner-friendly option: allow students to borrow one additional letter from the alphabet to help complete a word using the letters in their name.
Focus on word class: increase the challenge by restricting word choices to a specific word class, such as only nouns or only verbs.
For a more advanced level: do not allow students to repeat letters – limiting them strictly to the letters found in their names.
Decrease the time limit to increase difficulty, especially for more advanced students.
Word length restriction: add a further challenge by limiting responses to words of a specific length, such as only 3-letter, 4-letter, or 5-letter words.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

A number of blank Google documents depending on the number of students, with only a title showing the group number; and video conference software with breakout rooms.

USEFUL RESOURCES

View an example Google document (opens in a new tab).