Students in fifth and sixth grade may need help with social skills.
Fifth and sixth grades are often the first school years where students change classrooms during the day. Without the security of being in the classroom with the same people they have been with for years, they are looking at new faces and perhaps feeling a bit unsure. With the teenage years and high school just around the corner, a few get acquainted games can help them break the ice and develop their social skills.
Find Your Group
Let the students try to find the others who belong in their group.
On index cards, write names of people who belong to a group of three or four. For instance, on one card write "Ringo," and the other Beatles' names on three different cards. Make enough cards for the whole class and give each student a card. Each student must find the rest of the people that make up his group. When all the groups have been united, have each group sit together in the classroom and get to know each other.
For more group fun, cut up the frames of several comic strips and give the individual frames to the students. They must find the people with the rest of their comic and piece it together.
All About Me
Play a game with colored candy to help kids tell about themselves.
Give each student a small cup of colored candies. On the board, assign a different meaning for each color, such as blue for family, yellow for hobbies, etc. Go around the room one student at a time. The first student will hold up one of her candies and tell something about herself depending on the color candy she chose. Go around the room until all the candies have been used. The students get to eat the candies when they are finished.
Give each person an outline of a head. Have them write words in the outline about things that are important to them. They can share in small groups or with the whole class.
Work As a Team
Create team-building exercises for an ice-breaker.
Group students in twos or threes. Have them interview each other and report back to the class. Let groups of students go on scavenger hunts in the classroom or on the school grounds as a team-building exercise. With a team, have the students work together to answer quizzes they are given. For example, name green foods or list rock stars. Prizes can be awarded for the teams that get the most items or correct answers. Mix up the teams and do the same activities the next week.
Teams of Two
Put the students in two lines facing each other so everyone has a partner. Have the partners tell each other their names and then study each other for 30 seconds. Both lines will then turn and face the wall and change one thing about themselves: remove a headband, untie shoes or unzip a jacket. Have them face each other again and try to determine what the difference is.
For another activity, pair two students together and give them a few questions to work on. They might discuss "what famous person would I like to meet and why" or "what would be the best vacation I could go on."
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