Guess Who?

My students posing for a photograph! 

On Sunday our academic year started. This year I'm teaching a new batch and there are about 99 students! Oh yes, I am excited and at the same time, SAD TOO! Yes, you heard me right. I miss my students (Batch 13, Gr 1 & 2). 

To start off and to get everyone moving and talking, I usually use this ice breaker, Guess Who! I don't have the link or remember the website form which I got this idea, sorry! I googled for an ice breaker and came across this 3 years ago and I've been using this since then. Any way, this is one of the best ice breakers I've used so far and my students enjoy this game and I achieve my goals every single time! 

I usually print names of famous people the particular group would know! For instance, if the students are teenagers and if I am meeting them for the first time, I would use names that they could guess easily because if the names I choose are unfamiliar, the aim of conducting this activity wouldn't be achieved in the end. Students are suppose to talk and break the ice.If they can't guess and gets stuck some where in between, the conversation would die out and there would be nothing to say.

Let me explain how this game is played.

Firstly, I stick a name (printed on A4 sheets using masking tape) on their backs and ask them to find out who they are by questioning others. So they stand up and move around the classroom.

Here are some RULES that they have to follow! 

Rules:

1.  Can't give a clue! 
2.  Just ask questions! 
3.  Answer has to be "yes" or "no!"

Some questions they could ask are:

1. Is it a man or woman?
2. Young or old? 
3. Famous? 
4. Singer? Actress? Millionaire? Aristocrat? Maldivian? 

Most of the time, when they see their friend's back they get some idea  and I hear them asking, is it a footballer or a singer...etc!

Some names I've used this year include:

Wayne Rooney, Christiano Ronaldo, Ali Ashfag, Mariyam Unoosha, Shahkruk Khan, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerburg, Barack Obama, Queen Elizabeth, Suneetha Ali, Priyanka Chopra....etc.

If you are wondering whether they were able to guess all the names, yes! They did! And those students who got the Ali Ashfag and Christiano Ronaldo's names were super excited and bubbling up like they were actually meeting them! And in no time, they are up, roaming around the classroom, laughing away happily as they help each other to guess the names on their backs! 

I hope this activity would be useful to someone out there!