Icebreakers

that Rock
Teacher Manual
Updated July 2021
 A NOTE ABOUT CHANGES MADE TO
BLOBS AND LINES 1
JULY 2021

As of July 2021, three of the questions in Blobs and Lines 1 have been revised. In
recent years, it has been brought to my attention that certain questions had the
potential to put students in situations where their ethnicity or socioeconomic
status would be highlighted in uncomfortable or isolating ways. When this was
first pointed out, I merely replied that the questions were editable and therefore
any teacher that found a question inappropriate could change it.

But I am now uncomfortable with having those questions out there, knowing
that many teachers would simply run the slideshow without necessarily realizing
the problems they could cause for students who may never speak up. These
icebreakers are meant to be light and fun, and to create opportunities for
students to bond, and that can’t happen when a student feels singled out
among peers. If you are working with an earlier version of Blobs and Lines 1, I
encourage you to replace it with the 2021 file.

The revised questions are as follows:

#5: Gather with people who are wearing the same kind of shoes as you.
With so many students being brand-conscious, this question can merely
highlight socioeconomic differences between students and make those whose
families don’t have as much disposable income self-conscious.
#9: Gather with people who have the same eye color as you.
This question is not too far off from separating students by skin color and draws
attention to physical differences that may be connected to ethnicity.
#17: Gather with people who get to school in the same way as you (bus, car,
walk…)
Like Question 5, this one can draw attention to socioeconomics.

© 2021 Cult of Pedagogy 2

 Icebreakers that Rock

Helpful Hints
Thank you for purchasing Icebreakers that Rock! You and your students are
going to love these games, and you’ll use them for years to come. These
games can be used with groups as small as 10 or as large as 200. They are a
wonderful way to start building relationships in your classroom and in your
school.

BEFORE YOU PLAY

• Clear some space: All of these games require room to move, so push your
classroom desks to the side, or stack them if necessary. If you’re teaching
remotely, see pages 6 and 7 of this manual for special instructions.
• Do a trial run: Before playing these games with your students, run the
PowerPoints on your own projector to make sure you understand how
they work (the first few slides are automatic and do not require you to
click).

DURING PLAY
• Encourage conversation. The point of these games is to get students
talking, so be sure to allow discussion time for each question. If students
are not interacting with each other as much as you’d like, call on a few
students in between questions to share their thoughts with the class.
• Allow for interpretation. At times, some students will think a topic does
not apply to them, or they will say they don’t have an answer. Allow
students to re-interpret questions to fit them better: For example, if a
question refers to TV and the student doesn’t have TV, they can talk
about a book instead.

© 2021 Cult of Pedagogy 3

 Icebreakers that Rock

Technical Stuff
WHAT’S IN YOUR ZIP FILE
• Windows Folder: This contains all games formatted to play on Windows
platforms. These files have the Life Savers font embedded in them (which
is the one used for the page titles in these instructions), so they are larger
than the Mac files.
• OSX Folder: This contains all games formatted to play on Mac/OS X
platforms. Because embedded fonts do not transfer over to OS X, these
files use American Typewriter, a font native to OS X.

PLAYING THE SLIDESHOWS

• These files should run with any version of PowerPoint from 2013 onward.
• The slides work best when projected on a large screen. (See pages 5 and 6
for remote learning instructions.)
• To start playing, click “Slide Show” on your toolbar and then select “From
Beginning.”
• The first few slides of each game will run automatically; you do not need
to click to advance until you see the “Click to Continue” message appear
on the screen. From there, click to advance the slides using the space bar,
right arrow key, or the clicker on your remote.
• If you want to use the icebreakers in Google Slides, just upload the WIN
files into your Drive, then save them as Google Slides files. To play, click
“Present,” then choose “Present from Beginning.”

© 2021 Cult of Pedagogy 4

 EDITING QUESTIONS
Although these questions were designed to be universal and apply to any
student, you may want to edit some of them. To do this, click on the text box
of the question you want to edit, then change the text to your liking.

CREATING NEW SLIDES

You can add new slides that retain all of the design features and animations of
the current slides. To do this, right-click on the thumbnail image of a slide
whose style you want to repeat, then select “Duplicate Slide” from the pop-up
menu. You will be given a new slide that you can edit however you like. The
question number can also be changed—just click on it.

thumbnails

© 2021 Cult of Pedagogy 5

 Using the Icebreakers for

Remote Learning
All of these instructions are based on holding meetings on Zoom, which
seems to be a frontrunner for videoconferencing. If you prefer another
platform, you will need to adapt these instructions to fit that tool instead.

For all of these games, it may be helpful to have students write a short
reflection afterward sharing a few things they learned about their classmates.

Before attempting any of these options, do a trial run with a smaller group to
make sure you have the technology set up correctly.

BLOBS AND LINES

This icebreaker requires Zoom plus a hack I call the “Avatar Classroom.” Watch
this video to see it in action.
• Gather with students in a Zoom meeting. On your computer, you’ll need
to have two other programs running: the Blobs and Lines slideshow (using
PowerPoint or Google Slides) and a separate, blank Google Slide where
you’ll create your Avatar Classroom.
• Share the blank Google Slide with students (give them editing privileges)
and have them each create a text box with their name. Students may
need some help learning how to toggle back and forth between Zoom
and the Google Slide. Since all students are “in” the Avatar Classroom
slide, you don’t have to screen share it in the Zoom call.
• Once everyone’s card is created, show the first Blobs and Lines question
by sharing your screen. Have students move their name cards in the
Avatar Classroom in response to the question. Once they have sorted
themselves, students can either informally talk in the Zoom or use the
“chat” texting option to share their reactions.

© 2021 Cult of Pedagogy 6

 CONCENTRIC CIRCLES
For this one, you just need Zoom and your icebreaker slideshow.
• Gather with students in a Zoom meeting. On your computer, have the
Concentric Circles slideshow (using PowerPoint or Google Slides) ready to
launch in presentation mode.
• Show the first question by sharing your screen.
• Create breakout rooms to put students into groups of two; that means if
you have 20 students, you’ll need 10 rooms. Choose to have them set up
automatically instead of manually.
• Have students discuss the question in their breakout rooms (set a time
limit for about 3-5 minutes…you may need to experiment with this), then
return to the larger group. For the next question, choose “recreate,” which
will delete the existing breakout rooms and set up new pairings.

THIS OR THAT
Probably the best way to manage this one is similar to the recommendations
for Blobs and Lines, where you’d use an Avatar Classroom.
• Gather with students in a Zoom meeting. On your computer, you’ll need
to have two other programs running: the This or That slideshow (using
PowerPoint or Google Slides) and a separate, blank Google Slide where
you’ll create your Avatar Classroom.
• Share the blank Google Slide with students (give them editing privileges)
and have them each create a text box with their name. Since all students
are “in” the Avatar Classroom slide, you don’t have to screen share it in
the Zoom call.
• Once everyone’s card is created, show the first This or That question by
sharing your screen. Have students move their name cards in the Avatar
Classroom according to the question. Once students have chosen a side,
you can call on individuals to talk about why they chose one option or the
other.

© 2021 Cult of Pedagogy 7

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 Have we met?

Hi, I’m Jennifer Gonzalez. If you’ve never visited my website, Cult of

Pedagogy, now is the time. This product is just a small example of the
work I do for teachers. On my site you’ll find book reviews, videos of
teaching strategies, a podcast where I go in depth on a variety of
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