We've pulled together some sources of icebreakers for you. Most can be adapted for onsite, synchronous and asynchronous online. You'll want to consider the size of your class and when feasible your content. For example, you might ask questions with numeric responses in math.

Remember that icebreakers are to build a sense of community, a sense of belonging so that students know one another's names and interests as they respond in discussions, work on projects together and provide peer feedback to one another. Select prompts that are inclusive and provide everyone an opportunity to safely share.

Example of Responses Used in Instruction

How many years have you lived in your current city? Use a 1 for anything up to a year, no zeroes. Then ask students to divide their age by that number and put their answer in the chat. Use these numbers to compute range, mode, and median during the next class.

Other prompts: How many cups of water do you drink a week divided by the number of the cups of sweetened beverages?

Use a tool like Answer Garden for asynchronous responses that all can see.

Icebreaker Prompts

Online icebreakers compiled and shared by Symonds Research.
100 Prompts for college students divided into categories. Consider who your students are when selecting from this list. A few of our favorites:
1. What superpower do you wish you had and why?
2. What is your biggest pet peeve?
3. If you could choose another name for yourself, what would it be?
4. What fictional character would you like to meet?
5. What is the last book you've read?
Top Hat put together this booklet of 50 Icebreakers. They are labeled as synchronous and asynchronous for easy reference.