Help with ice breaker for teaching session!

[~max~]

Hi all. I'm currently studying teaching in further education, and we have to do a 15 minutes peer teaching practice next week.
My subject is "rote learning". I'm fine with the lesson plan, but I'm having trouble thinking of a relevant ice breaker....

I thought of using the "cows drink milk" one (keep asking the students question to which the answer is always WHITE, then ask "What do cows drink?", and some will invariably answer "milk"). Do you think this is relevant to my subject, rote learning? I would appreciate any suggestion!
Many thanks.

[cassa333]

I went on a traing session once (not for teaching though) and they had the Alien and the matches problem.

IE teach, by words only, an alien how to strick a match or anything else that is relevant to your course.

The alien doesn't speak your language and you are not allowed to 'show' them to do it. How do it you explain pick up? or hand or anything else for that matter.

There wasn't any answer but gets people thinking about how you explain things so that others can understand.

[dundurn]

How about the 'Easiest' Quiz in the World?

1) How long did the Hundred Years War last?
2) Which country makes Panama hats?
3) From which animal do we get catgut?
4) In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution?
5) What is a camel's hair brush made of?
6) The Canary Islands in the Atlantic are named after what animal?
7) What was King George VI's first name?
8) What color is a purple finch?
9) Where are Chinese gooseberries from?
10) How long did the Thirty Years War last?

The correct answers to which are

1) 116 years, between 1337 to 1453.
2) Ecuador.
3) From sheep and horses.
4) November. The Russian calendar was 13 days behind ours.
5) Squirrel fir.
6) The Latin word for dog was canis, so Insularia Canaria - Island of the Dogs.
7) Albert. His great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, had asked that none of her descendants should ever take the title King Albert as this had been denied to her husband, Prince Albert.
8) Crimson.
9) New Zealand.
10) Thirty years!. From 1618 to 1648

It's been around for a while so some of your coursemates will have heard it before, but it still catches out lots of people.

[~max~]

Thanks Cassa! I was thinking of the same principle, but based on my subject, rote learning, as in: use an icebreaker that includes repetition/memorisation and no actual "thinking".
What do you think? I thought the cow's one was good at showing the power of repetition vs meaning?

Grrr...This teaching business is quite hard, isn't it? lol

[~max~]

Oh, and thank you Dundurn, I will definitely use this one at some point!
My session is only 15 minutes though, so the icebreaker cannot be longer than a couple of minutes....:O(

[amonty1144]

Something I've used is to get the particiapants to tell a story with rhyming words.
e.g Jake the hake went round the lake..
next...
with a rake...

to bake a cake etc and so on.
It gets quite ridiculous and a bit tricky if you pick a starting rhyme with not a lot to rhyme with.
Good luck.

[annibrahim]

Hi
I'm studying teaching in further education, and I have problems & difficulties in writing the Lesson Plan could you help me please thank you