LouAnne Johnson - Kick-Start Your Class: Academic Icebreakers to Engage Students

More Praise for Kick-Start Your Class

This book is a treasure for all professionalsteachers, coaches, administratorswho work with groups and want to set up their time together for success. Kick-Start Your Class is chock full of pragmatic activities to start your classes with both brains and heart. And theyre easy to read and follow! My copy will be a well-worn fixture in my classes and workshops.

Dawn Wink, author of Teaching Passionately: Whats Love Got To Do With It?

An amazing gift for a student or a beginning or seasoned teacher, LouAnne Johnsons Kick Start Your Class: Academic Icebreakers to Engage Students offers a rich compilation of multi-disciplinary, ready-to-teach classroom starters, concept-builders, and closers that will invigorate the culture and climate of any classroom. This is not a book that will sit on a teachers shelf; reaching for this set of lesson gems will quickly become second nature to creative teachers.

Pamela Prosise, thirty-year veteran teacher and literacy specialist, McMinnville School District, McMinnville, Oregon

LouAnne Johnsons book on student engagement is packed with priceless lessons and activities for todays teachers. It doesnt matter whether you work in a regular day class or an after school setting; or whether youre a first-year intern, an instructional leader, or a life-long teacher, Kick-Start Your Class is a must-have resource for all educators.

Jim Vidak, Tulare County Superintendent of Schools, Tulare County, California

In education, we are always looking for ready resources. This is a practical resource in an easy-to-use format. Kick-Start Your Class is the new side-by-side for teachers.

Shon Joseph, principal, John Tyler High School, Tyler, Texas

LouAnne Johnson has a unique and effective style in sharing appropriate student-centered strategies. This is a useful guide in every teachers daily planning for icebreakers and engaging activities.

Jos A. Santiago Bez, Institucin Educativa, Nets, Puerto Rico

Copyright 2012 by LouAnne Johnson.

Published by Jossey-Bass

A Wiley Imprint

One Montgomery Street, Suite 1200, San Francisco, CA 94104-4594www.josseybass.com

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600, or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201-748-6011, fax 201-748-6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. Readers should be aware that Internet Web sites offered as citations and/or sources for further information may have changed or disappeared between the time this was written and when it is read.

Certain pages from this book are designed for use in a group setting and may be customized and reproduced for educational/training purposes. The reproducible pages are designated by the appearance of the following copyright notice at the foot of each page:

Taken from Kick-Start Your Class: Academic Icebreakers to Engage Students. Copyright 2012 by LouAnne Johnson.

Reproduced by permission of Jossey-Bass, an Imprint of Wiley. www.josseybass.com

This notice may not be changed or deleted and it must appear on all reproductions as printed. This free permission is restricted to paper reproduction of the materials for educational/training events. It does not allow for systematic or large-scale reproduction, distribution (more than 100 copies per page, per year), transmission, electronic reproduction or inclusion in any publications offered for sale or used for commercial purposesnone of which may be done without prior written permission of the Publisher.

Jossey-Bass books and products are available through most bookstores. To contact Jossey-Bass directly call our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 800-956-7739, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3986, or fax 317-572-4002.

Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com.

978-1-118-10456-9 (pbk.)

978-1-118-21617-0 (ebk.)

978-1-118-21619-4 (ebk.)

978-1-118-21621-7 (ebk.)

Acknowledgments

Kate Gagnon is a splendid editor. Her enthusiasm and support for this book truly made it happen. From our first discussion, when Kick-Start was just a little idea with big potential, she has included me in every conversation from page layout to cover design and I have never felt more respected or valued as a writer. I flunked the only art class I ever took, over forty years ago, and since then I have hesitated to show anybody my art. Without Kates encouragement, I doubt that I would have had the confidence to tackle illustrating an entire bookwhich turned out to be as much fun as it was hard work. I couldnt ask for a better editor than Kateso I wont.

Also, special thanks to Dimi Berkner and Samantha Rubenstein, who remain ever tactful in the face of my limited (but increasing) technical skills and marketing savvy, and who have taught me how to blow my own horn ever so softly, so that I can support their excellent marketing efforts and still remain absolutely charming and incredibly humble.

I could say more about the staff at Jossey-Bass, but in the interest of brevity I will simply say that when other authors ask me, as authors do, if I would recommend J-B as a publisher, I dont have to consider the question. The answer is yes. (And Im not just saying that so they will publish my next book. As my Grandma Lauffenberger would say, after a ladylike sniffle, Dont offer false praise and flattery, Kitten. It makes you look simple, and its just plain tacky.)

for all the shy people.

About the Author

LouAnne Johnson is a teacher, author, playwright, and artist who is dedicated to bringing back the joy of learning that children naturally possess before they go to school. While planning the lessons for any class, LouAnne posts her kindergarten photo on the wall above her desk, so she can be reminded every day of what its like to be on the other side of the deskwhere teachers can ruin your life.