Global Icebreakers: International Literature to Spark Conversations

Posted on September 02, 2017

Wondering how to get students thinking globally starting on the first day of class? Consider one of these activities:

• After reading “Nothing Remains Empty,” an invocation poem from Mexico, students might describe their hopes for their own writing.
• “Sharing,” a Chinese graphic story about a character's search for connection in a new city, can be a springboard for students to talk about their past or current experiences of arrival in a new environment (a city, a school or university, a country…): “How did it feel? What did you notice right away? What took longer to understand?”
• “Amina,” a poem from Egypt, about the “perfect friend,” could launch a class discussion about friendship: “What is a 'perfect friend'? Does such a person exist? What do we hope for in our friendships?”

(These suggestions first appeared in our September newsletter. To sign up for future issues, just visit the Subscribe page.)