Community College classes: good icebreaker

Began a new series of classes at the Yokkaichi University Community College last night. I had two, because my colleague wasn't back in the country yet, but he'll be back next week. Both classes were pretty advanced, and I started with an icebreaker activity that worked well. I found it at Dave's ESL Cafe. It is called the Birth Order Icebreaker, contributed by Karin M. Abell at
Durham Technical Community College ESL Program.

It worked well in the first class, because there were ten participants, and there was at least one person for each category, first born, only, middle, and last born. Each person could talk about how their birth order affected their personalities. In the second group, there were first born and last born group members among the nine participants, but there were no others. This was alright, but there were no only children or middle kids to speak for themselves.

This activity provided lively discussions, agreements, and disagreements. It would be good for an intermediate or advanced group.