Questions to Ask Students After Spring Break
For teachers on the first day back from spring break, or any long break, who want the whole class talking and settled before the work starts. The list runs in six groups, in the order the conversation tends to go: welcome-back openers, downtime, what students made and did, would you rather, silly ones, and the last stretch of the school year. No question assumes that anyone traveled or spent money, and each note says what a good or a worrying answer sounds like and what to do with it.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Welcome back
What is one word for how it feels to be back today?
Why ask it
Go around quickly and take every word without comment, 'tired' and 'bad' included. A run of flat words is ordinary for a first morning back. One student whose word is much heavier than the rest of the room's is someone to catch quietly at the door later, not in front of the circle.
What was the best part of your break, even if it was something small?
Why ask it
This is the question students expect, and the last five words are what keep it fair to anyone who went nowhere. Greet a long nap as warmly as a plane trip. If a student says nothing was good, answer 'fair enough', move to the next person and find a private minute with them before the day ends.
What did you miss about school while you were away, if anything?
Why ask it
'Lunch', 'my friends' and 'nothing' are all honest, so laugh along with the last one. A student who names the routine, the meals or school itself may have had a long week at home. That is worth knowing and not worth pointing out aloud.
Did the break feel too short, too long or about right?
Why ask it
Run it as a show of hands with three choices. 'Too long' is the hand to notice: usually it means boredom, and now and then it means home was harder than school. Either way, do not ask for the reason in front of the class.
What is the latest you slept in on any morning of the break?
Why ask it
The answer is a time on a clock, so it works on a class that will not talk yet, and there will be some bragging. A student who was up early every day for a job or a younger sibling has a better story than the late sleepers, so ask the early risers too.
Hold up one to five fingers: how much of you is still on break?
Why ask it
Everyone answers at once and nobody has to speak, and a five held high gets a laugh. A room of fours and fives is your cue to open with review or a partner task and hold new material until later in the day or tomorrow.
What is one school routine you forgot over the break?
Why ask it
The answers are your list of what to walk through again: the locker combination, where finished work goes, how the class lines up. Asked this way, forgetting becomes something to laugh about and nobody has to be told off for it.
Who are you glad to see again today?
Why ask it
Have students write a name on a slip or tell the person themselves before lunch. Said aloud around a circle, it turns into a list that some students are not on. The slips also show you which students nobody named, and those are the ones to pair up with care this week.
What is the funniest thing you saw or heard over the break?
Why ask it
A pet, a sibling or a video will do, so no trip is needed to have an answer. Let two or three students tell theirs in full, and cut in early if a story is funny at a classmate's expense. A class that has laughed together once is easier to start working with.
Is there anything about your break you would rather tell me on paper than out loud?
Why ask it
Hand a slip to everyone and ask each student to write something, even just 'no', so the one with a real answer is not the only pen moving. Read them the same day. If a note raises a worry about a student's safety, your school will have a procedure for that: ask a counselor or administrator how it works where you teach.
Downtime
Do you feel rested, or do you need a break from your break?
Why ask it
Good for a laugh and a quick read of the room. Students who say they are more tired than before often spent the week working, minding younger children or sleeping at odd hours, so treat it as information about this week's pace and not as a complaint.
What did you do on the laziest day of your break?
Why ask it
Doing nothing is the right answer here, which puts the student who never left the couch on the same footing as everyone else. Ask for detail: which couch, which snack, how many hours. The more exact it gets, the funnier it gets.
What did you watch, play, read or listen to the most?
Why ask it
Nearly every student has an answer, and the answers show you what the class has in common this month. Write a few titles on the board and you have examples for the rest of the week's lessons. Do not rank reading above the others when you respond.
Who did you spend the most time with over the break, pets included?
Why ask it
A cousin, a grandparent, the cat and friends in an online game all count, so nearly everyone has a name to give. Ask what the two of them did together. If you hear 'nobody' or 'just me', take it as evenly as the rest and find a friendly word for that student later in the day.
What is something you did over the break that cost nothing?
Why ask it
Putting the price in the question takes spending out of the answers. Expect walks, pick-up games, drawing, sleeping in and long phone calls. If a student starts on a paid outing, ask them for the free part of that day.
What sign of spring did you notice over the break?
Why ask it
Mud, buds, a later sunset, the first day without a coat. It needs no outing: a week spent indoors still had a window in it. If the break does not fall in spring weather where you teach, ask what looked different outside by the end of the week.
What was the most boring moment of your break, and what did you do about it?
Why ask it
Boredom is a large part of most weeks off, and this makes it a story worth telling. The second half of the question is where the good answers are: the blanket fort, the rearranged bedroom, the two-hour argument over a card game.
If you could have one day of your break over again, which day would you pick?
Why ask it
Some students choose a good day to repeat and some choose a bad one to fix, and you do not need to ask which. 'The last one, so I would still be off' is a fair answer and usually gets the laugh.
Made and did
What is one thing you did over the break that you would do again tomorrow?
Why ask it
This is 'what did you do?' with the bragging taken out: the answer is whatever the student enjoyed, and a long video call or a bike ride around the block qualifies. Follow with 'what made it good?'. If someone says there was nothing, offer 'what would you have liked to do?' and take that answer just as seriously.
Did you make, build, cook or fix anything over the break?
Why ask it
Four verbs so that almost anything counts: a sandwich, a block tower, a bike chain, a playlist. Makers usually want to show the thing, so offer two minutes tomorrow to anyone who brings it in or draws it.
What is something new you tried, even once?
Why ask it
A new food, a new level in a game and a different route to the store are all the right size, and an attempt that went badly counts. If the room goes blank, widen it from the week to the school year and ask what they have done for the first time since it began.
What did you learn over the break that had nothing to do with school?
Why ask it
Students tend to think learning stopped when the building closed, and the answers show otherwise: a card trick, how to braid, the rules of a sport, a relative's story. Later in the week you can point back to it when someone says they are bad at learning things.
Who did you help over the break, and with what?
Why ask it
Plenty of students spend a week off watching younger siblings, working shifts or doing chores, and this is the question that lets that week count. Thank them plainly. If the helping sounds like it left no time off at all, that student may need a slower start than the rest.
What did you practice over the break: a sport, a game, an instrument, a recipe, anything?
Why ask it
Video games belong on the list, and saying so gets more hands up. Follow with 'what is harder about it than it looks?', which turns a one-word answer into an explanation and lets the student be the expert for a minute.
If your break were a book or a movie, what would the title be?
Why ask it
A title can be funny, vague or true without giving anything away, so it suits students who would rather not describe their week. 'Nothing Happened: The Sequel' is a strong answer. Younger classes can draw the cover as a first quiet task.
If you could show the class one picture from your break, taken or not, what would be in it?
Why ask it
Not every student has a phone or a week anyone photographed, so the picture can be one that exists only in their head. Have them describe it to a partner or sketch it in two minutes. Anyone stuck for a picture can describe the view from where they spent the most time.
What did you mean to do over the break and never get around to?
Why ask it
Everybody has one, the teacher included, so go first with yours. It is the easy bridge from the week off to the weeks ahead: ask whether it still matters and when it might actually happen.
Would you rather
Would you rather have one long break a year or a short one every month?
Why ask it
Have students move to opposite sides of the room to vote, then give each side a minute to make its case. Standing up and crossing the floor does more for a sleepy class than the question does.
Would you rather sleep until noon every day of a break or be up for every sunrise?
Why ask it
A quick vote that sorts the room into night owls and early birds. Ask one person from the smaller side to defend it. The count of noon sleepers is also a fair forecast of how first period will go this week.
Would you rather spend a week off with no screens or with no sweets?
Why ask it
Arguments break out fast, which is the point. Ask what they would do with the screen-free week, and you are back to free, at-home answers without having asked what anyone actually did.
Would you rather spend a whole day off outdoors or a whole day off indoors?
Why ask it
Neither choice costs anything or needs a trip. Give each side a minute of table talk to plan the day hour by hour, then hear one plan from each. If a real vacation comes up in someone's plan, ask for the version they could do within a walk of home.
Would you rather have an extra week of spring break or start summer a week early?
Why ask it
This one quietly turns heads toward the end of the year. Count the vote, then ask what they would do with the week, and notice how many students are already thinking about summer.
Would you rather spend a rainy day off with a stack of books, a pile of board games or one long movie marathon?
Why ask it
Three corners of the room, one for each choice. Students land next to classmates who like what they like, which gives you ready-made groups for the first activity of the day.
Would you rather start today with a game or with ten quiet minutes to yourself?
Why ask it
Only ask it if you are willing to do what wins. The vote shows you what the room needs, and honoring it on the first morning back buys a good deal of cooperation. A split room can have both, five minutes each.
Silly
If your bed could talk, what did it say when you got up this morning?
Why ask it
'Come back' and 'finally' are the two camps, and students will do the voice if you let them. It is the complaint about the early start, delivered as a joke, and that is easier to listen to than the groaning. Table groups can vote for the best line.
What would your pet, or an imaginary pet, say you did all week?
Why ask it
Speaking as the dog lets a student describe a dull or difficult week from a safe distance. Ask for it in the pet's voice. Students without an animal invent one, and those are often the best answers.
If you had to sum up your break in three emojis, which three?
Why ask it
Draw them on a sticky note and post them on the board, no names needed, then let the class guess the story behind a few. A bed, a storm cloud and a pizza show a mixed week without the student saying a word about it.
What are two true things and one made-up thing about your break?
Why ask it
The made-up one is the gift here: a student with nothing to report can invent a dragon and nobody knows which part was real. Run it in pairs so every student plays, and take only volunteers to the front.
If the school stayed open all break with no people in it, what do you think happened in this room?
Why ask it
Pure invention, so everyone starts level. It works well as a two-minute quick-write before sharing, and stories about what the stapler, the class plant or the lost-and-found got up to are a painless way back into writing.
What new holiday should exist so we get another day off, and how would people celebrate it?
Why ask it
Good for the minutes when attention is gone. Ask for the date as well as the name, and you will find most of them get proposed for next week. Keep a list on the wall and vote for a class favorite at the end of the day.
Last stretch
What is the last thing you remember us working on before the break?
Why ask it
Let the class piece it together aloud and write the fragments on the board without wincing at the gaps. What comes back is where tomorrow's warm-up starts, and saying 'of course it is fuzzy, it is for me too' lowers the stakes for students who are worried they are behind.
How many school days do you think are left this year?
Why ask it
Take guesses, then count on the calendar together. The real number surprises most classes in one direction or the other, and seeing it turns 'the rest of the year' from a vague stretch into something students can plan for.
What are you looking forward to between now and the last day of school?
Why ask it
Field day, a trip, a unit you have promised, summer itself. A student who cannot name anything is telling you something too, so have two or three coming events ready to mention and see which one gets a reaction.
What is one goal you want to reach before summer?
Why ask it
A good answer is small enough to check: finish a certain book, bring a grade up one step, make a team. If you hear 'do better', ask what you would see them doing differently in two weeks. Have them write it down, since you will want to come back to it.
What is one small thing you could do this week that would help the rest of your year?
Why ask it
This is the follow-up to the goal, sized for a tired first week. 'Hand in the missing assignment' and 'sit somewhere else' are the kind of answers that actually happen. Ask on Friday whether it did.
What is one habit from before the break you want to keep, and one you want to leave behind?
Why ask it
A break is a natural place to change a routine, and students usually know exactly which habit hurt them. Do not make anyone share the second half aloud. On paper you get honest answers such as 'starting the night before' and 'where I sit'.
What part of the rest of the year are you nervous about?
Why ask it
Ask it on paper. Expect tests, moving up a grade or changing schools, and friends going separate ways, all easier to write than to say. You do not have to solve them. Naming the two or three most common ones to the class, without names, tells students they are not the only one.
What should this class make sure to do together before the year ends?
Why ask it
You will get parties and extra recess first, then real ideas: finish the read-aloud, a rematch of a review game, a project students have been asking about. Pick one you can honestly deliver and put a date on it, which gives the class something of its own to work toward.
What is one thing I could do to make the rest of the year go better for you?
Why ask it
Paper again, names optional. Requests tend to be modest: more warning before tests, a different seat, fewer group projects. Tell the class the next day which one you are acting on, because a question like this only works a second time if the first one led to something.
What would make you proud of how you finished this year?
Why ask it
A closing question for older students, best written and kept. Answers about effort and people, 'I stopped giving up in math' or 'I was kinder to my lab partner', are ones to hand back in the final week. A blank page is common on day one, so let students return to it on Friday.
How to run the first day back from a break
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the class walks in
Decide what the ten minutes are for
The questions on this page do three jobs: they let students talk before they are asked to listen, they show you what state the room is in, and they point the class at what is left of the year. On the first morning back the first two matter most. Leave most of the Last stretch group for the second or third day, when students have slept on a school schedule again.
Pick five or six, one from each group
A whole-class conversation tends to hold for about ten minutes with younger students and not much longer with older ones. One Welcome back question, one from Downtime or Made and did, a would you rather, a silly one and one about the weeks ahead is a full session. Keep the others for the first minutes of class through the rest of the week.
Choose a format where nobody has to speak
Decide before the bell how each question will be answered: a show of hands or fingers, a move to one side of the room, a turn to a partner, a slip of paper, or out loud around a circle. Use the circle for the lightest questions only. Anything about how the week actually went is safer with a partner or on paper, where a student controls who hears it.
Have your own small answer ready
Students copy the size of the first answer they hear. If yours is a flight and a beach, the room hears that a break is measured in trips. If yours is that you fixed a drawer and watched too much television, staying home becomes a normal answer. Go first on purpose, and keep it small and true.
Adjust for the age in front of you
With the youngest classes, lean on hands, movement and drawing, and ask one question at a time. Middle grades like the would you rather and silly groups and will argue happily. Teenagers often prefer a partner or paper to the whole room, and they notice quickly whether you do anything with what they write.
In the room
Open with questions that have no story in them
One word for how it feels to be back, fingers for how much of you is still on break, too short or too long: these can be answered by a student who had a wonderful week and by one who had a miserable week, in the same two seconds. Start there and let the room warm up before any question that asks what someone did.
Ask what they did, never where they went
'Where did you go?' and 'What did you get?' split a class into those with something to report and those without. Every question here is worded so that a week at home answers it fully. When you make up your own, test it against a student who spent the break in one apartment looking after a little brother. If that student has a good answer, keep the question.
Make passing ordinary
Say before the first question that 'pass' is always allowed and that you will not come back to anyone who uses it. Then keep that promise. A pass that goes unremarked on the first day is what makes a student willing to answer on the third.
Give the big trips the same sentence as everyone else
A student back from somewhere exciting can fill five minutes, and the rest of the room goes quiet and compares. Set the length for everybody up front, one sentence or ten seconds, and offer a time later in the week for anyone who wants to tell a longer story or bring something in.
Move after every second question
Bodies that have been on a couch for a week do not sit well through a long circle. Alternate a spoken question with one that gets the class standing, crossing the room or turning to a partner. The Would you rather group is built for that.
Reading the answers
Tired and flat is the normal answer
Most of what you hear on the first day back will be some version of 'tired', 'fine' and 'it was too short'. That is a class changing its sleep schedule, and it usually lifts within a few days. Plan the first lessons for that room and not for the one you left before the break.
What a worrying answer sounds like
It is usually quiet. A student who is plainly relieved to be back, who says the break was too long with no smile, who mentions being hungry or alone for much of it, who says nothing was good, or who is simply not the person who left: any of these is a reason to check in privately, in a low-key way, later the same day. 'I noticed you seemed worn out this morning. Anything I should know?' is enough. You are not there to diagnose anything. If what you hear concerns a student's safety or care, pass it on through your school's own procedure, and ask a counselor or administrator how that works where you teach.
Never follow up in front of the class
A heavy answer in a circle gets a calm 'thank you for telling us' and the next student's turn. Questions about why belong in a private moment. Students watch what happens to the first classmate who says something true, and they decide from that how much to tell you for the rest of the year.
Use what you heard within the week
The forgotten routines become a five-minute refresher. What the class could and could not remember of the last unit becomes the next warm-up. The goals go into a folder to hand back in a few weeks. The request slips get one visible change. Students answer honestly the next time when they have seen an answer turn into something.
Mistakes to avoid
Assigning the essay about the break
A full page on 'what I did over spring break' asks the students with the least to report to produce the most invention, and then to have it read. If you want writing on the first day, use one of the made-up prompts from the Silly group, or the title question from Made and did, where an empty week is no handicap.
Letting it turn into a travel report
Two or three long trip stories in a row change what the activity is about. If that starts, switch at once to a question with no real week in it: a would you rather, the talking bed, the invented holiday. Nobody needs to be corrected, and the room evens out.
Jumping straight to goals
Opening the first morning with 'what are your goals for the rest of the year?' gets shrugs and copied answers. Students need to arrive first. Goals asked on the second or third day, after the count of days left, tend to come back more specific and more often the student's own.
Collecting slips and never mentioning them again
If you ask on paper what would help, or what a student is nervous about, and nothing follows, the next slip comes back blank. Tell the class the next day one thing you read and one thing you are changing. Keep the writers anonymous.