If you’re a new teacher wondering what to teach the first week of school, check out these 15 routines & procedures your students should learn
Tips and ideas for what to do on the first day of school.
Ready to "cook up" a great first day of school? It's easy with this recipe for a successful start to the school year! PREP: ➤ Think about how you will set the tone for your classroom on the first day of school. ➤ Plan to keep students engaged and active. ➤ Prepare to build a positive rapport with students from the first instant that they become a part of the classroom community. INGREDIENTS: ➤ Warm-Up Activity ➤ Get-to-Know-You Activity ➤ Game that gets students out of their seats ➤ Get-to-Know-the-Teacher Activity ➤ Writing Prompt ➤ Extension Activity Once you've gathered your ingredients, you can get "cooking!" (CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE RECIPE!) PROCEDURE: STEP 1: Begin with a warm-up activity. Place an activity on students' desks that they can complete independently. You might try a simple survey or poster. An All About Me poster is a quick way to learn about students. You can even gather them together for an awesome classroom display. Or, a survey is a wonderful way to collect information about students. You might include questions about where students like to sit, their favorite way to learn, and activities that they enjoy so that you can start connecting with students. Another awesome warm-up activity is an "All About You" name tag. Students answer questions about themselves while coloring in a name tag based on their responses. Then, students can place the name tag on their desks to help you learn your students' names. This activity is particularly awesome if you have multiple sets of students. You can collect the name tags and re-distribute them each day during each class while you learn names. Oh, and as a bonus, you can gather them together and leave them with substitute teachers throughout the year! If you'd like to check out ready-made Back to School Warm-Ups, just click here for the poster, here for the survey, and here for the name tags. STEP 2: Mix in a get-to-know-you activity. Give students a chance to share about themselves and learn about their classmates with an engaging get-to-know-you activity. One of my favorites is a doodle-inspired mini-book. Students transform a single sheet of paper into a doodley mini-book all about themselves. After students make the mini-book it's fun to hang them on a clothesline. Then, as students finish their work during the first days of school, you can encourage fast-finishers to grab a classmate's mini-book and learn about him or her. Check out the doodle mini-book HERE. Or, you could have students create this 3-D About Me Activity. Students create an infographic-style book about themselves. After answering some simple questions, they do a little cutting and gluing to create a 3-D "About Me" display. These are especially fun because students can set them on their desks and then everyone can tour around the classroom and learn about their peers. (These are awesome for Open House too!) Learn more HERE. STEP 3: Scatter in an activity that gets students moving. Since students crave opportunities to get up and out of their seats, plan to get your class moving on the first day of school. You might have students complete a scavenger hunt or even play a learning game that requires students to move around. I'm a huge fan of this simple get-to-know-you activity that gets students moving (and you can download it for FREE here.) First, students make paper airplanes. They write their name and 3 interview questions on the wings. Then, students line up shoulder-to-shoulder and launch the planes. Next, they pick up a classmate's plane, find him or her, and ask the interview questions. You can repeat the airplane launch as often as you'd like! Find everything you need to do this activity in this FREEBIE. If you'd like to combine movement and learning on the first day of school, then you and your students will love this Back to School Doodle Infographic. First students fill in the infographic with facts about school. There are 21 facts and you can hide them around the room to get students moving. Then, they put together the infographic to make a fun and doodle-y poster! Check it out HERE. STEP 4: Sprinkle in a chance for students to get-to-know-you (their teacher). On the first day of school, students are very curious about you. They want to learn about you, so you'll want to be sure to share about yourself. You can give a simple biography of yourself, or you might try these easy and engaging activities: Create a teacher interview question along with 4 or 5 prize cards for each student in your class. Then, tape the questions and the prize cards under students' seats before class begins. During class, explain to students that they all have something under their chairs. It might be a question and it might be a prize. If they get a prize card, have students keep it quiet. Then, call on students. They can either read a question for you to answer or reveal that they won a prize. If they won, you might give them a pencil, piece of candy, or a homework pass. You can find all my favorite questions HERE. Or, you might have students complete a "Teacher Guess" about you. First, they predict the answers to questions about you. Then, as you reveal the answers, they earn points for every correct prediction. It's a fun activity that students truly enjoy! You can check it out HERE. STEP 5: Add a fun writing prompt to your back to school activities. A writing prompt is a great way to gather a baseline for students' writing on the first day of school. You might give students a simple prompt about their summer or goals for the new school year. However, I love to add a fun creative writing prompt into the mix. For example, with this writing prompt students select a setting, character, problem, and 3 random objects. Then, they need to work them all into a story. It's fun, engaging, and a great way to see where your students are starting the school year. Find this writing prompt HERE or check out this collection of 10 creative writing activities. STEP 6: Top it off with a review of tomorrow's warm-up. Set students up for success during your next day of school by quickly reviewing what they will need to do when they arrive to class. If you're planning to have students work through warm-ups like these This or That ELA warm-ups where students choose to do the "this" or the "that" activity, then you might quickly review what will be waiting on their desks when they arrive. Taking the time to preview tomorrow's warm-up is a great way to set expectations for students! If you're looking for some daily warm-ups, you might want to check out these This or That ELA warm-ups or these This or That Writing warm-ups! STEP 7: Don't forget to have an extension activity just in case your lesson ends early. I love playing games like "Move If You..." which you can find for FREE HERE. While you may never get to the extension activity, it's a lifesaver if you need it! TIPS: When you're following this recipe for a great first day of school, you might want to: ➤ Greet students at the door and answer these questions for students right away: ➨ Where do I sit? ➨ Am I in the right classroom? ➨ What should I be doing right now? ➤ Also, be prepared to manage students' behavior on the first day of school. Ensure that you have a positive classroom management system in place and ready to use if you need it! Well, there you have it, my recipe for a great first day of school. Be sure to download all the ideas with links AND the FREE airplane activity HERE! CHECK THIS OUT! I've put together a 100+ page guide for back to school for teachers. It includes tips, tools, and printables for classroom décor, classroom organization, lesson planning, community building, and planning the first day of school. It's absolutely FREE! Just click here to sign up. When you sign up, you'll get access to 6 mini-courses that cover everything Back to School including classroom design, organization, curriculum planning, and ways to build a positive classroom community. There's also a TON of exclusive freebies, bonuses, and videos! If you'd like to learn more and sign up, just click HERE. Thanks so much for stopping by, Mary Beth P.S. If you'd like MORE free resources for your classroom, be sure to join the Brain Waves Instruction club!
An engaging back-to-school writing activity. Use Skittles to help students brainstorm things to introduce themselves during back-to-school.
The ultimate list of activities on the first day of school to make students feel welcome, excited, and ready to learn! Crafts, games...
Which Back to School Activities Elementary can I use for Building Community in my Classroom? Which All About Me Activities are most engaging for my students?
Celebrate Back to School Season with over 90 fun and unique classroom crafts and bulletin board decorations! Is it back-to-back school time already?! Let us examine some of the most welcoming bulletin boards and exciting craft activities we can find. Let's begin with bulletin board decoration ideas; we love that…
Fun and engaging ideas to get to know your students at the beginning of the school year. Build a strong classroom community with these free resources.
The ultimate list of activities on the first day of school to make students feel welcome, excited, and ready to learn! Crafts, games...
Back to School Activities that are great for an online classroom or inside a classroom.
My favorite first grade Back to School Activities in my classroom! These are my go-to activities for the first week of school!
Here are the 5 most powerful activities for first day of high school that will liven up your class and eliminate the boredom.
It's a fact..teachers love books! Discovering new read alouds is always an exciting adventure. The following are my favorite first week of school read alouds. All of these titles have lesson ideas that go along with them. You can find the coordinating lesson plans and activities in our First Week o
Tips and ideas for what to do on the first day of school.
The ultimate list of activities on the first day of school to make students feel welcome, excited, and ready to learn! Crafts, games...
Classroom community building activities and free ideas and lesson plans to kick off the school year or implement at any time.
Two weeks from the day that I am writing this blog post, I will be heading back to school. I’ve spent a decent amount of time this summer getting my room set up, and I felt good about walking away for a while after a few days of setting up. But now, my brain has turned to: What in the world are the
When it comes to first day of school books, A Letter From Your Teacher is a must-have for elementary teachers to read aloud to their students.
Upper elementary teachers, are you looking for back to school activities and ideas to make this year the best year yet? These tips and ideas for back to school season will save your time and sanity and help you to kick off the year smoothly!
Introducing our "Back-to-School Icebreaker Resource" – the perfect tool to kick off the school year or welcome a new class. It helps students introduce themselves and break the ice effortlessly. Here's how it works: Begin by sharing a bit about yourself, then invite students to do the same using our four unique worksheets. They can later present their introductions to the class, fostering connections from day one. This resource is flexible, suitable for various age groups, and available in English, Catalan, and Spanish. Start building connections and a welcoming classroom environment today.
30 back to school bingo boards to print for free. Use this class set to play a fun back to school bingo game and celebrate the start of school.
Are you like me and busy checking Instagram and Pinterest for Back to School ideas? Even though I have been teaching for many years, I get bored doing the same thing year after year. Pl…
Back to school time and need some 'getting to know you' activity? Ditch those reading interest surveys and try these fun & hands on activites!
After 12 years in 2nd grade, I've engineered my first day of school plans into a well-oiled machine. And I'm going to share those plans with you today! Whether you're a seasoned veteran or a brand-new teacher, I hope you find something here to support you on your back-to-school journey.
Planning the first week of school can be overwhelming. Check out these fun and easy activities to make the first week of second grade stress free!
If you’re a new teacher wondering what to teach the first week of school, check out these 15 routines & procedures your students should learn
The first day of school is a highly-anticipated, yet roller coaster of a day! School supplies and room decor are brand new, teachers are excited to implement
The ultimate list of activities on the first day of school to make students feel welcome, excited, and ready to learn! Crafts, games...
30 back to school bingo boards to print for free. Use this class set to play a fun back to school bingo game and celebrate the start of school.
A simple way to teach your students classroom procedures and expectations at the beginning of the school year
It's time to go back to school! With the back-to-school season upon us, it is time to start planning back-to-school activities for the first week of school.
Today I am brining you the perfect combination of back to school ice-breakers and games for those first days of school! Back to school is a crazy time and we all want to hit the ground running. There are routines and procedures to teach and we are ready to get to them the second those kids walk in the door. Building community and getting to know
Check out these great ideas for helping your students feel like part of a classroom community during distance learning & social distancing.
Dah tentu ramai guru yang tercari-cari idea untuk melakukan aktiviti menarik pada hari pertama sekolah. Dengan pelajar yang baharu, dan suas...
The lessons you teach at the beginning of the year are crucial for laying the foundation and setting the tone for the rest of the school year. During the first week, your schedule should be a mix of teaching procedures and expectations as well as building a strong classroom community. Download o
I am a list-maker. BIG TIME. This is a list for teachers of eight things that should be on their to-do list at the beginning of the year.
Ready or not, it's almost here! This #2ndaryELA Twitter chat was all about getting ready to go back to school. Middle school and high school English Language Arts teachers discussed first day activities and must teach routines and procedures. Teachers also shared their first content-based lessons of the year and how they begin building relationships with students. Read through the chat for ideas to implement in your own classroom.
We're sharing 10 things NOT to do on the first day of school. If you're a teacher wanting a smooth start to the school year, look no further. This post will show you what mistakes to avoid so that you have the best classroom management practices in place from the beginning!
Today was our last day of school! To begin our day, I wanted our morning work to be a bit more fun, but something that would hold my children's interest for a while. I got this idea from a follow teacher and quickly saw how much fun they would have, so I went with it. I covered their group of desks with bulletin board paper, and I put out washable markers, which they almost never get to use. When they came in I told them they would get to draw all over their area with markers, and they could draw anything they wanted. They absolutely loved it! Here's a picture of one of the group's handiwork. I thought this drawing was so cute! As the day went one, we played math games, cleaned our desks and looked through all of our folders before packing them for home. I read stories to them and we worked on our Memory Books. They loved playing our End of Year Scavenger Hunt. They looked for friends who loved or were doing certain things mentioned on the scavenger hunt. You can get your FREE copy by clicking on the name, End Of Year Scavenger Hunt. All day long, they asked the same question over and over... "Is it time for the party to start?" Finally, it was time! For the End-of-Year party, we made Ice Cream Sundaes, complete with all the toppings! While we enjoyed our sweet concoctions, we watched our End-of-Year photo video, featuring all of my sweet kiddos. After the video, I handed each kid or parent a card with the QR code and link to the End-of-Year photo video, where they can download the video to their own computer. In addition to the End-of-Year photo video I spoke about in my last post, I like to give my students a little going away present. I found these colorful beach pails at Dollar General for a buck each. I used paint pens to personalize a pail for each of my students. To go inside each pail, I made a treat bag with a few pieces of candy. Then I put the treat bag inside beach pail, along with a couple of pieces of sidewalk chalk. I found a large container of 54 pieces of sidewalk chalk at Hobby Lobby for $6, and using the weekly 40% off coupon, the whole thing was less than $4. That was about 7 cents for each piece of chalk - a real bargain. Finally, I gave my sweet kiddos their personalized beach pails to take home and enjoy over the summer, and received in return, some of the sweetest hugs and smiles. It was a great party to end a great year!
One of the best things to do on the first day of school is plan cooperative learning activities where students can get to know one another.
Why I don't review the syllabus on the first day of class in high school and what I do instead. Fun first day of school activities and icebreakers!
Fun and engaging ideas to get to know your students at the beginning of the school year. Build a strong classroom community with these free resources.
