Start off the elementary school year with these special back to school lessons and activities that are fun and important for K-2 kids: Participate in community building activities, get to know each other with All About Me activities, and build friendship and empathy with students.

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?

Building friendships and community from day one.

So flash back to the end of the school year. You were high-fiving and hugging your practically first graders and sending them off for some fun in the sun. You sent them off as readers and writers, scientists and mathematicians. In that moment, it's difficult to remember how they came to you. When you met them in August, they couldn't read, write, add, tie their shoes, spell their name. Oh, and they were short. When do they get so tall?!?? The first few weeks, from what I can recall (since I block most of that stuff out) are... well... uhh... interesting. Once or twice you might find yourself asking, "What was I EVER thinking becoming a kindergarten teacher?" It's okay. You're not alone. Hang in there. It gets better... in fact, it gets SO good! I thought I'd share with you what week 1 in Mrs. Kelly's Klass looks like. Do you have a Meet the Teacher night prior to the first day of school? This is such a good way to: 1. Get the kids excited about school. 2. Meet your students to help eliminate fear. 3. Open the door to communication with parents. 4. Get yourself organized before the school year starts. Here's how Meet the Teacher works in my classroom! Here are some of the forms families complete. I do my best to stay organized - get contact information in place, know what parents are interested in helping in the classroom, know how kids are getting home. These forms help me get all that information in order, and they go in a binder with copies of the kids' enrollment cards. All of the items for Meet the Teacher night are available alone in my Meet the Teacher pack OR as part of my HUGE First Week Pack that has everything you will read about next! (Don't get both! The forms are included in the First Week Pack!) So then, school starts. The beginning of the year is a chaotic but exciting time in Kindergarten. We practice, A LOT. I set clear expectations from the very beginning and I enforce them from the very beginning. But along with these expectations, I also like to kinda dive right in, so to speak. I want the kids to start doing some of the things they will do all year long -- like printables and stations, sitting for read alouds, participating in whole group and small group activities, reading, all of it! I like my kids to learn the rules, routines, and expectations in TANDEM with the actual things they will be doing for the rest of the school year. I like them to learn what is expected of them by DOING. I refuse to spend an entire week just talking at my kids about rules. We do stations. For the first few weeks, kids participate in stations that will get them acclimated to the materials we will be using all year {unifix cubes, snap cubes, pattern blocks, dry erase markers, clipboards, play dough, etc.) I like to introduce a station whole group -- go over the instructions and expectations for using that particular material {i.e. snap cubes are NOT for building swords and/or guns and playdough is NOT meant for squishing into the carpet}. Then EVERYONE in the class does the same station. They get used to working in a group, and I don't have to worry about managing 5 different activities at the same time. Next day, new station, and so on... until I've introduced enough stations to start an actual rotation! We do printables. Kids need to get used to putting pencils and crayons to paper. I don't expect them to be writing novels, but you have to start somewhere. I can use this opportunity to teach them how to get supplies, what to do when their pencil breaks, where to turn papers in, how their mailboxes work, etc. We sit at the carpet! Two of my favorite books to read during the first week of school are Wemberly Worried and The Kissing Hand. Perhaps it's because I'm a bit of a worrywart myself. These books are so relateable and by reading them, whole group, at the carpet, we get to practice norms for read alouds. And we do whole group activities! These books make for great jumping off points for some whole group fun and small group fun! We will do a school room scavenger hunt after reading The Kissing Hand. Students will search the school for clues left behind by Chester. They get to find all the important places AND we get to practice hallway expectations. (This mini unit is included in my Beginning of the Year pack, but also sold separately!) We'll talk, chart, and write about our feelings after reading Wemberly Worried. Developing that strong classroom community early on is so important. When kids can relate to one another and open up about their feelings, they create a positive and welcoming environment. We dance! Because they are FIVE. Because they are nervous. Because they have never been asked to sit still for this long. Because they miss their moms. Because dancing is FUN. Because it's good for their sweet little brains and bodies! Above all, have fun and be happy. If you're happy, they will be happy. If you're welcoming, they will feel welcomed. If you create a structure, they will fall in place. You can pick up all the activities/printables/STUFF shown above in one nice pretty package by clicking the image below. For those who return to school next week, wishing you a happy school year! :) Grab EVERYTHING you read about today all in one place by clicking here or the image below. OH, and if you missed it before... be sure to go pick up these Dismissal Tags for FREE! I blogged about them last week. Click here to read and click the image below to download.

Hey, everyone! It's Deanna from A Primary Owl, are y'all gearing up for the end of the year? It's closing in on us really fast! Packing up, end of the year checklists, grades....all of this just piles up so quick! Plus I don't know about you but if you have your own children you also have chorus performances, dance recitals, coach's gifts and teacher gifts, etc of your own to get. So I thought I would put together some ideas of things we all could do now at the end of April (almost May) to help get a jump start on things and maybe, just maybe we can get ahead???? CLEAN OUT YOUR COPIES So this is a huge clutter area for me, my team sends so many copies and frankly I just don't do all of them. So last week, I organized. I figured out what I still needed to do before the end of the year. I also decided what might be saved for next year and then with all the left overs I asked a parent volunteer to make review packets for my kids to take home for the summer. Not all of them will do it, but I do have parents that appreciate a little work over the summer and I don't feel bad for wasting all that paper. START TAKING THINGS HOME I collect junk from home around my desk! Like coffee mugs, water tumblers, lunchboxes, sweaters, gifts from parents, you name it! Plus I always leave one winter coat at school just in case I forget my coat, so last week I took home a great big bag of all that stuff.....a more few things that I won't have to drag home the last week of school. What do you have around that you could take home now? CHECKLIST/SUMMER PROJECTS Start your checklist now! Or at least get ready to start it! Designate a basket for special projects that you want to work on over the summer. When you come across something as you are cleaning or organizing, throw it in there. I already got my school's end of the year checklist, so I put it on one of my special clipboards so I don't loose it. I also keep my own checklist of things I need to get done around my room. I love printing these off and putting them on my clipboard to keep me on track! {click the picture to get your FREEBIE!} INVENTORY ITEMS Does your school do a huge inventory? We do, so I've already started finding some bar coded things I know are going to be on the inventory list and put them aside on a shelf. I also started returning items to the media center that I have checked out that I no longer need. I also ask my media specialist for a list of things I have checked out that I need to start looking for. At least then, if I am missing something I can start looking for it now and not later! GRADING This one is huge! I start getting so burned out on grading papers! But if I get too behind then I can't catch up when grades are due. Make the important grades a priority (like I have stack of opinion writing that I keep shoving to the bottom of my pile) and figure out what papers you can just put some stickers on and call it a day! How do I keep my papers organized? I love my IKEA cart! MOVING Are you moving to a new classroom or a new school next year? Start looking for boxes NOW! I am moving a new school next year and I already asked our copy lady and our cafeteria manager to save me some boxes. Organize as much as you can before you start packing and it will make unpacking so much easier! END OF THE YEAR GIFTS This is the best time to start thinking of all those gifts you need to get, room moms, volunteers, the teachers on your team....and your own children's teachers! Starting early means hopefully you won't be rushing around at the last minute and forget anyone. Need some more end of the year ideas? Follow our Pinterest board! And pin this post for later:

Find out why teachers should be using icebreaker activities for small groups all year long and not just at the beginning of the school year.

This Google Slide Editable Meet the Teacher Scavenger Hunt is the perfect activity for students to do on Meet the Teacher / Meet and Greet / Back to School Night / Open House while you're meeting different families. This Meet the Teacher Scavenger Hunt product is EASY and ready to use, just add and...

Building friendships and community from day one.

Are you looking for ways to have FUN during open house at school? Check out these meet the teacher tips and tricks for the best night ever!

These morning greetings are perfect for a variety of classroom routines... arrival, morning meeting, praises & shoutouts, and more. Come see!

These 3 printable children's meet and greet bingo games are perfect for any children's party or back to school icebreaker activities. It includes an 3 different bingo games for children ~8-13 to encourage them to get to know each other. ****** INSTANT DOWNLOAD ****** For more information please visit : https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-gb/articles/115013328108?segment=shopping Your File 3 8 1/2 x 11 PDF document ready for printing Please Note - This is a digital download, there is no physical product - Colors may vary slightly depending on your monitor settings - This purchase is for personal use only - If you have any questions please feel free to contact us

Getting to know your students in the first days of school is kind of like an investigation, and you are the detective assigned to the case. Are you ready?

Back to school time?! Say it isn't so! This activities pack is full of icebreakers, first day of school games, discussions of rules, and other beginning of the year activities perfect for the beginning of the year! Start your new year off on a positive note with this pack! File Type PDF (Acrobat) Document File Be sure that you have an application to open this file type before downloading and/or purchasing.

Use these six back to school activities packet to get to know your students and support them to get to know each other.

Greet your students in style with this retro-inspired "Meet the Teacher" template! Your students will love getting to know you, and you will love sending this beautiful form out! There's even a space to insert your own picture :)

TIME for Blog Swap Sunday with Miss Amy from Teaching in Blue Jeans! Amy came up with the idea of Blog Swap Sunday and I hoped right on the train! I loved the idea of giving up my blog for a day to go guest blog at someone else's blog while THEY came to mine! Cool, huh? So, here's Amy! Hi, I am Amy the teacher/blogger behind Teaching in Blue Jeans. First, before you judge me let me say that I do NOT get to teach in blue jeans everyday. I wish I did, but not so much. But I do love me some blue jeans. One day as I was thinking about my beloved blue jeans I started thinking about why I loved them so much: they are comfortable, oh so comfortable; I can dress them up or down which means they are versatile; and most importantly I just feel like myself in them. When I wear blue jeans I find that I am more willing to try something new or take a risk, more likely to have fun and be silly, more likely to focus and work hard (probably because I am not tugging at hose or thinking about my aching feet (but shoes - that's another blog post entirely)). Somehow in my brain I went from thinking about all the reasons I love blue jeans to concluding that "the blue jean feeling" is exactly how I want my classroom to be. I want me students to be comfortable and feel like themselves. I want them to be willing to work hard, try something new, take risks, have fun and be silly. So there you have it - my Blue Jean Mentality and the idea behind Teaching in Blue Jeans! Today I would like to talk to you about the Power of a First Impression. In high school, I was a cheerleader and my sponsor's favorite thing to quote to us was "You never have a second chance to make a first impression." At the time it made sense, now that I have 20+ years of life to look back on I know how very true it is. During my teaching career I have thought about this phrase and about how very true it is. Like it or not, right or wrong, people make snap judgments in a matter of seconds. As a teacher I feel like that first impression goes a long way into setting the stage for how my year will go, at least in the minds of my parents and students. Today I would like to share with you some ideas on how to make a great first impression and get your year off to a great start! My first impression comes on Meet the Teacher Night. On this hot Thursday evening, 3 days before the start of school, lots of eager and nervous students and parents come to meet me. If I'm rushed, unorganized or grumpy, imagine the feeling and first impression they leave with. I do everything I can to make the students excited to come back and let the parents know that for 7 hours a day their child is in great hands. Here's some ideas. 1. Mental Preparation During my 5 years of teaching I have taught 5 grade levels and been at 3 different schools (although my first year was teaching 3 grade levels at one time). In that short of time that amounts to a lot of firsts. My first goal was to make sure that I felt prepared for the task at hand. Was I ready and confident for the entire year - No Way! I had to feel comfortable with the school and policies so that during that first impression meeting, I could confidently answer questions or lead people to someone who could. I also had to make sure that I was taking care of myself. I will admit that I am the worst at using most of my summer to stress and work for the next year. It hasn't always worked out so well for my personal well-being and my family time. I have even finished summer already stressed out and exhausted. This summer I have really worked at balance and I have to say I am enjoying my summer time more than every before and I feel great! Make sure to take time for yourself and be mentally read for the year to come. Some of my favorite ways: family time, pamper yourself (pedicure and massage are my favorites), read a good book, take a nap! 2. Room Preparation I think we live in a very visual society and I believe that much of that first impression comes from what we see. (Yes, I know its wrong to do that - but that doesn't make it not true.) I work very hard to make my classroom look inviting, stimulating, and overall like a fun place to be. I have received no better compliment than for an adult to say "I wish I could be in your class" or "I wish my kindergarten teacher had a room like this." Although its great to hear that from an adult these are the things I actually do for the kids! As a kindergarten teacher one of my goals for Meet the Teacher / First Day of School is to make my kids excited to come back! For the adults, I want my room to look organized, safe and purposeful. Now I will be the first to admit that I spend a lot of time getting my room ready. I will also admit that I am a perfectionist and I want everything to be just right. But, I know that I am not the only one out there. Here's a few pictures from my Meet the Teacher night last year. The hallway outside my classroom. Welcome to Kindergarten banner and then each students name on a card. Sorry for the blurry picture. Class list next to the door and a little reminder note for the parents. Walking in to the classroom here is your first view. Each student had a balloon tied to their chair with their name written on it nice and big. It really helped the parents find the right table and the kids LOVED this! Went a long way to building excitement. Notice here that not everything is out - empty book shelf and most of those containers are empty too. But I thought it looked better than empty shelves. This was my finishing detail on the side of the filing cabinet. 3. Be Organized Unfortunately there is much more to do at Meet the Teacher than just meet the teacher. There are forms to fill out and school supplies to bring. If you have these things too, be organized and have a plan. When I taught 3rd grade my students left all their supplies at their desk and we put them away together on the first day of school since much of what they had stayed in their desk. For kindergarten I do community supplies so I wanted to have them put away or in use by the first day. I use labels and bins to have the students and parents divide up their supplies. This makes it much easier for me to put away and get ready before Monday. I also had all the necessary forms and papers for each student already in a packet with their name on it sitting on their desk. Last, I had a little scavenger hunt on the desk for the students to do to help them get acquainted with the classroom. This helped to keep each family busy so that I could go around and meet everyone without having everyone waiting on me. Here is the scavenger hunt I used last year from Little Kindergarten Warriors: You can also find more Meet the Teacher ideas from my Pinterest Board. Just click the picture below to see what else I've been thinking about doing. 4. Choose your Attitude This may actually be the most important of them all. Adults and kids alike can tell a lot from a person's attitude or even the look on your face. Despite how long your to do list is, how many meetings you still have to sit through when you have a million other things you could be doing, how nervous or scared you are for the start of school - dig deep and set it all aside. Choose to be excited, friendly and loving and you will make a great first impression and leave them all wanting more! Thank you Sara for allowing me this opportunity to share my thoughts and ideas with your readers. I would love for you to come and visit me at Teaching in Blue Jeans for more ideas, tips, occasional ramblings and freebies! Amy, THANK YOU for swapping blogs with me today! I had SUCH a blast having you here and hope that everyone else enjoyed the post, too! Head over to Amy's blog to see my guest post on her blog! See y'all tomorrow for Monday Made It! :)

Transitioning to online teaching has been a challenge to say the least. And while I’m not teaching content “live”, I am meeting with my students weekly via Zoom. I wanted to make sure I had fun, fresh resources to review skills and continue building our classroom community in engaging ways. I know not everyone can ... Read more

-Great getting to know you activity for your middle and high school students! Includes 48 questions, and 6 wild cards -Use with stations or small groups -Possible Uses: Have one student draw a card and ask another student or teacher the question. Speed Meet and Greet: Sit in a circle. Have one student draw a card, and then in a clockwise rotation, have everyone answer the question as quickly as possible. -Print double sided on colored or white cardstock, laminate if desired, then cut!

Fun and engaging ESL activities, games and worksheets in printable PDF format with full teacher's notes and answers for English teachers to use in class.

I’m back for my 2nd part of my Morning Meeting series. If you missed the introduction to Morning Meeting you can find that here. The first component of Morning Meeting is greeting. Greeting is quick part, but a very important one – one you don’t want to skip. Greeting gives all students a chance to greet each other and welcome each other as we start another day together. It also gives you a chance to greet students and see how each student is feeling and what mood they might be in to start the day. It makes every student feel important and shows that you know they are there and they exist. Some students don’t hear good morning or hello or their name until they’re at school. It’s important that we make kids feel important and a quick greeting, “Good morning, Susie,” is a great way to do that. Greeting also teaches important social skills. I spent a lot of time at the beginning of the year practicing and modeling what a “good” greeting looked like. We talked about how to shake hands firmly (not too firm lol). We looked each other in the eye and we greeted students by […]

This simple yet stunning digital template will wow your classroom parents. The digital template is editable in Canva and contains instructions on how to use. Back-to-School is an important time, not only for the students but for the parents and teachers as well. Feel confident that you are making a great first impression with this Meet the Teacher Editable Template. Please feel free to reach out to me if you are having an issues with the template What's included? -One PDF with links to Canva and the template! One with flattened images all you need to do is type! Please note: All digital items are FINAL SALE and cannot be refunded. Please read the instructions before you start regarding images used! Have a great school year! #meettheteachertemplate #meettheteacher #meettheteachernight #meettheteacherideas #openhousenight #digitaltemplate #editabletemplate #pastelimages