Back to School season is usually one filled with much excitement and anticipation. It’s the perfect time to begin to build classroom community and set expectations. In order to help us find some inspiration, I asked the teachers in our co-teaching community what their favorite first week of school activities were. Here are some of the ideas we came up with gathered into categories to make choosing activities easier.
The most popular category for the first week of school activities was “Getting to Know You” activities.
1. Find Someone Who Scavenger Hunt
Find Someone Who is such a fun and interactive game. It has many benefits that include having students moving around and getting them to talk to one another. So many teachers have told me how they love that it is a non-threatening way to get timid students talking to their peers without putting them in the spotlight.
In this activity, students walk around the classroom looking for students who fall into the category stated in the box. They have the student write their name in the box. The object of the activity is to have all the boxes filled out by different students. No names should be repeated.
The Find Someone Who activity that I created has an extension question in each box in order to help students get to know each other better.
These forms can then be used as a framework for a class discussion or as topics for morning meetings.
2. All About Me Bag
In the All About Me Bag activity, students place objects inside that represent themselves. You can have students include objects, pictures, or drawings.
They then share these facts with their peers. The sharing can happen in front of the entire class or can be shared in groups.
3. All About Me Poster or Booklet
Have students create an All About Me poster. Students include information about themselves and their favorite things.
They make a great bulletin board display for Open House or Meet the Teacher night.
4. The Best Part of Me
This activity is inspired by the book The Best Part of Me by Wendy Ewald. Students choose what they consider to be the best part of themselves and write about why they feel it is their “best part.”
Pictures are then taken of the students’ best parts. The images are matched up and displayed with their writing. You can find more inspiration at The Calmish Teacher and Lessons with Laughter.
5. Bio Poem
A Bio Poem is a simple poem written about a person that follows a predictable pattern. In this case, the Bio Poem would be autobiographical.
Students include:
- Their name
- Adjectives that describe them
- Things they love
- How they feel
- Things they wonder about
- Things they fear
- What they care about
- Things they are able to do
- What they dream of
6. Play-Doh Representation
What kid doesn’t like Play-Doh, right? I am sure any kid would be excited to walk into the classroom and see a new package of Play-Doh on their desk. Give students the task of making it into something. Many teachers like to ask kids to create something that represents them and have them share it with their classmates.
Some other things you can have them create are representations of their:
- favorite subject in school
- favorite season
- something they did this summer
- favorite book they’ve read
- favorite holiday
- an animal that represents them
7. Decorate a Name Plate
This activity is similar to the All About Me bag activity, and it has been my “go-to” activity for the last 8 years. I love it because it makes for a transportable name plate. It can be folded and placed to a folder to carry to other classes like specials.
Students fold their paper into quarters, so they may fold it into a triangular prism.
Then, they unfold the paper, write their name on a section, and draw four things (one in each corner) that represents them or is related to them.
8. Math About Me
This Math About Me activity lets your students get to know each other while also allowing you to assess their confidence and strength in math right from the start.
Students answer questions about themselves that are a number. For example, birth month. Then, they create an equation for it. So if their birth month is December, they may come up with an answer like 14 -2 or 144 ÷ 12.
Challenging students to come up with the most complex math question they can is always fun and gives you some insight right from the start.
You can further extend the Math About Me activity by making it into a partner challenge game or a scoot activity.
9. M&Ms Getting to Know You
For the M&Ms Getting to Know, students are given a handful of M&Ms. (You may use Skittles, too) They must then select one from their hand without looking. Based on the color chosen, they will answer a designated question the correlates to the color.
Example:
- green: Your favorite place to visit?
- blue: What do you want to be when you grow up?
- yellow: Who’s your favorite author?
- red: What’s your favorite season?
- brown: If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
- orange: Who has been your favorite teacher? Why?
10. Take a Step If
“Take a Step If” is a fun game that doesn’t take much planning. Just have students all start at the same spot. Then, as you ask questions, students take a step forward if they can answer yes to the question.
Sample Statements:
- Have an older sibling
- Have a younger sibling
- Are an only child
- Came to this school last year
- Have a birthday coming up this month
- Speak two or more languages
- Have read the complete Harry Potter Series
11. Would You Rather
Would You Rather is a game where you display two scenarios. Students then select which one they prefer of the two. You can either ask then to do hand signals or have them do different motions.
Since I have mostly taught ELA in a departmentalized setting, I like to start the year off with a this FREE Would You Rather ELA Edition.
12. Two Truths and a Lie
To start, one person has to give three statements about themselves to the rest of the group. The trick is that all of the statements won’t be true. Two of the statements given should be and one should be a lie.
After you’re finished, everyone should guess which statement they think was made up. Have students respond using responds boards or by holding up a number using their fingers. Once everyone is showing their guess, reveal which statement was lie.
13. Heart Map
The heart map writing activity is a great community building activity. Students brainstorm special memories, people, events, places and things in their lives. They add them onto a heart-shaped template. They can add pictures and words.
Have students share their heart maps with peers. These heart maps can then be displayed in the classroom.
Students LOVE to learn about their teachers. Help students learn about you through some of these activities.
14. Create a Slide Presentation
Help your students know more about you through a self-created Powerpoint presentation. Make sure to include photos of your family members, pets, favorite places visited or any other information you think students would love.
15. Play True or False
Create a list of statements about yourself. Include some that are true and others that are false. Have students guess whether they are true or false, then reveal the answers.
16. Getting to Know You Bag
Just like the “Getting to Know You Bags” for students, you create one of yourself and share with the students.
When I did this for my students, I created several bags with the same objects and gave them to groups. Students worked together to figure out that I had visited Hawaii, enjoyed Coca-Cola, loved to read, etc.
17. Four Corners Facts
Create multiple choice questions about yourself. Set up A, B, C, and D posters in the corners of your classroom. Have students guess which one they think is the correct answer. They then walk to the corner that coincides with their answer.
Team building and collaborative exercises were the next most popular categories for first week of school activities. We all know how important it is to build relationships in the classroom. It is the foundation for a smooth year. Here are some of the ideas that were shared.
18. Save Sam
Saving Sam is a great Back To School activity. Students love it, and teachers love it. Not only does it promote teamwork, but it requires students to problem solve as well. It’s a great way to see how students collaborate together.
More Time 2 Teach has a great free resource that I use with my students.
19. Puzzles or Tangrams
An easy collaborative activity is a puzzle. You can find some at the Dollar Tree or Walmart at “thrifty” prices. You only need a 24 – 50 piece puzzle per group. Any more pieces and the puzzle may take too long.
20. Build a Spaghetti and Marshmallow Tower
Give groups the same number of spaghetti and marshmallows. Challenge them to make the tallest tower in a certain amount of minutes.
21. Longest Chain Challenge
Give students one sheet of paper, a pair of scissors, and 12 inches of tape. Challenge them to cut the paper into strips and see which group can make the longest chain. Remind them that they will not get any additional supplies.
Introducing students to new books is a perfect way to get them excited about reading. Sharing a back to school read aloud is also a great way to teach an important theme at the start of the school year. Here are some ideas to help students recognize the importance of reading and how fun it can be.
22. First Day Jitters
Sharing Back to School read alouds are a fan favorite for teachers and students. First Day Jitters was recommended by many of our co-teachers.
23. Rock Paper Scissors
A book that is fun to read and then to implement is Rock Paper Scissors. First, read the book. Then have students pair up and play a round with their partner. The person who loses stands behind the winner. The winner goes and finds another winner. The person who loses that round and all the others behind them get in the line behind the winner. This continues until you have a class winner.
You can repeat this as many times as you’d like.
24. Book Bites
Book Bites (a variation of a Book Tasting) are one of my favorite classroom transformations for the beginning of the year. It exposes students to a variety of book genres.
Creating clear expectations is really important, so start right away. Make sure to go over expectations for behavior, turning in work, homework policies, and everything in between. In order to not overwhelm students, make sure to introduce it slowly and through lots of modeling. It may be helpful as well to come up with the expectations together.
25. Create a Classroom Contract
We all know that if we have a hand in creating something, it has that much more meaning. Come together as a class to create a classroom contract. Write it on a large chart paper and have the students sign it. Then, post it up in the classroom as a reminder.
26. Set Goals & Make Plans
Setting goals is one of the most important first week of school activities. However, just setting goals won’t lead to much. Help students create a plan to lead them to their goals. For example, if they hope to read 20 books this year, how many books will they need to read each week to reach that goal.
I hope this list of first week of school activities help inspire you. Feel free to leave your suggestions in the comment box below. Wishing you a smooth back to school season.
