It's school time! Summer break is over and it's time to get back to school routines. Those first few weeks of school are so important for establishing a positive classroom community for the entire year.
Preparing for the upcoming school year may be time-consuming, but it does not have to be difficult. We have created a list of forty back-to-school activities to help you plan for the first few days of school. Read on to get inspired!
1. Color a "Be You" Poster
Nothing is more fun than writing about yourself. Get kids back in the swing of things by putting a pencil and crayons in their hands. They will be more willing to write if they also get to color. Use these worksheets to learn more about your students.
Learn more: Oriental Trading
2. Roll and Tell
You can decide to do this as an entire class activity, or have students pair up and answer the questions based on the number they roll. If students are paired, I would walk around the room and listen to responses during the activity.
Learn more: Etsy
3. Make a Rainbow Craft
Beautify your learning space with this craft. Students will love writing about themselves using a sharpie on these colored strips of paper. Your only prep is cutting the strips and making the cloud. Have students add the string on their own.
Learn more: Oriental Trading
4. Finish With an Exit Ticket
Nothing is more valuable than checking in with your students at the end of the day. One of the easiest ways to do this is with an exit ticket. The picture here is a bit generic. I like to create exit tickets with very specific questions.
Learn more: Lit in Focus
5. Assess Reading Comprehension Levels
Read a short story together and then use colored pencils to create an illustrated timeline. This allows you to take a quick assessment of students and their reading comprehension levels. Then get everyone excited about your classroom library corner!
Learn more: Lit in Focus
6. Decorate Reading Journals
If you plan to use reading journals this year, one of the best ways to get kids excited about them is to make them their own. No one wants to look at a plain and boring cover. Encourage them to express themselves to make their covers unique.
Learn more: Lilly & Lemons
7. Take Headshots
The easiest way for me to learn student names is to have a picture of them. Taking a headshot of each student and putting it in a seating chart will help you learn names faster. Print duplicates of each headshot to use for idea fourteen below!
Learn more: Sixth Bloom
8. Draw Five Shapes
Using a scratch piece of paper, have students draw five shapes. Once they finish drawing, instruct them to rate each shape. The one you like the most highlights your personality. The fifth shape is the tiniest part of your personality.
Learn more: OneHE
9. Explain the Positive Behavior Jar
Get things started on the right foot by adding pretend candy to the positive behavior jar. While you can do this for each student, it might make more sense to have one jar for the whole class. Students will encourage each other to be on their best behavior so the jar can be full!
Learn more: Amazon
10. Make a Pizza
This fun classroom activity reminds me of Mr. Potato Head! You'll need to cut out lots of pizza toppings ahead of time and place them in a bowl. Students can pick through their favorite toppings to make silly faces and place them on your bulletin board.
Learn more: The Owl Teacher
11. Set Expectations
I really like this "Let's Work Together" bulletin board. Depending on the grade level you teach, you may want to leave the "Together" empty and ask students to develop the common goals for each letter as a whole class activity.
Learn more: The Owl Teacher
12. Set Goals
Goal setting is an important part of any student's success. You can start with a short lesson on SMART goals before giving students an opportunity to write two to three goals for the year. Finish by posting them on your goal board.
Learn more: Mrs. Winter's Bliss
13. Play With a Ball of Yarn
In this activity, the teacher starts with a ball of yarn in their hand and then says a student's name. That student catches the ball and throws it to another student by saying their name. See how crazy-tangled everyone will be at the end!
Learn more: Aphro Granger
14. Write Words About Yourself
Give students a piece of paper and multiple markers. Tell them to write as many single words about themselves as possible. You can use the headshots you took of them from idea number seven for the center of this colorful word paper.
Learn more: Aphro Granger
15. Race With Emoji Pictionary
This is a great group activity. Give one sheet of paper to every three to four students. Instruct students to keep the paper face down until they say "Go". Have a prize ready for whichever group finishes all fifteen emoji's the fastest!
Learn more: Etsy
16. Make a "Me" Quilt
Not only does this make for a fun craft, but it also identifies who can follow directions. The teacher gives students verbal directions for how to complete the "M" and the "E". Once the activity is complete, it will be easy to see who was paying attention.
Learn more: Teach Without Tears
17. Spell Out Classroom Rules
You may decide to go with a classroom procedures checklist, or you may ask students to help you create the rules as pictured here. Either way, ensuring everyone is on the same page about classroom norms and expectations are the key to a great year.
Learn more: The Core inspiration
18. Organize School Supplies
You may have already organized your own classroom supplies, but what about the students? Many kids will want to leave some basic materials at school so they do not have to lug them back and forth. Taking the time to organize them will help everyone.
Learn more: Life with Less Mess
19. Decorate Shoe Boxes
Do you need somewhere to put those organized supplies we just discussed in number eighteen? A shoe box is a perfect place! Have students decorate their boxes however they see fit before putting their names on them.
Learn more: Ivy Lily Creative
20. List Favorites
Students can do this alone, but I prefer it to be an interview done in pairs. Students fill out the favorites for their partners rather than for themselves. It is a great way to get them to talk to each other because they have prompts to guide the conversation.
Learn more: Teach Without Tears
21. Conduct a Read Aloud
Reading out loud may seem like something reserved for very young children, but older kids also find it to be an enjoyable activity. Sharing a story together builds community, helps struggling students with lower reading levels, and allows you to be a literary role model.
Learn more: Differentiated Teaching
22. Venn Diagram Pair Up
Download this sheet of paper or have students draw circles for their own Venn Diagrams to prepare for this fun activity. Students should be paired with kids they do not already know so they can discover what they have in common with other classmates.
Learn more: Transum
23. Complete a Math About Me
The first day may not be the perfect time to start a math lesson, but it is great to get kids thinking about numbers again. By having students use numbers to describe themselves, they are refamiliarizing with math in a fun way.
Learn more: Differentiated Teaching
24. Receive a Compliment
This is the absolute nicest classroom icebreaker ever. It is best done with pairs of students who may already know each other, or plan for this activity to be a few weeks into the school year once students have become acquainted.
Learn more: Counselor Keri
25. Post-It Compliment
This is only slightly similar to idea twenty-four. After handing out one post-it per student, have kids write a compliment about the person you have pre-written on the post-it. Students finish the exercise by placing their post-its on the desk of the person they wrote about.
Learn more: Gallery Teachers
26. Make a Recipe for a Good Year
Ask students how they would bake a good year. What would they put into it? How much of each part of the recipe is needed in order to stay balanced? Once complete, discuss how ratios played a role in determining the number of scoops.
Learn more: Two Little Birds Teachings
27. Make a Book
Younger elementary students will enjoy keeping a diary of their first days of school. Use colored paper to print out five to ten pages of prompts for the first one to two weeks of school. Dedicate a few minutes each day to completing the journal.
Learn more: Two Little Birds Teachings
28. Make Words
Place letters in an envelope and have students team up to unscramble the words. This word scramble says "Fourth Grade," but you could have yours say whatever is appropriate for your classroom. Which group can figure it out the fastest?
Learn more: Continually Learning
29. Take a Brain Break
If you teach older elementary students, give each one a craft stick and have them write a short game or activity they enjoy for future brain breaks. If you teach younger students, you'll want to write these out yourself and model how brain breaks will go on the first day.
Learn more: Continually Learning
30. Create Your Life Picture
Elementary school kids will love telling about their favorite things through photos. Ask parents to send digital copies ahead of time. Students will have a blast creating the hashtag captions as if they were posting to social media.
Learn more: One Lemon Lane
31. Make Your Phone App
If you could make a phone app dedicated to the things you love, what would the app be? Allow students to get imaginative with this simple yet creative way to showcase their personalities. Have them share their phones with a friend once finished.
Learn more: Create Abilities
32. Write "Dear Me"
I will never forget writing a letter to myself in third grade. My teacher promised she would send it back to me after I graduated high school, and, true to her word, she did! It was so much fun to receive it so many years later.
Learn more: Create Abilities
33. Write a Bio Poem
Bio poems tend to follow a standard format and are easy to write because they do not rhyme. They typically include your name, then three adjectives, what you like, what you wonder and fear, what makes you happy, and ends with your dreams.
Learn more: Lee K12
34. Play-Doh Favorite
Play-Doh is a fun hands-on activity for every age. Ask students to create their favorite animal, sculpt a summer activity, display a season, or depict their best school subject. Have a few volunteers share their creations with the class, or have everyone walk around for a viewing.
Learn more: NAEYC
35. Play Four Corners
Here is a great way for kids to get to know their teacher. Make a list of five to seven multiple-choice questions about yourself. Create posters with A, B, C, and D around the room. Students will guess the correct answer by moving to the area of the room that corresponds with the letter answer.
Learn more: Your Thrifty Co Teacher
36. Do a Puzzle
Nothing says "teamwork" like creating a puzzle together. You can purchase a variety of puzzles, or have students race in groups to complete the same one. Either way, students will love working together to connect the pieces.
Learn more: Amazon
37. Make a Tangram
A tangram is seven shapes that, when combined, make something like an object, number, or letter. This is a great way to introduce a geometry lesson. You can pre-make the tangram for younger students, or coach older students on how to make one for themselves.
Learn more: Pure Star Kids
38. Establish a Daily Positivity Journal
Social-emotional learning has become part of the everyday curriculum in many districts across the United States. Carving out just five minutes a day to focus on the positive life brings can do wonders for everyone's mental health.
Learn more: Etsy
39. Calm Nerves With Jitter Juice
Everyone has heightened nerves during the first day of school. Address the elephant in the room by making it something to laugh about with this juice. Just be mindful that some elementary schools do not allow teachers to serve food.
Learn more: The Butterfly Teacher
40. Find Common Supplies
I like this activity because it is kind of like a classroom scavenger hunt, but also a partner activity. You may be able to use the list provided, or you may want to change out a few items. Regardless, this list will get kids talking to one another.
Learn more: Susan Jones Teaching
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