40 Teacher-Inspired Ideas for the First Day of School Activities
The first day of school can be an exciting time for teachers and students, but it can be an anxious time, too. What can you do to make sure your students (and you!) feel at home in the classroom on that first day?
Here are some teacher-inspired first-day-of-school activities for primary school children that teachers can use in their classrooms this back-to-school season.
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Do you wonder what to do with your students on the first day of school? The first day of elementary school is an exciting and nerve-wracking time for both students and parents. It marks the beginning of a new adventure as children explore new ideas, make new friends, and learn to navigate their ever-growing independence.
No matter how prepared a student or teacher may feel, it’s normal to have some butterflies in your stomach on the big day. With the right attitude and preparation, however, the first day of any grade in elementary school can be a wonderful experience that sets the tone for a successful year full of growth and exploration.
How can teachers help students transition from a summer at home to school on the first day of a new year? Check out these fun first-day-of-school activities to help students get to know one another and make it the best first day! You can use these fun activities in your lesson plans during the first week of school!
40 First Day of School Activities
Here are 40 surefire tips for making your first day back to school successful! Scroll to the comments for even more ideas!
Read First Day Jitters by Julie Danneburg
First Day Jitters is a great book to break the ice with your students. There are several activities for the first-day jitters book.
To make it extra special, serve Jitter Juice! Then, have students write YOU a letter with ideas on why you shouldn’t be nervous. It’ll get a few kids thinking about their jitters, and maybe they can help each other, too!
This is an excellent way for students to reflect on their feelings about the first school day and make meaningful connections with the text.
Do a classroom or school tour
Show your kiddos where all the classroom supplies are and help them know what areas are for them and for you only. Are students new to the school?
Take them around the whole school and show them where the bathrooms, the gym, the cafeteria, etc. Teach them the computer lab rules and lunchtime procedures. This is a great opportunity for new students to get to know their new school.
If your social studies standards include learning about maps, this is also a good time to lay a foundation for classroom and school maps.
Create a Scavenger Hunt
Take it a step further and create a scavenger hunt for students. Creating a scavenger hunt as a first day of school activity is an excellent way to engage students and break the ice on day one.
Create questions or tasks related to the classroom, school, or surrounding area, and have students work independently or in teams to find the answers.
Make a picture keepsake
Don’t forget this one! Take a picture of each student on their first day back to school, then take one on the last day of school. Turn it into a keepsake at the end of the year.
Better yet, let students draw a self-portrait on the first day and then again on the last day. Compare! They might have changed, and their drawing skills will surely have, too!
One-on-one time
One key first-day-of-school activity that I always make a point of doing is spending a few minutes one-on-one with each student. Get to know them, introduce yourself, giggle, and encourage them. Making that personal connection on the first day is so important! You may get teacher inspiration and insights into your students that you can use all year!
As you meet with each student, take along a clipboard or sticky notes. Jot down a few memorable notes about the student. At the end of the day, gather these notes together. Reflect on your class as a whole. What makes each student unique? How can they be an integral part of your class?
Take it a step further and turn these notes into words of encouragement. Write on students’ desks and leave a note about what you love about each student.
Back to School Craft
Are you ready for some downtime at the end of the first day?
You might need some, too! This is one of my favorite activities for the first day of school.
It allows the kids to wind down and still be productive. In this Back-to-School Bus Craftivity Flap Book students tell about themselves, review the rules, reflect on their day, and think about being a good classmate.
It makes a fun keepsake, too. Parents will thank you!
Teacher Q&A
Have fun with this one in a couple of different ways. Sit in a circle with your students and let them ask you questions like: What’s your favorite food? Color? Animal? Candy? Etc.
Or, make a quiz and see if they can guess the answers to these questions.
It’s a great way for your students to know more about you, a very important person in their day.
Start Your Community Circle
This is also a great opportunity to establish a community circle routine. Using a community circle in the classroom is an effective way to foster empathy and collaboration among students. A community circle creates a safe, non-threatening space for students to discuss their ideas and feelings with each other.
Community circles allow for a greater understanding and appreciation of different perspectives, which can help reduce conflict in the classroom. Creating an environment where all students are respected makes learning more meaningful and engaging.
Community circles also provide opportunities for teachers to guide conversations by introducing topics and raising questions that will help strengthen relationships. In this way, students are encouraged to think critically and find creative solutions to problems together.
Need some community-building question ideas? I’ve got 67 for you!
Make a classroom cheer
Who doesn’t love a good team cheer? Sit down with your students and brainstorm a catchy classroom cheer you can use throughout the year. This is a great team-building activity!
Discuss the Student’s and Teacher’s Roles in the Classroom
Do you know what your students expect out of the year? Do they? Have them do an activity with them to list their own personal goals for the school year.
This blog post has some great anchor charts that show how students define good friends, their role as students, a teacher’s role, and their parent’s role. It’s a great starting point for a discussion about classroom expectations.
Build community with a Class Mission Statement
Make a mission statement or class pledge/promise, and recite this each morning. Making a class mission statement aligns well with student goal-setting.
Once students define who they are as a community, they can set goals that align with the mission statement.
Create Name Labels or Name Tags
Make name cards for desks, lockers, or cubbies. Let students write their own names and decorate a border around them. Then, laminate, and voila!
Each desk or cubbie has a personal touch. At the end of the year, you could even add name tags to students’ portfolios.
Beach Ball Ice Breaker
Take a permanent marker and write questions on a beach ball. Sit in a circle with your students and toss the beach ball to each other. Each time students catch the ball, they answer any of the questions visible, then toss it to someone else.
It’s a fun way for students to get to know each other and you!
Survey Students
Create a blank bar graph on chart paper, or better yet, create a horizontal and vertical bar graph. Use it throughout the day and week to survey students about various favorite things. Give each student a sticky note. As a question, have groups of students place their sticky notes in the correct columns.
Your students will love the interactiveness of sticky notes and placing them on chart paper! This is a cheat sheet for getting to know your students better, AND you can weave in some math skill work, too! Teachers will learn about important ideas about their students, too!
When I was a kid, I loved filling out little surveys that asked me all about myself! Besides the standard questions about their hobbies, siblings, or summers, don’t forget to ask some silly questions to make it extra fun!
Rules and Procedures and Classroom Routines
While you’re busy making this the most fun first day ever for your students, don’t forget the rules and classroom procedures.
Don’t skip this.
It is an essential part of ensuring your school year runs smoothly. Knowing what is expected of them is of great benefit to your students—and let’s be honest with you as well!
Party! Party! Party!
How exciting is the first day of school? Exciting enough for a welcome-back party!
No, really! Why wait until the end of the year?
Serve baked goods, orange or apple juice (or jitter juice! See #1), bananas, and grapes.
Include circle time to share summer stories and dance those jitters away!
Eat lunch with your students
Consider eating lunch with your students. Especially on the first day, showing your kids that your class is “family.”
Read aloud – a lot!
Reading out loud to your students often instills a lifelong love of reading in their hearts.
Choose quality books that take their nervousness away, make them laugh, or build their self-esteem and team spirit.
Don’t be afraid of classics with harder-to-understand language. Kids can fill in the gaps; it builds their vocabulary, and when the storyline is riveting, they will get it.
The first day back at school is a great time to relax and read to your students.
Create a welcome swag-bag
You love free gifts. I love free gifts. I don’t think many people wouldn’t love a free gift. Do you want to know who loves them the most? Your students!
Create a little welcome bag with treats and gifts for each student. Give it to them right after greeting them at the door!
Or, give each student a gift at the end of the day to congratulate them on a great first day. If your classroom has a theme, you might want to consider a gift that matches that theme!
Greet Students at the Door
Adults love to feel important and to know that they are seen. So do kids! Your students want to know they aren’t invisible to you.
So, first things first: Greet your students at the door. Meet them at their eye level and let them know you are excited to be their teacher. Introduce yourself, learn their name, and make this a positive start of their day.
Why not do this every day for the remainder of the school year?
Create a Puzzle
Kids love puzzles! It’s a great community-building activity that encourages creativity and cooperation.
I love using this Community Building Puzzle on the first day of school. I leave a puzzle piece on each student’s desk first thing in the morning. As students enter, they find a seat, write their name on their puzzle pieces, and decorate it.
Create your own giant puzzle pieces, or save time and sanity and get this one.
Students can color the whole piece or decorate the borders. They can write their name or list their favorite things. The possibilities are endless!
After they finish decorating, you can sit in circle time or have students sit at their desks. Use the pieces to introduce yourselves to each other and/or glue all of the pieces together and post it to a bulletin board labeled “A Perfect Fit…For a Perfect Year!”
Find Someone Who . . .
It’s a classic icebreaker game! Make a list of characteristics/experiences your students might have in common.
Think of “Find someone who has the same color hair as you,” or “Find someone who has the same kind of pet.”
Don’t overthink it, but make it fun.
Students walk around the room, list in hand, and find other students who will have something in common with them. They write the name of the person they found next to the question.
It’s easy, it’s fun, and it’s a great community-building activity.
Read The Kissing Hand Book
You cannot miss this one if you teach a lower elementary class, such as Kindergarten or First Grader!
For example, have your students trace their hands (they might need you to do that!) and cut it out. Glue a heart in the palm of the paper hand and fold the fingers down (but don’t glue the fingers!).
Teach your students “I love you” in sign language & give them a note with a chocolate kiss at the end of the day.
Ensure your kids take this “kissing hand” back home that same day to show their loved ones.
Ask Parents to Get Involved
We often ask students to write about themselves, but what about asking the parents to write something about their children?
You will receive insight into your children’s personalities that will help individualize your attention, care, and understanding of each student.
Use GoNoodle for Brain Breaks
Hey, teacher! (Hey, what?) Are you ready? (For what?) To pop! (Pop what?) Pop See Ko! I love GoNoodle. Chances are, your students love it, too. If not, they will!
It is the silliest, goofiest way to keep your students active and giggling. Just pull up YouTube, get them out of their chairs, and shake off the jitters (and sugar… if you had a welcome back party or allowed them to eat the candy you just put in that welcome swag bag above).
Social Contract
This activity is fun for upper elementary or middle schoolers and helps establish classroom management expectations.
Create four posters with one question on each. The questions should be something like:
- How do I want to be treated by the teacher?
- How do I want to be treated by other students?
- How do I treat the teacher?
- How do we solve conflicts?
Have each student write answers to each question on a sticky note and place the notes on the poster. Once everyone has placed a sticky note on each poster, break the classroom into four groups. One group for each poster. Each group will then sort the sticky notes into commonality. The group will agree on and write the best answers (multiple) on the poster.
Display the four posters in a prominent place and tell your students that this is the Social Contract of the class. It’s a great way to build community and set boundaries. Your students will love it because they helped set the rules. It will give a sense of ownership and understanding of others, too.
Getting to Know You Small Group Craftivity
Break your students into small groups for a fun craftivity that will help them build community and treat others with kindness.
Each group has paper shapes that each student can cut out and decorate. On each shape, write sentences for the students to complete.
Start the sentences with things like “I feel appreciated when…” or “I feel ___ when ___”. You can find a fun example already prepared for you here.
When I grow Up
What are your students’ dreams? What are their hopes beyond the first or last day of school? Do they want to be doctors, astronauts, or Lego designers?
Ask them!
You can utilize a “When I grow up, I want to be ___” or “When I grow up, I want to ___” in various ways.
Make it part of a giant puzzle (see # 2) or an icebreaker (see #3).
You can use it as a calm-down activity in circle time or at their desks. Ask each student and listen to their answers. Their dreams might surprise you!
Read The Name Jar
Students love this book and will talk about it throughout the year. You can make a fun assignment from this, too. Have your students go home and find out how they got their names. It’s a fun, investigative activity they can do with their families.
After they find out how they got their name, have them write about it. It makes an excellent first writing assignment for the year.
They’ll learn and appreciate their name, plus the names of their classmates—another tremendous community-building activity.
Who Goes Where?
This one is really important and cannot be skipped. Before school begins, ensure parents know to show up with their kids on the first day of school. They can help with what we call the “who’s going where?” sheet.
It helps you know which students will be picked up by their parents, which students ride the school bus, and which students stay for after-school care (and who will pick them up later).
Each student has their own card. For students with parents picking them up right away, take their picture with the parent. For bus riders, take their picture with a bus sign and the student. For after-school care, take a picture of the student, the parent who will pick them up, and the school mascot.
Later, all the pictures are added to cards, laminated, and attached to a binder ring to hang by the door. If students have different pickup days, you can write that on the back of the card as needed.
This is a great help in remembering who belongs to whom and keeps your students safe!
Two Truths and a Lie
This is a fun icebreaker game to play. Have each student think of three “facts” about themselves they want to share with the class. Two of these “facts” must be true, and one must be a lie.
The rest of the class has to guess which one is the lie. Prepare for some off-the-wall answers and lots of laughter. This is also a great way to learn fun facts about your students!
What I Really Want to Learn
Make a poster with the words “What I really want to learn” at the top. Have each student write something on it that they would love to learn during the school year.
It’s a great insight into their hobbies and interests. Use the ideas from the list as random activities and lessons throughout the year.
Summer Postcards
Before school starts, get a list of your students as soon as possible. Over the summer, send each student postcards.
Tell them how excited you are to meet them on the first day of school. Write them silly things about what you’re doing over the summer.
Make it adventurous or funny. Above all, make them feel valued before they even meet you.
Just Like Me
This is a fun icebreaker to play. Have the entire class sit in a large circle or oval. One student stands and tells the class something that they did over the summer (or over the weekend, if you play this at different times during the year) like “I flew on an airplane,” or “I went to the beach.”
If any other student (or you!) did the same thing, they get to stand up and enthusiastically say “Just like me!” Then, the next student stands and says something. The game continues until every student has a chance to tell something they did.
Human Bingo – Find Someone Who Activity
Another great way to change up the get-to-know-you icebreaker. Make bingo boards with activity or characteristic squares. Each square should say something like “Flew on an airplane,” “plays the piano,” “plays soccer,” etc.
This activity is also called Find Someone Who.
Give each student a bingo card. They go around the room to find other students that fit the square’s description. When they find someone, they write their name over the square.
The first student to fill the whole board wins a prize like a homework pass or something similar.
Kindness Quilt
This is a craft your students will treasure throughout the year. Give each student a square of fabric they can decorate. Have them write kind messages and color their squares.
When they finish, take the squares and have them sewn together into a quilt. Hang the quilt up in the room as a kindness reminder. Your students will love that they helped create something beautiful for the class.
Self Portrait
On the first day of school, have your students draw self-portraits. Make it fun or silly with googly eyes or yarn for hair.
However, if they want to draw themselves, let them. Hang them up in the hallway as part of a large poster that introduces them as your students.
Dear Me Letter
Ask your students to write a letter to themselves. Have them write about what they are looking forward to for the year, or what they might be nervous about, or how they feel.
Keep the letters and return them to the students on the last day of the year. They’ll be amazed at how much their handwriting improved and how much they’ve grown during the year.
Do a STEM Challenge
Kickstart your science lessons with engaging team-building activities and STEM challenges right from day one of the new school year.
These STEM challenges foster cooperative learning and ignite curiosity and critical thinking, setting the stage for an exciting and immersive learning experience for your new class.
Encourage your Grade Level Team
Be a team encourager! Put together a small gift for everyone on your teaching team (or the whole school staff). Include a note wishing them the greatest year ever.
Create a Small Booklet
Teach students to create a small booklet from a piece of paper. Have them jot down things they want to remember from the first day of school.
Don’t forget you on the first day of class!
This one’s for you. If you haven’t already done so, go to your classroom well before school starts, organize your desk, pour yourself that coffee, and put all that dark chocolate in your drawer.
This blog post about my favorite Teacher School Supplies will give you a few more ideas to add to your teacher area!
Walk through the school to get a feel for the school climate and meet the people you will be working with this year.
Smile
Last but not least, Smile! Be a positive you. Be approachable, laugh, and enjoy yourself!
EVEN More Back-to-School Ideas and Activities
Are you looking for more back-to-school ideas? Here are a few more:
- 9 Ways to Start the Year Off Right
- Five Things to Keep in Mind on the First Day of School
- Cooperative Learning Activities for the First Day of School
- 3 Tips to Get Ready for Back to School
- Teacher School Supplies You Can’t Live Without
- 80 Sponge Activities: A Teacher’s Guide to Making Every Minute Count
- Virtual Icebreakers for Distance Learning
- Create a School Time Capsule
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On thing I always do on the first day of school is have my students do an information card– this helps me randomly pull students names the next few days when I’m still getting to know their names!
I teach first grade, and I always do a ‘tour’ of the classroom. They get to see where the supplies are, and this is a time for me to define teacher and student areas.
I really love reading “First Day Jitters” on the first day of school and having students write a letter to the teacher about why she shouldn’t be scared! It is so cute at really any grade2-5!
I have a giant metal bowl that the students sit in one at a time. Each student gets to sit in it, we say their name and spin them in the bowl to get to know each others names. They love it:)
One thing I always do on the first day of school is get my students to think outside the box & complete breakers that emphasize team building, etc.
One thing that I do on the first day of school is I have my students complete an information sheet. It asks questions like what is their favorite…color, animal, food, dessert, candy bar, book, television show. What is the most interesting place they have been. What do they want to be when they grow up. Who is the person they most admire. I collect these sheets and each week one is pulled and I read the answers. Students quess who they think the owner is. The owner then reveals themselves if no one selected them. The owner is then the student of the week.
At the end of every school year, I have my students write letters to the new students who will be in my class the next year. I pass them out on the first day of school and my new students read and keep them.
On the first day, we always read “How I Spent My Summer Vacation.” The kids always get such a kick out of writing their own stories about summer, and I love seeing which kiddos are serious and which ones have wild imaginations!
I really enjoy reading your emails!
Every year on the first day of school, we draw first day of school selfies. Then on the last day (or close to that) we draw a new one and then compare. My kids love it.
This is only my 3rd year that I’ll be starting, but something I enjoy doing is playing a get to know you game of some sort. I teach first grade, so it’s something the kiddos love and it helps break the ice for the students that don’t already know one another.
A fun game that I have used at various elementary grades and now in middle school is “Just Like Me”. Students sit with their chairs arranged in a large circle/oval (the whole class makes one oval). One person starts by telling something they did over summer. For instance, the first person might stand up and say, “I went on an airplane!” if anyone else in the oval traveled on an airplane over summer, those students (and teacher, if true for the teacher too) stand up and say, “JUST LIKE ME!” (They are to practice being enthusiastic about it.) Then, the person to the left continues with something different. The game continues until every person in the circle has had a chance to start. This game can be played after summer, after a weekend, as an “about me” type of game (“I play the piano.”), and so on. It’s a great way for players to find commonalities with classmates! 🙂
I love this
Understood I do to! She helped me on the first day of 2ed grade!
Jean your comment is 100% correct!
It’s all about setting tone on the first day, so I love to play goofy “get-to-know-you” games! I switch them up every year, but I like to lighten things up and let the kids get to know me a little bit too!
I always play a Name game to break the ice. I also always talk about the word EXPECTATIONS!
I always read “First Day Jitters” and we make and drink “Jitter Juice” to wash those nerves. I also take a picture of each student holding a cute first day sign and send it to their parent to help those grown-up jitters. 🙂
Lori I love this as a first year teacher I would love to copy your idea and make it my new annual tradition please!! I would also love to win the gift card.
Great idea. How do you get the picture to the patent?
We always do First Day Selfies! I use these photos to put up in the room with their “Hopes and Dreams” for the year.
I always greet students at the door!
I am a new(ish) teacher who is excited to start he school year with a gallery walk to get my students up and to know me, and then have them create their own artifact bag so they can teach the class about themselves later in the week! 🙂
One thing I always do on the first day of school is have a 2-3 minute conversation with each and every student at some point during the day. It’s a short amount of time, but I learn a lot from them and they can begin to see how much I care about each one of them.
I take a picture of my students holding a sign that says “First Day of –Grade”. In June I repeat with a sign that says “Ready for — Grade” I use these pages as a beginning and and to their writing portfolio.
We always have a snowball fight! The students write 3 things about themselves on a piece of paper and crumple it up. The students get to toss around the papers for a minute or two. When the time is uo, they all pick one, read the clues out loud ang guess who it was! We of course go over what is acceptable before tossing the snowballs!
I always have my students tell me what they hope to learn in science for the year and to list their ideas for science projects.
I always have my students do a peek a boo prtrait of themselves and list their three goals for the school year!
We always take first day of school pictures! My kiddos love to compare these to the Last day of school pictures at the end of the year! They grow so much, in so many ways!
Every year on the first day of school I take a picture of each student. We use them throughout the year for various projects.
I always have everyone introduce themselves.
I love the first day of school; maybe it’s the smell of new books or the idea that this year I will teach my nephew the richness of reading those new books. We take our first day slow and go over our class rules and my expectations for the year. This year my daughter will be in first grade and this is a huge year for her as she has been watching for four years and not truly participating. Very excited about this year.
I always read “First Day Jitters” by Julie Danneberg so students realize that new beginnings cause many people, even teachers, to feel nervous. Students love the illustrations and humor. This is often accompanied by a discussion and an art/writing activity. We revisit this story, as it’s in the “Treasures” third grade book, and use it to analyze many literary elements.
A Bingo sheet with different items on it, “has blue eyes,” “has been to Galveston beach,”, etc. This way the kids know what they have in common and it is a great ice-breaker.
On The first day of school, I always have the students decorate a gingerbread cut out and decorate it to look like themselves and after the students go home, I laminate the gingerbread cut-outs. Then I cut them out and attach the cut-outs to the student’s lockers.
One thing I always do on the first day of school is read “First Day Jitters.” My students and I always have a great conversation after about how even teachers can be nervous for the first day.
This year will be my second year teaching, and I am going to start my first day with an all about me page! I’m super excited to use this as a way to get to know my students! I’m also going to read “The Night Before 1st Grade.” I’m hoping to get my kiddos excited for the coming year!
On the first day, we complete how we go home graphs. We also draw a self portrait and work together creating our class mission, rules, and jobs.
First day jitters… more for me! Lol. Time capsules. And procedures.
ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL I TAKE PICTURES OF ALL MY STUDENTS. WE GATHER IN A CIRCLE AND PLAY NAME GAMES AND DO A SCAVENGER HUNT. ONCE WE HAVE WARMED UP TO EACH OTHER WE DISCUSS AND SET WHOLE CLASS AND INDIVIDUAL GOALS FOR THE YEAR!
I have always read Salt In His Shoes. This year I’m teaching growth mindset, but that book still works!
One of the things I always do on the first day is a Teacher Quiz. It’s going to be particularly interesting this year because I will have been with my students for three years. Curious to see what they know or think they know:)
I always like to do some kind of STEM team-building exercise. It gives the kids a chance to work together and get comfortable, and it gives me the potential to get to know what kind of learners I have right off the bat! I can see who has strong leadership skills, who is struggling to have their voice heard, who has outside of the box thinking capabilities, who is a more concrete and hands-on learner, etc. It’s such an informal quick glance at who my students are!
One thing I always do on the first day of school is have a longer morning meeting. I first explain to my students what morning meeting is, what it will consist of everyday and my expectations for a smooth meeting. Students then start with a simple name greeting and a dolphin wave (our school’s mascot is a dolphin), so that everyone gets a chance to learn each others names. I have a simple back-to-school share posted on my morning message and each student goes around the circle and shares one highlight from their summer. This gives everyone a chance to start learning about one another and helps to start building a positive classroom community. I select someone to read to the morning message, and then we have an activity. Since it’s the first day of school, I start with a dance party to help take some of their nerves away… the kids love it!!! I then let them do a second activity (You want them to have the best first day ever!) and I have a Find-Someone-Who activity that they complete. It gets students up and moving, as well as talking to one another from the very beginning. I then have students share what they learned about their classmates. This helps establish a strong community right from the start and helps students begin to feel comfortable… their smiles last the whole day! The first day of school is without a doubt one of my favorite days of the year 🙂
I’m changing grade levels this year, so I’m looking for some changes for the beginning of this year. But something I always do (that I will still make a point to do this year) is make sure I have a short conversation with each student. It’s so important to develop those relationships!
I’ve only completed one full year of teaching, but for the last two years, I’ve started the school year our by sitting on the floor with my students to reassure them that I care about them, will respect them, and will always try my best to foster their learning in fresh ways.
I always read a funny or silly book.
One thing I always do the first day of school is read, First Day Jitters and the scholars write their own feelings about the first day of school. We use this as their first writing of the school then document growth throughout the year.
Getting to know the students and friend banners so they can get to know each other! ❤️
One thing I always do in the first day of school is a get to know me Q and A. The kids always have some many questions about who I am. I want them to know I am an open book and they can trust me. I feel like answering their questions makes me more than just the teacher but an actual person they can relate to.
I always have large paper grocery bags lining the back wall for each student to dump their supplies into and a mini essential set of supplies at their desk to immediately get started with.
I have the students write a letter to themselves that I will return to them the last week of school.
On the first day of school, I always go over my classroom expectations, as well as our school wide expectations since we are a PBS school. We spend a lot of time modeling these expectations in different locations of our school. Then I always read First Day Jitters to them. We predict the book and then we compare/contrast ourselves to Sarah in the story.
I am going to do a get to know you game. The students will write at least 3 things about their shoulder partner and present it to the class. Students usually have fun introducing their classmates.
Smile!
I always read a “first day” book (depending on what I get from the library) and let the students explore the class for a bit and give them an opportunity to look through the books!
I always give the kids a pop quiz….about me! It’s a fun way for them to see what they already know about me and to learn new things about their teacher. I then let them ask (nearly) anything they want about me. It’s fun to see what kind of questions they come up with!
The first day of school, we always play getting to know you games and share our highlights of our summer adventures.
My school is very small (10 kids per grade!) And I’m a well known teacher… So my first day tradition is a chemistry experiment and discovering together what makes for good classroom “chemistry”
Love your resources!
One thing I always do on the first day of school is make an anchor chart for “What kind of teacher do you want me to be?” The students tell me all the different thing and I tell them these are my essential agreements. Then we make the class essential agreements and the students sign the anchor chart like I sign mine. That way we all have our agreements to follow for the year. We revisit these in January and call them our New Year’s Resolutions.
I always read “The Night Before First Grade” and the class writes and illustrates how they feel on the first day of school.
The first thing I always do on the first day of school is to have a welcome back party. The kids shocked. I start out by asking them why we only have a party at the end of the year. Why don’t we have a party because we are so excited about being back at school and looking forward to all the exciting and challenging activities they will experience. I usually serve a variety of donut holes, orange or apple juice and bananas and grapes. Then we sit together and share summer stories and talk about expectations for the year. They love to talk! It really sets the tone for the entire year.
As a school we always do common areas expectations. My para brings the kids to the different locations and teach staff member is assigned an area to teach. I always get stuck with the computer lab.