The first day of school is always a bit nerve-racking. The moment your students walk in, you can feel their nervous energy. To relieve their nerves (and yours too) it’s important to have a lesson plan that is easy to follow.
The first day of school is a crucial time to set the tone for the year, establish classroom norms, and begin building a sense of community. To help you start the school year, I’ve created a lesson plan filled with engaging activities designed to make your first day run smoothly. From icebreakers to math reviews, these activities are sure to captivate your students’ attention and help you get to know them better.
#1 First Day of School Student Interview
Now that your students have gotten to know you, it is their turn. Have them complete a Student Interview worksheet. This is a great opportunity for you to walk around and informally assess their writing. Be sure to save these interview papers for future reference.
#2 Play First Day of School Icebreaker
At this point your students have been completely quiet listening to you talk about themselves, so now is a good time for them to get to know other students with an icebreaker. There are so many you can use, but here are a few of my favorites. I wrote a blog post about these icebreaker games where I go into detail on how to play.
Name Game
I promise that this game will have you learning your students’ names instantly. It is simple to play and your students will learn each other’s names quickly too.
Classroom Survey
This is a fun Get-to-Know-You classroom survey activity that allows your students to walk around and answer questions about their interests. They analyze the data and practice graphing data.
Roll a Category Ice Breaker Game
This is a fun, interactive game that gets students thinking creatively. Students roll a dice twice and the number will correspond to a letter and category. They have 3 minutes to think of words in that category that begin with the letter chosen. This game is part of my Back to School resource.
Find Someone Who… Ice Breaker Game
This game is an oldie but a goodie that many teachers use. It gets students out of their seats and talking to different classmates. You can find it HERE.
#3 Bubble Letter Art
At this point, students are ready to work quietly on their own and will need a mental break from listening. My go-to lesson is for students to create name tags that I staple on the wall to display their work. Their name must be written in bubble letters. I show my students this YouTube video so they can see how to do the letters. It’s easy and fun!
This art lesson won’t create any anxiety among your students who are hard on themselves. They basically write their name on 8.5 x 3.5 inches of white paper that I cut beforehand.
Here are some guidelines I give my students when they are creating their Bubble Letter Name Tags:
- The letters in their name should reach the top and bottom of the paper
- Fill the paper with color
- Outline the letters with a black marker
4. Goal Setting and Growth Mindset
Teaching what it means to have a growth mindset is crucial for the beginning of the year. I personally love the Growth Mindset videos created by Class Dojo. There are a total of 5 and I show one each day. After the video, I encourage my students to set personal and academic goals for the school year.
Students write down their short-term and long-term goals, and then we follow up with students sharing their goals with one another.
Tips for Success: Share examples of your own goals or goals of previous students for inspiration. Revisit these goals throughout the year to track progress and celebrate achievements.
# 5 Write a Back-to-School Acrostic Poem
Writing an acrostic poem is a simple yet fun way for you to incorporate some writing. It’s also helpful for you to assess students’ writing skills.
Be sure to teach a mini-lesson on how to write an acrostic poem. Better yet, do one together. In my Back to School Activities resource, I provide an example that you can show your students. After you do the example, have your students write their own using their name or a word that describes them.
- Tips for Success: Display the poems in the classroom so that your walls aren’t completely bare.
This creates a welcoming environment and celebrates each student’s work.
6. Play a Math Card Game
My go-to math card game for the first day of school is Multiplication War. Students get into partners and sit on the carpet. You may want to use this opportunity to practice the procedure of how to quietly get out of your seat, push the chair in, and find a spot to sit at.
How to Play:
1. Divide the deck face down evenly between two players
2 . Both players simultaneously flip over the top card of their stack and place it face up in the center.
3. Each player then multiplies the values of the two cards together and calls out the product. For example, if Player 1 flips a 3 and Player 2 flips a 7, the product is 21.
Card Values:
- Number cards (2-10) retain their face value.
- Aces are worth 1.
- Jacks, Queens, and Kings are worth 10.
- The player who correctly calls out the product first wins both cards and adds them to the bottom of their stack.
- If both players call out the same product at the same time, it’s a tie, and the cards remain in the center. The next round will decide who wins all the cards in the center.
- The game continues until all the cards have been flipped or until a predetermined time limit is reached.
Winning the Game:
- The game can end when one player has all the cards, or you can set a time limit and the player with the most cards at the end of that time wins.
7. Create a Vacation Postcard
Have students design a postcard from their summer vacation. In today’s age, people rarely send postcards so pull up some pictures online of what postcards look like. This activity will allow students to share what they did during the summer and express their individuality.
- Tips for Success: Use these artworks for a bulletin board display to add color and personality to your classroom.
Word Search, Hidden Picture, and Design a Shoe Worksheets
You will never, and I mean NEVER, have all of your students finishing classwork at the same time. So it is critical to have extra assignments on hand for students who finish work early.
I created a Back to School Word Search, Hidden Picture, and Design a Shoe Worksheets for this very reason. Keep them handy throughout the week for your Early Finishers.
Final Thoughts
Starting the school year can be challenging, but with the right activities, you can create an engaging and supportive environment from day one. My Back to School Activities resource provides everything you need to keep your students engaged and motivated.
These activities not only help you get to know your students but also set the foundation for a successful school year. Grab the resource HERE. You got this! Giselle
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