One of the first projects my 4th/5th grade students created this year were personal “About Me” folded squash books. The kids were introduced to a simple foldable bookmaking technique and then they personalized them with drawings and collages about themselves. Each section of the book had a prompt to get them started. I showed them a video demonstration of how to assemble the book and I provided square templates printed on card stock. Both the video, templates and instructions are … Read more... →
These all about me, back to school art activities for kids are engaging icebreakers. Encourage creativity and build community during the first week back
Je vais demander à mes élèves de se présenter et cette année, je vais m’appuyer sur une idée trouvée sur Pinterest : Je l’ai adaptée à mon projet de classe (le Vendée Globe) : page 1 : aide à l’écrit
Manestra (better known as kritharaki in Greece) is a Greek dish made with orzo and a delicious meat sauce.
I first used this craft as part of an “All About Me” themed session where we also made a fingerpainted house and created some fantastic self portraits on the painting table! It's really simple idea and craft but very often the most simple ideas are the best! It was such a popular craft for younger children that it’s one I’ve taken out and about again and again. Kids love to make their whole family so it’s worth printing out quite a few extra templates – and it’s a craft that can be used as a great learning tool for colours, families and body parts as well as exploring different textures. Older kids can also use it as a scissor practice exercise! This is what you’ll need Stiff a4 card Glue Pens or crayons A box of different materials – fabric, card, papers,wool, tissue…….. Firstly, print out the A4 template below onto card – like I say it’s a good idea to print out a few! You should hopefully be able to copy and paste this template and then resize it if needed - if not then you can download templates elsewhere or just draw your own person! Let your child get creative with the template, materials and glue – dress it, colour it in, add hair (or not!). You can either leave the person as he/she is on the card – or try cutting it out to make a cardboard doll!
One of the first projects my first graders made were these “All About Me Crayons”. I had seen and taught this lesson probably 10 years ago and decided to revisit it. I can not remember exactly where I saw this idea, but as many lessons are, we get ideas and see projects all over the place. I try to credit when I can, but some of these I have been doing so long! We started the day by reading … Read more... →
These all about me, back to school art activities for kids are engaging icebreakers. Encourage creativity and build community during the first week back
Math About Me, Back to School, Freebie
Print your "All About ME!" Free Printable Preschool Activities! Have fun with coloring pages, a self-portrait, and more!
It’s almost time for back to school! Get to know your students and help students start thinking about science in their own lives. This free resource, Science About Me, is a simple and fun activity for students to complete the first week of school. What’s included? Suggested Use page Full page printable Notebook-sized printable Who ... Read more
Need some all about me likes and dislikes activities to use with your speech and language goals. This blog post shares digital and printable activities!
Teachers, homeschoolers! Visit the Imagination Box Blog for fun seasonal art ideas, freebies, tips, & offers. Do more art in your classroom 🎨
This engaging and interactive back to school activity will make an amazing addition to your get-to-know-you fun! There are a variety of options to choose from to make it work for your classroom! :) Options Included: *Class Puzzle {Whole Group} *Small Group Team Puzzle {3 Different Puzzles} *Take Home Family Project {Send Home Letter Included} NOTE: Canadian spelling options are also included!! I really hope you enjoy my product! If you are unsatisfied in any way, contact me right away and I will do my best to make it right :) Please follow me to be updated as I add more products to my store :) I really appreciate your support! Thank you! Check out my blog at: http://keepinitkoolinkinderland.blogspot.com Feel free to email me at: [email protected] Tags For This Item: first day of school, first day of school fun, back to school, back to school fun, back to school activities, beginning of the year, beginning of the year fun, beginning of the year activities, all about me, get to know you, class puzzle, back to school puzzle, puzzle bulletin board, puzzle display, team puzzle, student puzzle
Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!! I know - it's a scary thought reality!!!! I'm sorry to even say the words......Back to School. But let's be honest. It's not that far away now, and closer for some than for others. So let's start thinking about how we can prepare. I don't know about you, but I have been stalking Target, Hobby Lobby and a few other places all summer long looking for the best deals and the cutest little bins, buckets, and supplies. Why, oh why, do we teachers spend so much dang money on our classrooms (and have so much fun doing it!?!). I know, I know!!! (I say as I wave my hand in the air like my new students will likely be doing soon enough.) We buy cutesy new things for our classrooms and spend our money on supplies because we love to see the looks on the faces of our little ones when they walk through the door and see their new HOME! It's one of the many reasons why we love teaching so much. As much as we all dread the end of another summer and the freedom we get with it, we also secretly love the excitement of the first day of school. Come on - admit it - you feel the same way too. If there ever comes a time when I don't feel that way, then that should be when I retire. I say retire because I am positive it will not be happening for a LONG time, if ever. I feel like I'm going to be one of those lovely, older, experienced teachers who doesn't want to retire and has to be kicked out. I'll have to dragged out kicking and screaming - dragging my chevron and polka dotted decorations behind me! So back to how we can prepare for going back to school. I don't actually go back until after Labor Day (I'm sorry if that makes you hate me right now, but you get out earlier I'm sure =) I will definitely be posting pictures of my classroom when I actually get around to organizing and decorating it. I also have to find room for all of this stuff... (remember I mentioned I had been shopping just a teeny bit). Even though my room is nowhere near ready I have been thinking A LOT about what I plan on doing those first few weeks of school. This will only be my 2nd year teaching 1st grade. It is my 12th year teaching, but I taught 3rd and 4th grades for 10 years. Last year I was in survival mode with the implementation of Common Core, all the changes with teacher evaluation, and being my first year in a new grade level. It was fun, but I have so many ideas for what I want to do differently this year. But before I talk about all of the things I plan to change (that will have to be another post), I have to get through the first week of school. Yikes!! So here are a few ideas I've been throwing around for that first week. I will start with some things from my Welcome Back Pack. I've always loved reading First Day Jitters by Julie Dannenburg on the first day of school and I also found First Grade Jitters by Robert Quackenbush - how perfect is that? I will start with this First Day Feelings survey and class graph after reading one or both of those books. The picture of the graph is just an example to show what it might look like. We will also make Jitter Juice from Babbling Abby's Fun with Firsties to ease the nerves and have a little snack break =) We will compare our summer with school like this example from First Grade Honeybunch. We will reminisce about our summers *tear* with a little summer writing (which is really my teacher way of getting a quick writing sample to see where they are at). We will HAVE to finish on a high note and not get totally depressed that our summers are over, so we will then come back together and talk about all the amazing things we will be doing this year in first grade - like learning to READ!!!!!! That's a big one! I will give some beautiful, could hear a pin drop, speech about how reading opens the doors to anything you will ever do in life like driving, traveling the world, and of course social media like texting, Facebook, etc. (I'm not totally serious, but I know they will think this is the best part =( Next, we're going to need to break up the sitting, because I don't know if you know this or not, but kids (and adults too) who are just coming back to school after a summer vacation are not so good at sitting for long periods of time and their attention spans are mere minutes at best. So it is extremely necessary to plan for multiple breaks in the day. My Find a Friend activities will give us that opportunity to get up and walk around. These are perfect for any student because there is no reading involved - just pictures. I would introduce this by going through the pictures and pointing out what they are and what they might think of when they see them (a little inferencing on the first day of school - take that Common Core!) Then they walk around and get other kids to sign their names next to a picture they like. When we come back together to share I have students share what they picked and why. For example, I might pick the dog and say that I have a black lab named Molly and tell a little about her. There are 4 different versions of this so I can do 1 each day to get up and moving. The next thing that I think we probably all do is some getting to know you activities or All About Me. I created an All About Me banner that will be perfect to hang up in the hallway or on a bulletin board. So excited to do these this year! There are a couple variations to choose from. I will probably choose this one I also have this super cute Math About Me craftivity that I like to do with the kids. We discuss how math and numbers are everywhere and how we can even describe ourselves using numbers. The craftivity above is a freebie in my TpT Store, but I also just wrote a poem to go with it. You can download the poem HERE if you'd like it. To finish off my pack, I also have included a Back to School interactive mini-book and some printables/coloring pages to fill time or use as morning work. In addition to all this FUN, I also need to take care of some business. That business will be ROUTINES, ROUTINES, ROUTINES!!!! I will be modeling like a crazy woman and pointing out when students are following rules. I will be positive and upbeat, but when needed we will stop what we are doing and go back to the carpet to review a routine or a rule. Here are a bunch of books I plan on reading those first few days as we discuss rules and routines and make anchor charts. I don't have any formal plans for these yet, but I am working on a few things to go along with some of these books, and others will be just discussions and connections. We will work through our class rules that first week (more to come in a later post on that) and more routines. So I hope you got some good ideas from my First Week of First Grade plans. I'd love to hear what you are doing in your own classrooms (or are planning on doing), so leave me a little note =) Click HERE to go to part 2 of this post - I Survived the First Week - Now What? Some more freebies and a chance to win!!!
These all about me, back to school art activities for kids are engaging icebreakers. Encourage creativity and build community during the first week back
Not sure how to write an about me page for your blog? Use these tips and examples for inspiration and get a free About Me template that you can copy and paste and...
One of our activities this week included talking about some of our favorite things. We then made these super, cute people to go with our wri...
These Time Capsule Activities for kids are perfect for New Year's, the end of the year, or an All About Me Unit for 1st-4th grade.
Math About Me, Back to School, Freebie
Teachers, homeschoolers! Visit the Imagination Box Blog for fun seasonal art ideas, freebies, tips, & offers. Do more art in your classroom 🎨
Hello and Welcome This is me breaking the ice with 15 fun facts about me and introducing myself with these “Get To Know Me” questions.
You are part of the puzzle! Each student in my older grades (3-5) made a puzzle piece about themselves and their interests. I should have written: You are a PIECE of the puzzle. Or, I could have said: We all fit together. I know, it’s kind of corny, but the puzzle piece making was fun. I bought a set of wooden puzzle pieces (the package came with two pieces) and I traced them onto several pieces of tagboard to make … Read more... →
When I first started teaching preschool Sunday School over 15 years ago, I knew I was going to have to change some of the units that I was provided.
The Chicken and Dressing Casserole is more than just
Alles über mich (Vorlagen für ein Lapbook) Bereits im letzten Jahr habe ich euch hier das Lapbook „Alles über mich“ vorgestellt und gezeigt. Nun habe ich in den letzten Tagen 10 Vorlagen neu erstellt bzw. upgedatet und in ein kleines „Freebie“-Paket gepackt, das ich euch...
I am loving my summer break, relaxing, traveling a little, and of course thinking a bit about the next school year. Recently I have been brainstorming new ways to get to know my students for the start of the year. Building relationships is so important and I love turning this "get-to-know-you" time into a hands-on art project with my students. Each year I have made interactive 3-D posters with my students and this year will be no different. In the past I have created hanging posters like the one pictured below. Click here to grab the hanging posters. They looked great hanging on our wall (or from the ceiling) There is even a little tutorial to assist in the folding and creating. One year we created cubes. These were hung from the ceiling. Click here to grab the cube posters. When I taught older kids we created dodecagons. We also hung these from the ceiling and they looked amazing! Click here to grab the dodecagon posters. I also have a tutorial for how to put the dodecagons together (although it is using a report dodecagon and not an "About Me" dodecagon, but the steps are the same). This year, going back to the little ones, we are going to make butterflies! These butterflies are created so they are double-sided and will hang all around my room! I also made a single-sided version perfect for the bulletin board. The students will write their interests in each butterfly wing section. I can't wait to get to know my new kiddos! Click here to grab the Butterfly All About Me Posters. These butterflies also come in a life cycle version! If you have any questions for me, feel free to leave them in the comments! :) Happy classroom and Back-to-School planning!
These fun and easy ice-breaker activities, intended for use with elementary students, can be used on the first day of school or any time you'd like to help your kids get to know one another better and feel more engaged. We’ve been sure to include activities for both virtual and in-person classrooms so that you can utilize them no matter your teaching setup! Keep reading to discover 32 ways to turn your classroom into a welcoming, positive community!
These all about me, back to school art activities for kids are engaging icebreakers. Encourage creativity and build community during the first week back
Welcome the students back to school and find out a little bit about them! This free printable first day of school all about me gives your students an opportunity to tell you all about themselves. From things about their family, what they are good at, what they’re nervous about and so much more. It is a valuable tool for gaining helpful...
Then, we used a little total physical response to give my firsties a better visual on how the size of the places we live are related. They *loved* this
Anyone who knows me, reads this blog, or uses my resources knows that I am passionate about differentiation. I think that is because I grew ...
These all about me, back to school art activities for kids are engaging icebreakers. Encourage creativity and build community during the first week back
